Fixing local hip-hop
A successful talk about the status of Namibian hip hop held at the Warehouse Theatre shows hope for the industry.
Hip-hop was the centre of conversation at the Hip-Hop Talk that was held at Warehouse recently. The purpose of the event was to create a platform where rappers, producers and hip-hop fans could talk freely about issues and topics with that affect Namibian hip-hop.
One of the main speakers at the event was rapper J-Black, who spoke at length about relevance and how Namibian rappers can use their music to build a successful career. Throughout his speech the rapper also touched on social media marketing, online branding and artistic integrity that rappers need to adhere to in order to be more relatable to their audience. “Rappers these days think they can just post a link online and promote it and they become successful after their song is heard. You actually need to put in more work than that and go out onto the streets and to the people and promote your music there. Let the people feel your music. Social media marketing and reality are two completely different things,” said J-Black.
Also speaking at the event was rapper DV8 who advocated for more platforms that would document the stories and the highlights within the hip-hop genre for archival. The panel who were discussing various topics comprised of rappers Ghetto Ballerina who spoke about the plights of rappers and what it takes to make in the industry, DJ Musketeer spoke about the importance of other hip-hop elements such as dance, poetry and graffiti, and why more attention needs to be given to them to improve the genre. Radio personality and TV presenter Franklin gave rappers advice on how they can work on their music and improve their conduct with the media to add value to the credibility and perception of rappers in the country.
June Shimuoshili
One of the main speakers at the event was rapper J-Black, who spoke at length about relevance and how Namibian rappers can use their music to build a successful career. Throughout his speech the rapper also touched on social media marketing, online branding and artistic integrity that rappers need to adhere to in order to be more relatable to their audience. “Rappers these days think they can just post a link online and promote it and they become successful after their song is heard. You actually need to put in more work than that and go out onto the streets and to the people and promote your music there. Let the people feel your music. Social media marketing and reality are two completely different things,” said J-Black.
Also speaking at the event was rapper DV8 who advocated for more platforms that would document the stories and the highlights within the hip-hop genre for archival. The panel who were discussing various topics comprised of rappers Ghetto Ballerina who spoke about the plights of rappers and what it takes to make in the industry, DJ Musketeer spoke about the importance of other hip-hop elements such as dance, poetry and graffiti, and why more attention needs to be given to them to improve the genre. Radio personality and TV presenter Franklin gave rappers advice on how they can work on their music and improve their conduct with the media to add value to the credibility and perception of rappers in the country.
June Shimuoshili
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