So I came across an article written by a South African rapper called “how to make it as a rapper in South Africa”. I hate confrontation so I won’t mention the person’s name here. I think he had 21 points. I agreed with the first three. It was late for the rest. I know what you’re thinking and no, I don’t rap nor do I claim to know how to “make it” (I hate the term make it because It’s way too broad for my liking), but I can relate a few valid points to my experiences with South African rap.
Management
You’ll know when you need a manager
You definitely won’t need one from day 1. Get up off your ass and create a buzz on your own. Get a small group of like-minded individuals together. It’s going to be quite rough for the rapper who waits on the perfect manager to pick them up and make something of them. You’ll wait, my friend. For a very long time.
Trends
Hop on the trend train and see what happens. I get at least one request a week for a turn up/trap beat .I cringe and proceed to check out my archive. The turn up train left a really long time ago. Hip hop in SA is about to change up again. Will you still be turning up when everyone has moved over to the next trend?
Miss people with the spam
What happens when you force feed a child? Forcing your music down listeners throats will get you blocked. I always say it, but apparently it’s bad advice. Jacking people’s email addresses and sending unsolicited emails asking them to download your work is still spam (apologies to the many people I’ve done this to in the past. I’ve changed my ways, I promise).
Invest!
Free beats are cool in the beginning, but make a plan to get a hold of some exclusive beats. Home recordings are cool in the beginning, but find a good sound engineer to hook up a solid, clean sound. A good mix (that you may certainly always need to pay for) makes a world of a difference. Investing doesn’t always mean you have to pay money though. You can invest in relationships and you’ll see huge returns from people because you took the time to develop a real and solid connection.
In summary, there isn’t a lot that will be gifted to you just because you’re the next biggest thing. Take some time out to figure out HOW you plan on putting in the work that’s going to get noticed instead of focusing so much on how you’re being slept on. There’s a whole lot of complaining going on in the South African music industry and not enough solid weeks of hard work.
Get stuck in,
SB
