The genre Amapiano continues to dominate the airwaves with most artists tapping into it to make a stand. And hip-hop music, also known as rap, is holding its head high with a show dedicated to it called Rap Attack on NBC TV.

Franklin Newman Shitaleni (31), the show’s host, said it is Namibia’s biggest hip-hop platform. He told Entertainment Now! that the show is designed to matriculate the value of Namibian hip-hop music and the culture, serving it in its full capacity to a global platform. 

“Rap Attack goes to the artist, that’s key. The show is owned by them and my team and I simply act as the conduit. It’s not your typical entertainment route, seeking to have the established on the show; we want to find the diamonds in the rough, those artists that are unspoken of. We are delivering to the doorstep of every Namibian hip-hop enthusiast content that has quality over quantity,” he said.

The television and radio presenter feels that the hip-hop scene has been serving music lovers in these Covid times, with some of the best work he has heard over the last couple of months. “Locally with emcees like Nga-i putting out the Herero Hero project, and Fiddy The Rapper constantly pushing the envelope. We have in this time seen guys like PhredGot 1 creating platforms such as tiny stage, Dee’A putting out videos and new music. The times have served us musically.”

Franklin is also a gospel artist who believes that rap has become a very influential force that many young people speak and relate to. “I’m the gap filler rapping purpose intriguingly. I grew up on rap, I’ve loved it since, I grew on black poets like James Weldon, so rap and poetry have come naturally since my high school days.”

The show serves as a platform for total expression first but the bigger picture is that they want the artists to see and buy into the vision. “We are gearing ourselves into becoming the first substantial lucrative platform for rap artists in Namibian history because for so long rap artists have been on the bench of compensation. Rap is educational; we want to bring that back,” he added.
Franklin believes that Namibian hip-hop is approaching its peak, so he wants to be found in the position of pioneering that effect, and with Rap Attack and a brilliant team, he would say he feels they are off to a good start. The show airs every Thursday at 21:30 on NBC 1 with a repeat Saturday at 09:00.

– slunyangwe@nepc.com.na

Hip-hop benchmark... The host of the Rap Attack show.