OPINION: Rappers Don’t Vote For Other Rappers

It’s encouraging to see that our local emcees have been entering national competitions over the past few weeks. What has been bitterly disappointing is the lack of support that these artists have been getting.

What we as the artists in the Eastern Cape Hiphop community need to understand is that we are the artists and the consumers in our young industry, and in order to grow this community and attract genuine fans we need to prove ourselves on a bigger scale but rappers don’t vote for other rappers.

We, at The Blacksmithed, recognise that we are relatively new to this industry and may not have the numbers nor the reach that similar platforms have. We know the amount of talent that EC Hiphop has, we know its potential, that’s why we spend most of the time approaching corporates, radio stations, magazines and other platforms we feel can house EC Hiphop. Our emails sometimes get no responses from these giants and why should they respond? Who are we? Plus we’re selling them concepts that are foreign to them, what is EC Hiphop? Add a couple accolades to these emails, some facts that can’t be disputed and ditch the potential talk then maybe, just maybe we can get our point across but rappers don’t vote for other rappers.

As artists in the Eastern Cape, we need to understand our own industry/community. It is a unique situation which needs unique solutions. There are a lot of locked doors which need to be opened. We know we have had national competition winners before and we have artists signed to major labels but what is a handful of battles won when we trying to win a war? They just prove we are not crazy… We can do this but again rappers don’t vote for other rappers.

Einstein said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results”. We need to change our approach; we need to focus on the bigger picture. Rappers need to understand that it will not always be their name on that ballot but if they believe in EC Hiphop then voting for our voice to be heard should be a no brainer. Your biggest fear of voting for a peer and that vote being the reason he blows up is all in your head. It’s also crippling the growth of EC Hiphop in ways you can’t even imagine. Truth is: the artist you fear so much; if they got that “juice” then they designed to blow up with or without your vote. What may seem like a petty competition is our chance to raise awareness and unlock these doors that have us trapped.

Rapper, it’s okay to vote for other rappers, that doesn’t make you a fan… You still the man around here!