THEY ARE IN CAHOOTS AND DON’T SUPPORT FELLOW ARTISTS LAMENTS KING ILLEST
Southern Province top breakout rapper King Illest threw shots at fellow industry peers on forming what he called 'cartels'
Known for his incredible rap skills, one of the best to come out of Southern Province, King Illest shared an observation he made regarding the Zambian music industry as he alleged that there is no unit and other artist would go to the extent of blocking other artists’ song releases and success.
King Illest who rose to fame after his 2017 hit Ndisweke went viral took to his social media an share an opinion not so uncommon – a move he said he aims at exposing the cliques. The rapper wrote in part as he raised concerns over certain artists who only share specific artists’ work ignoring others as he said, “ever noticed how when your favourite artist drops music other tuma artists won’t share? bali mutuma cartel.”
The rapper went ahead and said that the so called cartels in the music industry are derailing the progress of the industry further calling them ‘hungry’ – “tuma cartel twa nsala,” he wrote in part.
King Illest’s rampage continued as he alleged that he at some point overhead some artists plotting to block the release of a song, the rapper said, “I once overhead some artists talking about how another artist is about to drop music and they need to block it and make sure it doesn’t hit.”
The rapper has so far not mentioned any names but it can be speculated that he is fed up and he would like to see change going forward. The rapper’s last release was four months ago a song titled Level featuring Vinchezo and rapper Y Celeb whose audio accumulated over 100,000 YouTube views.
Noted from their social exchange interactions, King Illest’s seemingly buddy and industry mogul DJ Showstar shared a post in which he referred to himself and DJ Mzenga Man as ‘the gate keepers of Zambian music.’
Being a gate keeper refers to individuals who has media power, connections and cultural authority – as they decide which music gets heard and which artists are given a chance to shine. This power which can be used positively can also be used to stifle creativity.
This is the same thing the rapper is complaining about, something his close friends proudly claim to be and do – but the questions remain, is it possible for artists to all work together and not have difference? Is there an industry where such unity exists? Is this fight worth it?
