 courtesy of DJ Rage is on the desk. That's how we do right here on hashtag hip-hop Thursday every single Thursday right here on why in the morning. My name is Michelle Ashida thank you for staying tuned because right now I am joined. I am joined by amazing group of guys who are individually doing amazing work in terms of the artistic aspect of hip-hop music and before further I do I would like to introduce them but before that make sure we keep on the composition going on our social media handles at Twitter handle our Twitter handle Twitter Twitter Twitter handle it's Y254 channel on Instagram account that is Y254 underscore channel and you can equally follow me and as well sending your request comments at Michelle Ashida it's as simple as that and DJ how they came how can they find you back at home. At DJ Rage is Mr. Goodvard so make sure you equally follow him he's very much muted right now but right now I am joined by amazing group of people who are doing different music but they fall under the lane of hip-hop music I'd like them to introduce themselves starting all the way from our right-hand side. Hey hello my name is Ifolish and I represent black market records. Hello my name is Tupis 254 and I represent the gang from Caetown. Tupis Caetown, Caetown represented. My name is Boyle, I represent Down Home. Boyle representing Down Home. Yes thank you guys for coming you're glad to have you back right here at Y254 channel and I would like to start off by you guys telling us but people back at home why hip-hop music and what was hip-hop like when you're growing up? Yes Boyle you're the one holding the mic. Well I was growing up I didn't at first I didn't used to listen to a lot of hip-hop music at first but when somebody told me that I should start rapping he's gonna start listening to hip-hop music yeah but it was more fun back then than right now because right now it's like there's not too much hip-hop like there was times back these days it's just a lot of traffic yeah. Okay Tupis. Okay what I can say about hip-hop I started hip-hop I started hip-hop a long time ago and what I can basically say is that hip-hop has grown to a certain level such that Kenyan artists like calligraph Jones now he has made it to an international level and we are trying our best to put the game in another level as as they are coming artists and we hope that in future we'll reach where we want to be. That's true because calligraph has actually introduced a new hip-hop artist in the scene considering that he's known as Lamis and he has been in Cali Catel before yeah so what you view on the fact that calligraph is teaming up with youngsters and introducing them into the music scene yeah they've not been into the game for the longest period of time ever. My view is that he's doing a very great job by helping other upcoming artists and also other artists should follow the same lane calligraph Jones is using you find you find out that we have so many upcoming artists who have this God-given talent but they're not exposed out there that's why we are we are thanking Y254 as a channel for giving us this platform to expose. I love the fact that you've put in the fact that we you get support from Kenyan artists and also media houses plus yeah so it all starts from somewhere yeah it starts from somewhere okay I foolish yeah what was hip-hop like to you when growing up when I was growing up hip-hop was amazing the type of music I was listening to had a message it was not just about speaking rhymes they had it music had a purpose but right now the music scene has changed people are just rapping yeah they don't have much content in the music yeah so for you I fall I foolish do you just wait before I ask this question is it I foolish or I foolish I foolish why I foolish because as fast as like I foolish that I foolish because foolish means something else actually that's an enigma okay because I read a quote by Shakespeare it says a wise man knows himself to be a fool okay but a fool knows himself to be wise so so it creates the space for growth yeah it creates the space for growth and the beauty of it it's an enigma it's something you don't know about yeah so for you do you just venture into hip-hop music or you versatile sound of yours it's more of a love song yes I'm versatile because right now if I feed the Kenyan industry with only hip-hop music they'll just take me like any other artist but I try to give them a variety of songs a variety of genres so that they can relate it's it's not about just doing hip-hop music sometimes it's about doing good music if you do good music people will appreciate if you do work music even if it's hip-hop crank any other general people will not deal with it that's true I agree and I love the fact that you're not pushing yourself in a box you like to explore more of other different genres of music two piece the last sound of your music I had it was full of beautiful women and vixen and I love that there's a line that you use that you're not a rapper do you not how about tissue where we see low to you not how about tissue yeah yeah I usually win I didn't give it side to your dog yeah so tell us more about this new job that you just so okay this this new jam has a message in that I'm trying to pass out a message to people okay in that we should live we should live aside the baseless critics and focus on those real G's we have out there so like a my best yeah but it's all about a