I have read an article which is
kinda throwing shade to what Juliani did on doing response to Khaligrah dis
song. I am looking at this from a point of a hip hop scholar; I have spent most
of my life studying hip hop as a culture and as a genre in music. I will give a
small history of what hip hop means, it’s more of an intelligent movement. Hip
mean to know, Hop mean a movement, we give credit to KRS One and Cool Herc opening
the doors and crafting this genre of music. Without them we would not have this
amazing word play of art on tracks. They paved way for the new generation
artists from BIG, Tupac, Jay Z, Dr. Dre and the list is endless. Hip Hop has
been raised in a battle and its deeply rooted in the battle field. It’s been an
issue of what content prevails. In the 80s and early 90s the content you have
is what made your music sell. Over the period artists paid concentration on what
they had to put on the table and work on delivery. We know Easy E was not dope
on writing and Cube did so much of ghostwriting for him, he worked on delivery
and with time he could write. Memphis Bleek, his debut album Jay Z did most of
the writing for him, this is because content is key in hip hop. Any great MC
has to be baptized and that is done in a battle, it makes him/her better in
writing and content development. Juliani is doing is responsibility as a hip
hop head to keep that in place. KRS One is known to be a battle MC and he would
tear anything down that came his way, it dint condemn him, I mean he is a
lecture at Harvard University.
So we need to appreciate what
Juliani did, I have been fan since day one when with Ukoo Flani. Truth be told Juliani
is the second and most successful phase of Hip Hop in Kenya. Kalamashaka
introduced Hip hop in the 254 and they showed us this this can work, this is
with the likes of Hardstone. KKK did what most guys found impossible and they
made it clear to be part of them it was more of what content do you have, Ukoo
Flani was formed and these guys had tones of music with chizen Brain on the
beat all they did was spit rhymes. Mashifta, Wenyeji, Wakamba Wawili, Juliani, Vigeti
and the list is endless of amazing MCs were introduced to the industry. From K south
we had Bamboo and Abbas; these are the fathers of this game. They kept the flow
real and with amazing delivery.
Juliani did something which most
of those artists could never do, he took Hip Hop to the boardrooms and commercialized
it, and he paved way to the new generation artists who feel they own the non-existence
kingdoms. He figured ways of how to make money from the amazing art he mastered;
he has kept it fresh and not compromised the quality of his music. Religion aside,
Juliani has a right to bring sanity to what he started and has been a
successful story, he has shown us that you can spit dope rhymes and make money
from it. He has mentored so many and changed lives. For someone to just step in
and feel like he is nothing even for me will not go down well. Above all he is
a child of battle rap and we can’t change that. He dint watch Chris brown try
rap and picked the mic, he was taught by greatest. He understands the art of
Rap and what it’s all about. Like a father he spoke the truth, he did not dis
anyone he said the truth on the track Lord Forgive Me. He kept it 100 and that
is what hip hop is all about, there is nothing wrong with speaking a truth.
A child cannot go raising his
hand to his father, that’s a taboo and that child has to be punished.
