Hausa raps taking over modern Northern music scene

With the emergence of more Hausa rap artists, indicators have shown that the new trend is gradually taking over the music industry. It was gathered that in Kano, the new musical trend has been gaining ground, as number of artists in the genre continues to grow by the day. It was also gathered that, a […]

With the emergence of more Hausa rap artists, indicators have shown that the new trend is gradually taking over the music industry.

It was gathered that in Kano, the new musical trend has been gaining ground, as number of artists in the genre continues to grow by the day. It was also gathered that, a greater percentage of such rising artists are using the trend to preach peace, love and patriotism to the younger generation.

Prominent among these young artists is Saifullah Ibrahim popularly known as Dr. Pure. Ever since his emergence in the music industry he has been a force to reckon with in the Hausa hip hop music circle. Born in Kano and raised in the UK, Dr. Pure has been a major contributor to the development of Hausa hip hop. He grew up in London where he did his Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools. At early age, he belonged to a dance group, was an MC and later ventured into what is known in the UK as chat, a faster kind of rap.

Popular with his collabo song ‘Ba a rawa,’ Dr. Pure has released few albums that were making waves in Kano.

Another young Hausa Hip Hop artist is Aminu Abbah Umar a.k.a Nomiis Gee. He would have probably become a newscaster if not for his passion for hip hop. Born and raised in Kano, the graduate of Mass Communication from Bayero University, Kano and PMAN award winner has been one of the major pillars of Hausa hip hop development in recent times.

When asked what his reactions are to the recent development in the music industry, Nomiis Gee said: “The music industry has been very dynamic in recent times and the Hausa hip hop has been very instrumental to these changes. Similarly, Hausa hip hop has gradually become a household name because people now recognizes and appreciate what we do as musicians. Our total deviation from the original hip hop in terms of the language usage and the lyrics composition has really helped us.

“We freely played our songs in the radio and TV stations and the responses we have been getting are indeed encouraging to an extent. We having been canvassing for recognition since 1994 and believe me, we have really done a good work in announcing our presence in the entertainment industry.”

Similarly, the emergence of Bayero University’s undergraduate twin, Abdullatif Abdulrahman of Physics and Latifat Abdulrahman of Biochemistry departments have indeed started to confirm the assertion that the industry has really come to stay. Their advent into the modern Hausa hip hop scenario has made a remarkable mark as Latifat could probably be the first ever recorded Hausa female rapper.

According to them, the both have their parent’s consent to go into music aside their educational pursuits. The 17-year-olds also claimed that they write their songs and usually engage in their music activities during the holidays. “We have our educational career to concentrate on and we have also promised our parents that our studies won’t be neglected as a result of our musical activities,” they said.

Though both studies sciences, the twin say music has been their passion since childhood and believed that with the popularity modern Hausa music is gaining, the sky is their limit.

Another young Hausa rap artist making wave in Kano is a 17-year-old Aminu Salisu a.k.a Wezbapho who stormed the modern music industry will his unique rap songs. The young artist says he needs not to leave Kano to make wave. According to many fans of the music industry, the modern Hausa music industry is gradually taking over from all angles.