Sixteen’s

It’s another boring day. Nothing much to look forward to, double and triple lessons await me after the first two math and English classes. I’m sitting in my desk looking around at my classmates each busy with their own work, some catching up on last week’s homework, others getting their notes up to date. Then someone comes in from the staff room with a message that there’s been a transport strike in town, so the morning classes won’t take place since the teachers won’t be able to make it in time. The class cheers on the good news as the news bringer leaves to pass on the message to the other classes.

I turn to face a group of my classmates hurdled up clapping and making what sounds like rhythmic beats. Someone’s rapping in the center as they rally him on. “What are you guys doing?” I ask puzzled “Yo, slim is free styling men, join in” my classmate responds as he pushes me into the circle.

And that’s how it all started, well how I’d like to think it did. I might have embellished a little but you get it right? (haha). After that experience I’ve never looked back. I just kept writing and writing whatever came to mind. It was the day emcee Def was born, later to officially be known as Defmatic.

Every emcee has a cool story of origin behind him/her. Mine, well, I don’t think is as glamorous as most. My first verse was actually a dare; I did it simply because I personally can’t turn down a reasonable challenge. Rapping was not an escape for me; it was an art form I admired from a distance before I understood what it was. 

I started out writing poetry in the first year of highschool. English class was my favorite, mostly the poetry and play sections as I was personally drawn to the intricate word plays and forms of expressions. Let’s not leave out Kiswahili because that was also (if I can put it lightly) the bomb. Well mostly the Swahili plays, the rest just flew past my head.

So my craft was honed in a classroom setting, not a park bench, street corner or rooftop but where you would least expect it. That’s probably why you won’t hear a lot of drug dealing, random killing and felonious activities in my raps (haha) although few people I knew where into that (the drug dealing only, don’t get it twisted).

I’ll be the first to admit that hanging around so called criminals actually helps a rapper. It lets you in to a world of contradictions that exposes you to reality and takes you away from your comfort zone. Because, you now have to find a way to relate with people society tells you not to, while at the same time trying to stay true to who you are as a person. Likewise, it does wonders for your reputation (haha). See my first sixteen’s below:

I was born in the paper chase/ searching for the 1.0.0s with an old president’s face/ my residence is evil/ walking with lethal weapons ready to aim a red dot on your freckle/ I heckled with the best/ foes wanted to remove me/ but their weak scripts couldn’t move me from this planet earth/ you black zombies with big branded shirts/ Ayo listen up!/ cause I got a bit of Christ and Nasty Nas in me/ if I ain’t nice/ you probably worse silly/ the only dictator spiting a verse/ you can curse/ but I ain’t doing this for a living/.. I’m giving back/