Ghana’s most decorated rapper of all time Michael Owusu Addo, popularly known in showbiz as Sarkodie has released the much-anticipated cypher titled ‘Trumpet’. This new track is filled with hard core rap lyrics and flows by a group of young, uprising and talented Ghanaian rappers with different rhythmic rap styles. The beat was produced by Fortune Dane and the track features young rappers like TeePhlow, Medikal, Strongman, Koo Ntakra, Donzy Chaka and Pappy Kojo who have all been tagged as members of Sarkodie’s RAP UNIVERSITY. Many have argued about the absence of other young rap talents like Kofi Kinaata, Joey B, Tutulapatu, Awal etc. on the track but it is up to the self-acclaimed “African Rap god” to explain reasons why he left them out on a feature on the track which I believe he will respond to it later.
Fast forward, the intent of this article is to weather the storm on the arguments going viral in the country about who stood tall among the six (6) young rappers in the delivery of his rap lines in the said cypher track titled ‘Trumpet’. Therefore, I present to you an objective review of each rapper’s effort in the track in order of their appearance on the Trumpet cypher as:
SARKODIE
Sarkodie started with the rap intro which also served as the chorus of the song. According to Sarkodie, human efforts need recognition by others but however, when people outside look adamant about his achievements, he’ll blow his own trumpet (meaning he’ll praise himself). This statement reminds me of a popular phrase in the Nigerian Playwright Ola Rotimi‘s play titled ‘the gods are not to blame’. In the book, Rotimi said, ‘The lizard who jumps from the high iroko tree says it will praise itself if no one else did’. So, I am not surprised if Sarkodie says he want to praise himself if his competitors or significant others in the music industry won’t do so for him. In all, it was a nice intro by Sarkodie and there are no qualms about his delivery which set the stage for the young rappers to ride on and flow with their rap.
TEEPHLOW
The baton was handed over from Sarkodie to TeePhlow to show his rap prowess on the microphone and according to him, so many guys are rapping, everybody claims to be on top, but he sees himself to be the best among all his colleague emcees. He metaphorically compared his competitors to Wisa Greid’s “childish” manhood explosion during the December2Remember 2015 concert. TeePhlow undoubtedly did well as he reminded us of his classic collaboration with Sarkodie titled ‘The Warning’, being his breakthrough into the music scene. To him, he deserves an applause for his little contribution to the music industry so far which had been overlooked. I rate him 7/10 on the track.
MEDIKAL
Realistically, Medikal put up a very ‘wack performance’ on the beat. Medikal has been the most hardworking upcoming artiste for the past months being featured on recent releases by the various top artistes in the country. Truly, his output or better still his rap verses and punch lines on tracks like ‘I don’t think far remix’, ‘Confirm remix’, ‘Too Risky’, ‘King of Queens by Eno’, ‘Tension by Okyeame Kwame’ and many other tracks of which Medikal in recent times have featured on, had him putting up a very splendid performance to the satisfaction of every music lover. Nonetheless, with regards to the ‘Trumpet cypher’, his performance wasn’t up to the expectation per the survey I conducted from sampled music lovers. Although, he was able to spit some bars like, ‘I no go fit take your shit, meny3 pampers’. I rate him 5/10 on the track.
STRONGMAN
As usual, strongman has been very consistent with his diction, rhymes and metaphorical punch lines which make listening to him so enjoying. Truly, apart from the voice modulation of Strongman of which I had problem with, he never disappoints in any day. He knows how to combine proverbial words to make meaning to the masses. He’s indeed, the future of Ghana’s rap genre. He’s one of the finest upcoming rappers to put Ghana on the map after Sarkodie in some time to come. Strongman again tried to put his rap ego to display by showing that he’s size less among his peers. He ended his verse by saying his rap style and skills stands tall like a ‘prostitute’ at Accra-circle. I rate him 8/10 on the track.
KOO NTAKRA
The new graduate from the old-school style of rap to the new school joined the trumpeters to spit some bars on the beat. Factually, among the rappers who featured on the cypher, he was the one regarded as underdog. Therefore, the expectations from the various artistes by music lovers prior to the release of the cypher was not high as compared to his competitors. Nonetheless, Koo Ntakra did his best with his Akuapem style of rapping infused with proverbial rhymes. Simply, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. He showed a concern of neglect as when he started his music career, but now the story is entirely different as he has gotten the recognition from Ghanaians. Rating 6/10.
DONZY CHAKA
Donzy acknowledged the opportunity given to him by Sarkodie to show his prowess on the mic in the trumpet cypher. He also blended proverbial sayings with raps to make rhythmic lines in the track. He did justice to his role so well. Truly, since the release of his breakthrough hit single titled “The Crusade” which featured Kofi Kinaata, and ‘Club’ featuring Piesie and Sarkodie, he has proven beyond reasonable doubt about his rapping dexterity. Rating 7/10.
PAPPY KOJO
The most surprising of all the acts on the Trumpet cypher is the self-acclaimed Fante Vandam who’s popularly called Pappy Kojo. Prior to, a silky voice lady burst into the scene to ask why Pappy Kojo calls himself Fante Vandam. The zeal with which he used to deliver his rap verse in the cypher was unprecedented. He goes back with his one-time hit single ‘Realer No’ style of rapping. Here, he goes a lengthy rather than his usual slow delivery after his two major hit singles. He bragged about his two major hit singles titled ‘realer no and too raw’ to show that he’s the realest among all his competitors. He ended his verse in a romantic style to depict the real character of him as he normally does in his songs. Again, he expressed interest in Yvonne Nelson for reasons only known to him. Rating 7/10.
Truly, Sarkodie’s quest and burning desire to leave an unprecedented legacy in the history of Ghanaian music is depicted in this cypher. For his ability to put together these fast and rising artistes on a single beat shows his selfless attitude to nurture young talents to replace him when he exits the musical scene. He featured these fast-rising acts because he’s a source of motivation for many young hip-life and hip-hop acts in our current music industry.