Pinehas Nakaziko
Award winning pioneer of Namibia Hip Hop, Jerome Gawanab, popularly known as Jericho, last year’s Namibia Annual Music Awards (NAMAs)’s takings in his new studio, named Ghetto Child Studio 2018, which opened in Swakopmund last December.
Jericho won the Best Hip Hop category with the song If Only. He used all winnings to buy equipment’s for his new studio with which he aims to help fellow artists who cannot afford to pay for studios. He relocated to the Coast to focus on his music 100 percent, as well as to renew his image he was known for when he started music years ago. “I need to stay focused, and moving to the Coast was trying to rebrand my image,” says Jericho, adding that Windhoek is surrounded by many unpleasant things and influences that one cannot stay away from if one is to achieve his/her goals, especially to artists.
Jericho says his new born daughter has also contributed to his new life encouraging him to work harder. He has been busy in the studio working on his 17 tracks mix-tape titled Paper Chasing, dropping after the NAMAs this year. After comes his sixth studio album featuring local artists such as Dixon, Adora and Ethinx. This week Jericho dropped his brand new two singles on some local radio stations, one titled Touch Me, produced by Elvo and /Namtere produced by Dozza, both recorded at his new studio.
Jericho has been on the Namibian music scene for the past decade continuing to win a large fan base in Namibia all along. A gifted artist his hard-hitting music have likened him to 2Pac, but the rapper has also worked on few inspirational short films. His breakthrough came when the song “Helele” featuring female Shambo artist, Tunakie, dropped just days after its release. “Helele” won him his first NAMAs and leapfrogged The Dogg and Gazza, one of the feared artists in the country to win the Artist of the Year Award.
He made history by becoming the first ever Best Male Artist of the Year, at the first ever NAMAs in 2011. After that, Jericho went mute in the music scene and returned again in 2016 with a smash hit album tiled the Wall of Jericho which won him an award at last year NAMAs.