positive vibe okay so your music it's all about positive vibe and not focusing too much on the haters and they you know there's criticism and there's the negative aspect of people just contributing to your music and feeling that they have an opinion towards whatever you are doing in production of your music yeah okay boy Lee my guy yeah yeah so there's this sound of your music I listen to it but sadly we cannot hate on TV it's called wild yeah that is so explicit and then I don't believe in release a video for that song yeah you will okay I'm looking forward to see that yeah you watch it on YouTube not on TV okay tell me about you have two videos out which have you have two videos and another which is yet to really you yet to release a video because as I said it's explicit but tell us me more about your music and your music journey oh okay I don't know where to start my music like from the start no let's talk about your at the time where you started off producing professionally okay I'm on I said it producing when I was I know I started recording song when I was in class 7 yeah so there was this guy k wash shout out k wash that guy okay there was a class made of mine my best friend he was like yo I know this neighborhood rapper wants us to start rapping wants to create like a click of rappers in the hood hey man I can be a rapper I was like yeah okay so me and me and my friend the one called Fidel this one called Mitch shout out once so we went to his place then he plays some beats for us so we're like hey okay because we're some very complex beat and it was like it was a logic guy he used to listen to like some cautious songs conscious music yeah so it was like okay we can just try and so first time rapping we never rap before so you started writing lyrics and weird lyrics and stuff but we didn't record a song to it but we're planning on recording it I'll get them to the studio okay so since then I've been writing music like every day like in class everywhere everywhere I go even right now I'm like I have some lyrics in my phone all right so you always 24-7 you in the zone yeah I'm always in the zone that's okay that's where my brain is at every time so like I'm just used to writing every time so I can't say that I have a specific concept of my musical a specific genre because I listen to a lot of music these days so a lot of ideas come to my mind every time so I can listen to a flow beat and something comes up I write it down I go and record it I also love alphabet music yeah I can listen to some trap this is a trap so I'm trying to fade in but not too much I'm just trying to come up with my whole new style so right now I'm not so focused on doing what other people are doing but creating my own fun base in my own like zone yeah so you'll you take a little bit of something from alphabet yeah just juggle them up and just make it your own way and incorporate your personality into it so are you and are you working under any label right no I'm not working under it I'm a I'm an independent artist right okay you're an independent artist so how is it for you like when you go to the studio do does their producer keep this there's an aspect of when you're under record label their producer tends to feel obligated to ensure like at the end of it your product is at it's dazzling because the name will appear on the production and everything else but in the other aspect of being an independent artist there's also an ideal ideology that there could be you know the fact that I just sell you beats we have already worked with the engineer on your beats I'm selling you the beats and Darcy just produce your music and if it goes on well that's well and good and if it doesn't it's well and good because at the end of the day I got the money so it's all cool so for you it how is it the journey being okay so right now you know I thank God I have some very nice friends man like I have a friend that I used to have him in high school is my he used to be my baby we call them baby I was like sleeping right here then he was sleeping next to me like he had a bed right next to me so every day we're just planning on how we're going to take over when you're done with high school and stuff and we were writing music we were writing songs we were just planning on what to do next so that guy happens to be a producer right now okay and his bro has a studio too so mostly I have to I have to thank God man because I kind of recall some of my songs freely you know so improvised you use what you have I use what I have okay I don't have cash right now so I won't go to to these famous producers to produce a song because I can't afford it so what I can do right now we just grow until I get that cash you know so that's why I record my friends it's more fun recording with your friend than somebody else you don't know because you have to create a rapport with someone else and the process also I love the fact that you've mentioned the issue of money yes finances in production of music to what's your thoughts on that because you have produced a couple of songs and you have amazing videos incorporating video vixens which is actually additional amount of money to eat additional finances how is your budget like how do you budget for a production okay because really stocking of improvising what you have how do you manage and under your production and the budget issues of finances okay and issues of finances what I can really say is