There was a time, see. Malawian Hip Hop was on the rise. Characterized by mega collabos, see. You would have all mega artists on one track. 8 mins of uninterrupted bars. Chef de Cusine remix., Go Getter, Malawi Mix and albeit recently Na lero Remix.
As a hip hop fan, listening to artists go toe to toe on a beat was such a joy. You listen and re-listen to a track. It felt good.
And when the line-up for Legends came about; some of us were tossed into a delightful abyss of nostalgia.Ah fuck, the good old days- we exclaimed. Anyway, let me dissect this track.
1. BEAT SELECTION
– Blage made some subtle remarks on the quality of the beat. Half-baked- he implied. Which angered the maker, Martin Enjelz. I like Martin Enjelz, he is a dope producer. As an artist, he is sensitive about his shit but truth be told- Blage was spot on. The Beat is off. There is a certain noise to it. Its bass is not balanced and it distracts you when put on blast. Bad beat, unfortunately.
Beat selection- was it a good idea to choose a new school drill beat? Yes , to connect with the new generation. Show them, hey , we are legends and we can do this new school music…and yet at the same time; a huge no, drill beats dont fare well with artists that are on for bars. A miss and win at the same time. Oxymoron!
2- HOOK
Well, Spyral was incredible. Getting a new school cat to wax lyrical about legends never dying was a perfect. Good move, that! Thats a good hook, lets be honest.
3- Verses
Now this is a contentious part. Who killed the beat?
You can argue based on preference. Like for instance, I am sucker for fun and i like fun bars and I will tell you that I like Marcus’ verse in the track more because it was fun. Was it a better lyrical verse? No. Not at all. Let me rate the verses as follows;
1- Not talked about Verses
– Phyzix, D1, Cyclone are the verses that dont really have a wow-effect in them. They are okay.
2- Most talked about Verses
– Tay Grin, Third Eye, GD, Marcus and Black Jack.
3- Okay Verses
– Young Kay and Barry Uno.
Let me rate the verses;
1. Tay Grin’s verse is numero uno. Not that its very technical or anything, no. Its relevant. He relates well to current trends. The 5 K note bar and the kwacha downward spiral are good references. And then, the style. Stuck well to the concept. Ufuma paliposedi
2- Third Eye
-Third Eye is a smooth rapper. He controls the beat well. Doesnt switch his style. Its like he tells the beat to follow his flow.
3-GD
– GD has command in his voice. His delivery was the most intimidating.
I will just leave it there. But I was disappointed with Hyphen.His verse was below par – maybe its expectations. We expect him to kill the collabos. His delivery was lukewarm.
In conclusion, the Legends song is a mix of both disappointment and nostalgia. Disappointed in some of the childish bars that were being paraded by veterans. However, happy that such collabos stir the game and give us things to talk about.
Kudos to Phyzix for lining up some a joint. Its good for the culture.
Thanks,
