To drive the point home, she starts kicking a freestyle off the dome that makes mention of my name and my denim jacket. “‘Fufa’ made more money for me than any hip-hop song.” But beyond the bag, Gigi feels it’s time she challenged herself, as hip-hop has become ‘easy’ for her. She would later clarify that she meant SA hip-hop rules weren’t going to inform her direction from then on and that she wants to open herself up to other genres as she already had, especially in her 2019 hit single ‘Fufa’, a collaboration with bolobedu house icon King Monada. Last year, Gigi ruffled feathers when she stated she was “leaving SA hip-hop” during a KAYA FM interview. We are revisiting this story as she’s trying to explain her reservations about South Africa’s hip-hop scene. “I had older brothers who’d go to Slaghuis, and Friday I’m at Gandhi Square by the McDs and then I’m running off to Osmic and them at OST to do the cyphers as this little tomboy, and then you meet the Rashid Kays and they are like, ‘this girl can rap’.” “I knew Emtee when he was still part of 4Front,” she says. She mentions the likes of MarazA, Zingah and Emtee as peers she was hustling alongside in cyphers during her come-up days. Gigi is a skilled and decorated MC, entrepreneur and public figure with a rich story that started taking shape in the streets of Joburg approximately a decade ago. The catalogue speaks for itself – from early releases such as 2014’s Colour of Reignto her official debut album i-Genesis (released in 2016), Mermaids and Stuff (released in 2021) and countless singles, guest appearances and freestyles.
However, on Set in Stone, her latest album, though still spitting at a high level, Gigi doesn’t seem consumed with proving her point. “Could be the best female rapper in Africa,” she says, “when it comes to lyricism and versatility I’ve jumped on a song with AKA and King Monada, and I don’t think any girl can say they can do that, from Afrikaans to IsiZulu, so it’s set in stone that I could be the undisputed queen of African rap.” Gigi Lamayne strongly believes she’s undisputed. And if something connects and the story is great, I’m gonna jump on it,” she says in our latest cover story. “I don’t have a plan I’m riding with the universe. Gigi Lamayne’s assertion that she’s the undisputed queen of African rap isn’t necessarily a reach she has a dope track record, and with the release of her new album Set in Stone, she is moving to a new chapter. This interview appears in issue 20 of our monthly ezine available for purchase here.
0 kommentar(er)