that I have these I have these supportive supportive friends who usually help me maybe by maybe it's the same thing with Boile there's contribution for the these contributions of fans okay and also my mother my mother usually supports me in this wow there are lots of you mothers shout out to your mom you should shout out to her because there's lots of parents who support talent out there they believe in education which is still a good thing but at the end of the day talent okay shout out to your mom I know I want to thank you for helping me since I started this music journey and also my brother in Canada kefir that's all the way big up and my two brothers also okay and please let me be gup I think we'll do this afterwards right okay okay so it's still nice we'll do that after this that's actually making sure that your music please and people back at home get to hear you and sending your shout out is equally very important we're talking about people contributing to your music and it's the same thing applies from Boile that is you are using people around you people are helping you you're talking about your idea you're approaching them but I have a question this is vague I'm very curious how do you approach a friend that those friends if you tell them that I have an idea or I have this new project coming up and give you the idea be like two piece wherever you use this one you think it will work so how do you deal with the fact that friends and family don't believe in you when you when you approach them for help okay that's the only only thing I can do support you you get to another person who will support you and if they don't support you by now just prove yourself then they'll support you later I love that I really do because they say that if someone says you can do it you actually do it twice and take pictures yes yes okay I foolish so how do you deal with your production in terms of budget because young people want to get they intend to get into the music scene and this being why to fight for channel and we are promoting young artists out there and they're looking at finances and the budgeting they go to producer they asking huge amount of sum of money in terms of production the audio aspect of it and also the video production aspect of it so how do you deal with your budget I'm lucky enough to be signed in a record label wow finally we have a signed artist okay let's hear your aspect at the angle where you are how things are like I'm lucky because I live actually in the same building with our studio okay so if I have any idea just go up in the studio and I tell the producer and he I have I need to do this track how can we do this then we go right about it and then we just produce that track yeah so for you and it comes to writing of your music are you at what point does it happen are you always 24-7 in the zone or do you get influenced by what you see just observing at what point or do you just go to the studio sit down with a notebook and say like right now I'm going to write a love song and I'm sitting down and you writing love hip-hop songs or anything that's of the sort mostly I'm influenced by my experiences and experiences my friends or any anyone I see around me going through and then if I feel right now like I'm happy I'll not do a sad song okay I must do a happy song because that's the energy that I feed into the music is the energy that will come out yes if I'm sad and I do I force myself to do a love song that means that I'll not feel that bit and if I don't feel that bit I'll not kill the beat all right and I'll produce a work track so I just gotta stay on toes yeah you said something important which is expressing emotions at a particular point yeah so as artists people back at home should not avoid that the fact that you're feeling there's a point where emotions are overwhelming and you feel probably I'm feeling sad or I'm feeling so super excited so this is the right time to put it down on paper even in anger well in anger yeah all right good stuff there so how long does it take you to write a song how does it how long does it take you to write a song there's a friend of mine yesterday we were talking and he was speaking of it can take in 30 seconds to write a song yeah actually writing a song just depends on what you want to talk about we're not to talk about something serious like they do see it incident or an accident some that happened somewhere somebody died I really have to think about it but when I just want to talk about fun and drop bars and stuff it's for me the writing process the funnest part of my music okay like I really love writing music yes the recording part is stressful because you have to repeat it every time you know so for you it takes the shortest period of time to write a job yeah okay and actually the way I write I should I can give guys a cigarette I'll just write verses I don't write the whole song wow right of us today maybe in the evening am I right another one or maybe next week then when I get a beat that's when I drop everything together yeah so in the other in the other verse I just try and fix some other stuff that I can add so I can look like the other way yeah okay so two piece how long does it take you to write your songs yes for me basically nature occurrences and let's say nature occurrences and experiences the influence your music yeah so like if I take a walk somewhere I see something that has happened or if I've heard