Take 5 with Jemedari

Jemedari is a rapper who has been on the scene for quite a while, spitting rhymes and freestyles when he isn’t doing his day job. He recently started Suits and Mics, which he tells me more about in this interview.

1. Why do you think there are so few good femcees right now?

The process is flawed. Most good emcees hone their skills around battles, cyphers and collective creation spaces. The average Kenyan femcee walks into a studio after an afternoon of Nikki Minaj videos and starts thinking she can rap on the same level as Xtatic for example. Hip-hop is very asexual, and the target audience cares more for lyricism than how “sexy” your videos look. The battle for mainstream success has also seen a lot of femcees downgrade on content in favour of raunchy videos and content for the sake of attention and hype. It works…until the audience sees another sexy chic in a video and forgets you. Content will outlive anything, and as far as content goes, our femcees need to step up.

2. Does a diss track always have to talk about sleeping with your nemesis’ wife?

No. I believe disses need to be more intellectual than any other material you’re putting out there. If all you are doing is showing your prowess lyrically, especially, then you need to get it correct in terms of wordplay, composition, concepts and of course the actual diss element. These primary school level mchongoano type disses are not worth it. Hip-hop is an art form and competitive sport rolled into one.

3. Tell us about Suits and Mics

The point of Suits & Mics is to raise the awareness levels of the target market as far as good, live hip-hop is involved. We’ve been at it for three years and have seen massive gains in terms of audience and artist participation. And all this has been done without sponsors! The next set of events is scheduled for 2017 as Suits & Mics branches into three other events to be unveiled when we finish preparing the fine print.

4. Your new music is very romantic. Who are you singing to?

I can’t say the music is targeted to a  specific person. My writing has become more personal and mood-oriented, so I write solely depending on how I feel. The mushy stuff in there is mixed with the more hardcore stuff that most people are accustomed to from me.

5. What do you think is the key to getting Kenya unified?

Less politics. Keep politicians off news, off public events and off microphones. We focus too much on politics that we forget the simple things that make us Kenyan. I think we also need to document our Kenyan success stories better. Our triumphs are collective triumphs. If we dance, sing and celebrate together, then we can live in harmony and handle the negatives together. Our kids also need to be nurtured with unity in mind. Discrimination is our biggest flaw.