Pinehas Nakaziko
Windhoek-Up to 21 local upcoming rappers were selected to compete in the much-anticipated Rap Battle Namibia Volume 2 competition slated for October 29 at the Warehouse Theatre.
The audition took place at the Warehouse Theatre on Saturday and attracted more rappers than the first edition. The rappers will be competing in the categories of Rap Song, Freestyle and Battle Rap.
Rap Battle Namibia is an initiative of PK Administration. The aim of the event is to unite local rappers to showcase their artistic skills through rhythm and poetry, also known as rap.
The competition also aims to bring together Namibia’s finest emcees who will battle it out to see the best from their crop.
Besides the trophy and cash to be won during the main event, winners will be crowned by the judges and audience as the ‘best of the best’.
Winners of the volume 1 competition hosted in April this year, such as Jaggerjuice in Rap Song, Kay in Free Style, and Travis Harvey in the Battle Rap categories will be defending their titles.
“Each winner for the competition will win a trophy and a cash prize on the night. Pouch Monkey Records will offer the three winners a chance to record and do photo shoots under their label, worth N$15,000,” says Popyeni Kaxuxwena, one of the organisers.
“After the final competition participants and winners all go their own ways and major in their endeavours. We only ensure that what was promised by PK Administration as the organiser was done,” explained Kaxuxwena.
He adds that Namibia has a lot of rappers who see themselves as being the best, seemingly because they rap to their friends, but hardly get a chance to showcase their talent on a wider scale such as a platform as this.
“This show gives rappers a chance to see what other rappers are doing, who they are and a chance to see competition. Once they compete they become more aware and further perfect themselves. It’s also a chance for our rappers to earn monetary recognition.”