about an trendy issue I just put in paper and write a song okay yeah it can take even a week a week yeah wow that's a lot that's a long but but they say something good takes time because you have to put in a different artistic aspect of your music yeah right so far so good talk me about talk to me about so far who among you have been in these performing gigs and how is the reception be from promoters and everything else especially if there is a big artist in the name but let's not look at the big artist let's talk to me about any event that you have been involved in in this year 2019 this year I've been at century loans okay we performed actually and released tracks then people started just standing up they were dancing with us they were like why don't we see you guys in the TV I am like now you're on TV yeah so the reception is amazing but the problem is most most dope artists are being shelved they don't get much airplay and then they lose focus because they don't have patience to be in the music game you need patience because me and my whole gang we've been patient for more than nine years so until we got the deal that's nine years right now people look at us making moves and they like these guys how do they make it they don't understand that we as a group we started from the bottom we didn't have a studio we had to save to buy the equipments move one step at a time we we thought ourselves shoot videos we shot videos in the process of doing many songs and sharing them we got noticed okay you know when you do a truck and you post it there's someone somewhere always who's there viewing you you don't know maybe you impress someone and they're going to sign you and life is going to be easy but for that to happen you need to work hard and you need patience all right if you've mentioned something very important because young people will get into the music scene and any other industry as long as you're young we want it right now and if it's not right now right now right now so the issue of patience what yes we are patient right because at the end of the day you have nothing else to do because you can't do anything it's not your time yet but what do you do at the at the moment whereby you're just being patient and nothing is happening nothing is moving in terms of your music what do you do at that aspect of that particular point at that particular point yes you read your books you read your books yeah okay so let me assume that apart from music you're doing something else right okay so for you guys in 2018 how many events have you been part of let's go back to 2018 it's not that far though okay as for me I usually have many gigs but I usually get these gigs from my school because most of the time you're still in yeah I'm a student okay wait wait why study Mount Canyon University which course travel and tourism travel and tourism stroke artist yes yeah so I usually get the platform for my school and I I really appreciate in that we usually get the chance to associate with other the artist to have made it yeah so as long as you have a platform just start from somewhere yeah just start from somewhere boy yeah tell me about your performances I haven't started back in 2018 2019 okay there was 20 give me one of this give me one of your standing performances last year that's the problem I don't perform yet you mean study performing yeah you know where we are right now you only perform but they're gonna pay you exposure that's not gonna help me right now for real so what I do right now you can take that before you get the real I used to take that I used to take that back then you know I didn't just start rapping yesterday all that last year yeah so I used to drop songs but I was I was in a group I used to be in a group so we used to go for shows most of the shows we weren't paid all of the shows weren't paid not most of them some we didn't even perform and we came to perform freely so that's just and you have to keep your mind as an artist you have to keep your mind on a on a nice place you know because you can't you can't come from being frustrated for the shows as you sit down to write a dope song yeah that can't work how do you do that I practice like every time like I told you I write verses like every day so me instead of being distracted we're looking for shows right now I have just to focus on my skills and my tracks the someday somebody will look at my tracks and call me for show that's the hope I have right now so artists as long as even though you're getting exposure just as a way of payment don't just sit there do something I don't just sit there you're rust you know you have to keep your skills at part you know you might think you dope right now like like five years from five years back I used to think I was dope right now I can't listen to those songs I'll be like yo what is that doing you know but right now like I can see my growth and it's I don't really think about shows right now because you know there's a whole new there's a whole world outside here you know we're only thinking about Kenya but there's a whole world okay so right now like for example right now I have a song on Spotify I have a song on iTunes and stuff you know those people don't know about me but they're playing my songs and I'm expecting to get paid you know but here even a single song you might get this man I thank God that we got this TV you know you know right now we're in TV yeah there's some guys out