Khaligraph Jones has delivered yet another true hip-hop classic. Fame and Drip Freestyle, is a tribute to
Clipse, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T and Malice’s – Chains & Whips. This is noted by their similar beats, and general energy. The backbone of both beats is a hard-hitting, minimalist drum pattern. It was produced by Pharrell Williams, and Lenny Kravitz played the electric guitar. A tense, almost dystopian mood is created by the combination of boom bap and modern trap. Jones uses it to deliver his iconic witty bars through his signature flow in the 2nd release from him this September. Just a day after it’s release on the 10th, it is #15 on the Kenya Trending Music Videos Chart.
Fame and Drip Freestyle’s Genius
Khaligraph has built a reputation as not only a rapper, but a true artist, able to be versatile while staying true to his style and sharpening his skills. This time he opens the freestyle showing self awareness, “Hype kidogo haijafanya nifure kichwa, I’m not the 1st, there’s been many na wamepitwa.” A funny shoutout to DJ Shiti follows, referencing a Breakfast 47 interview with the comedian, where he rebukes the devil by exclaiming ‘Riswa’. “Shiti bongesha hii mbogi kidogo, Riswa!”
A deep line on inequality follows: “Secure the bag and keep your focus / In the corporate world, agencies njo mabrokers.” OG gives advice to upcoming artists. Using a metaphor to call talent agencies brokers, he explains they are essentially middlemen who profit the most while gatekeeping and not doing much. He disses someone through a wordplay pun: “Morio alitupa mbao, when he sawdust / Ndio amake a comeback labda aombewe na Dorcas.”
Another shoutout this time to blogger and activist, Cyprian Nyakundi, keeps the humour going in the song: “Na Kundi (Nyakundi) yangu haiko X, I’m not Cyprian.” He switches his flow, upping his tempo while talking down on his competition, telling them to save up to pay for features to save their careers: “Nimetamba sana mpaka hawa ma punk wanakandamizwa / Brother changa changa ndio upande rank unafaa ka feature.” He relentlessly flosses his wealth declaring he does promotion for free, since he’s rich and already has a ‘book’ full of ‘paper’: “Promo nawapea bila mukuchu / Why do it for paper ka nina mbuku full?”
He clearly felt generous with the mentions, with another to Rekles from the legendary musical group Ethic Entertainment : “Let’s not talk about investments, I’m a man of ethics, shoutout to Rekles.” Another clever shoutout to Toxic Lyrikali’s massive hit, Backbencher, might fly over your head: “Wakiulizwa who does it like Khali? None / Phantom, backbencher ndani ya Cullinan.” “Wapi trophies bro? You less than local / Rap kaa hii, raw (Kairo) you jet man global, I mean na touch towns wengi hawajawai / Ahero, nani alisema sipendi ma Masaai?” He flaunts his international status with a hidden mention of Cairo, Egypt.
Another deserved shoutout went to Kenyan hero, Eliud Kipchoge, praising his longevity as he still competes at 40 years old: “Mmekosa class, ka stude hudiss mode / Siwezi retire, mentality, Kipchoge / Ma giz giz, adi ma rengwa ni same routine.” This song would be incomplete without a bar mentioning the West. He compares himself to the greatest artists in their respective cities, meaning he feels he has reached the same level and has been everywhere, and closes with a clever bar: “I’m Chief Keef in Chi (Chicago) but Atlanta Jermaine Dupri / Ju kila mtiacha ikona stamp yangu, utadhani mi ni wrestler vile na cut (Kurt) angles.”
Critiquing artists for lack of wit he proclaims: “Uninterested, kindly, me staki mambo / Apa ni bars, buda, weka story za nyap kando.” I love his continous flow after this line: “Mstiri akikaa mbaya buda, con uyo fala / Concert bila Omollo ata Yvonne Yo Okwara, Ju anytime nikiperfom ni sure bet / Vile natibu izi ma doggy, mnafaa kujua vet.” He closes out the song with another humurous line: “Let em know, we here to eat / Na hii hamuezi kataa (Qatar) unless uko Middle East.”
Like icing on a cake, he closes out the song with a funny line: “Send him to Dagestan for 2 years and forget.” This may also go over many heads as he references UFC fighter, Islam Makhachevs, response to UFC host Daniel Cormier on how he can make his son become a professional level fighter. The final line he says is Free Palestine.
Conclusion
The single by OG was a success. Sound engineering was on point with the beat mirrorring Pharell’s. Lyricism wasn’t far behind as Khaligraph was at his sharpest and is undoubtedly at the peak of his career. Vocalisation and ad libs made you really feel certain bars and lines. The listening experience was lovely and enjoyable. Although Khaligraph didn’t really speak in depth on oprression and other issues as in the song Chains and Whips, it was a beautiful piece of art. My final rating is 8.0/10. Read another article here.
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