Therefore, I decided to put together this article to address the criteria used to jugde these so-called gifted rappers. Your post says thus… "During this process we judged each EMCEE on skill, from wordplay ability, delivery style, catchy and versatile flow, lyrical potency, punch line, rhyming not just to rhyme, and story-telling".
As a matter of fact, the criteria used to judge the most gifted rappers on your list are 'not just ok', as some critical points have been left out which makes the list a slap on the face of Nigerian hip-hop/rap veterans and the entire hip-hop community.
In the first place, a gift is something giving to you by someone who discerned that you deserve it, hence, should be used to enrich the lives of others, not just yours. In as much as the average music lover loves to enjoy some 'feel good' music and of course the rappers need to make profit and live like kings, the sole aim of your gift should not be watered down just for financial benefits.
I would love to state here that there are different approaches used in judging various music genre. For example, one can't and should never use the characteristics of country music to judge apala music, neither can you judge rock music the same way with afro beats. All genres are judged differently based on some fundamental rules that have been established over time.
Rap is a unique genre, it can be referred to as a sub-genre of hip-hop which has been put to the test severally but keeps coming out stronger than ever. In an era where hip-hop is considered dead, rap keeps growing from strength to strength, new emcees are discovered almost on a daily basis and display unique skills onwell laced instrumentals.
Although many rappers engage in story-telling and focus on their rhyming abilities in their music, rap should be a whole more than that. A rapper should be an artiste who stands for the people, someone like a liberator, a savior who speaks for the oppressed and unrecognized in the society. Some will argue that there is a stack difference between a rapper and an emcee which to an extent I agree with, but in reality music should actually be more up-building than mundane. The mundane nature of music these days continues to misguide the youths of every society with nothing of ethical value to offer the generations to come.
Rap music should encourage unity, peace, love and harmony. Good rap music develops the mind, and fuel self belief. If an artiste like 2face who is not even a rapper does conscious music that end up been classics and inspires millions, what then is the excuse of any rapper who should in the first place be about music that awakens our consciousness and educates the minds of the youths.
Rappers that are always spitting about immorality or partying should in no way make it on your list, rap plays a vital role in an emerging society, therefore if any rapper/emcee has never done a song for the people, or addressed a persistent issue or inspired a people in the positive direction, that rapper should hide when 'gifted rappers' are called out.
Our governmental and societal issues would keep taking a downward spiral if the issues that threaten our very existence as a people remain 'sealed' as it were in a gold pot hidden in an unreachably high shelf. Now is the time to attempt bringing that pot down, opening it, and dealing with these issues accordingly. Rappers should stand up and represent the people properly and stop feeding us with junk music. If all we do is dance in clubs, who will repair the roads that lead to the clubs, who will fix the power issues we face on getting home after a 'wow' club night.
Having said all that, I strongly believe that; level of consciousness, creativity and intelligence should top the criteria list when a list of 'most gifted rapper' is been considered for public view. Instead, such a list should not even find its way to the internet. Therefore, your list should have read 'top 10 most successful rappers in Nigeria' not 'most gifted'.
#PleaseDontKillHiphop
Written by Tile Folahan
Hip-hop enthusiast, writer, brand strategist, fashion designer (Art-FRICA)
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