there who have rap for like 10 years they've never been on TV and their skills are they've been tired of rapping right now they've started businesses and stuff but right now we're trying to focus that's why I have my music on the music platforms and stuff because I know my fan base out there is going to grow because people in your country won't really appreciate you the way the other people will you know in the same way that even an artist from Tanzania like diamond yeah we love that guy here so much you know like I believe that if he if he drops a song right now two million views will come from Kenya that is true yeah so like the reception you have to think about the big picture don't think about don't think in the box that's what I'm trying to say yeah don't think just within the box yeah you have to think widely and just focus on building yourself and you know your skills matter not just the shows because my go to the show but you have a work song so if you have to go to the show when you some you have something to show for it you know like the other dope artist in the US people blow up because they're dope they just they don't just blow up because they you know yeah all right so let's look at do you have any new projects coming up I have a lot of projects but they're not coming out in this anytime soon because I'm planning on driving my wild video it's going to be explicit but you can go and check it out on YouTube I'm boy Lee my name I think has been written on the screen or somewhere so you can go YouTube and check it out you can see everything I've been doing I've been working by the way even if I don't have too much subscribers they are hundred and eighty eight that I have when I thank you because those guys go and check it out you know okay but yes yes that explicit video the song which is on YouTube let's hear from two piece do you have any new projects coming up okay I have new projects coming up and big up Moeaka I'm doing I'm doing a collab with him oh shout out to him yeah yes and from I'm supposed to do a collab with the K. Green from ADF family if you know they they show up family yeah you guys are busy yes I foolish I have an album dropping February we are looking forward to a start let me show you come here come back here drop it right now I've featured Kapella Kiki wow yeah I have some artists yes yeah it will the album will be on all music platforms title everything then if you want to find my music you can go up on YouTube I foolish vivo you'll find all my music I'll be dropping a track a video for lunchtime cycle volume one maybe today or tomorrow I'm not so sure about that all right yeah and then I have seven truck EP that I'll also drop I think February I'll just let you enjoy the album first and drop it in much we definitely looking forward to us the album is you talk of releasing it on February yeah this year definitely we are looking forward to us that's so I foolish make sure you drop it right here on hashtag hip hop as they on why in the morning so let you guys give out your social media handles that is an Instagram and other social media handle so be but before that you'll drop some lines introduce introduce yourself and a little bit of something you know snippet flow bars and everything else and then you give out your social media handles then we'll play your music okay yeah all she want is attention why you sufficient affection while you're hitting up a DM say you love a bus do you know you would cheat bro yeah you think she got amigas that's the niggas and the friends on she's the lawyer she not cheat bro body figure she attend bra but you keep on sipping and drinking in love with the liquor for getting a felons getting the paper you are can so freaky you kind of remember how lovely just stripping she making time for you cooking dinner while you are in the club blowing the money and getting your jobs getting a home you just give us some blows okay to peace yes to bring it back I'm a October nearly tears a chinny seek who I'm so tall while you're done in email loss Niko Chonjo see but is she car how my rap a lot of my dream is to rap and see on daughter I'll be so generous on my lyrics and I'll be sure in on this niggas if they try me okay who is he couldn't judge but he like a lonely carry charge so he niki come shows in on our charge bill a garage shout out to my friends and my mom yeah yeah that is stupid for you boy Lee yeah look see as you saw them ziki that's the only thing I'm good at see a pretty girl you know what all is stupid lugar I'm betting on these niggas and I always work a kitchen the gang is dropping albums we a bunch of clumsy niggas let him know Napa to ganji but you know Nassaka more I'm tiny don't he rap before we pick your mom we ban to nega see last demon same you call I can't sell my soul it in the only part of dough I used to ombra must a dough same case with auntie every time she pick my call she'll show me kanja niki she a usher go I have some muscle don't he join M global was he John's a clear to dole man I'm hustling harder than before yeah hustling harder than before that was amazing team right here on a hashtag hip-hop that's the only wire in the morning thank you for watching and definitely don't go away new music coming up form none other than the DJ on the ducks our residential DJ DJ is the guy who gives you good vibes all the way so make sure you stay tuned because Carol will be coming up with another interview