El6iah, Rap star on the rise.

 

Photo by: Ngqiqo Somaxa

Rest assured brothers and sisters the South African rap game is in safe hands.

“I heard they killing the game so I am cooking up the cure”

 

Announced the 19 year-old savior of hip hop Eli6ah whose birth name is  Ngqiqo Somaxama, From sincity, Pretoria.

 

His stage name Eli6ah is adapted from the Bible, after the Hebrew prophet ,Elijah, who rank with Moses in saving the religion and it spelled with a six to cause a contradiction since the number six is associated with evil it is referred to as the "number of the beast". Soon many are going to be referring to him as the “Yahweh of the rap game” here at home.

 

His love for rap music stems from the streets of  Pretoria. He was somehow always surrounded by the genre.

 

“ I have always related to It” he added 

 

He doesn’t remember needing to pursue anything else besides music except for when he was in primary school and he was intrigued by the sun, moons, stars, universes, and more things identified with astronomy. This clarifies his affection for NASA to this day.

Eli6ah  dropped his debut 2-track EP titled forever in 2019. The EP was an introduction to the masses that he has stepped foot into the rap game officially and that he is here to revive the rap game. 

 

When he was asked to describe the music he makes, “Therapeutic” is the adjective that bolted from his mouth unhesitantly. Not only is his music tonic it is also raw.

 

“I put the real me in my music so everything you hear is raw, it’s me” he emphasized.

 

He wants the listeners to be true to themselves when listening to his music as he does the same with the music he caters to them. 

 

In his recently released EP titled Pain is beautiful The 6-track body of work was recorded in Venda and produced by local producer Logical Rhymez. 

 

Pain is beautiful EP art cover

“ I wanted to get away from the noise and really connect with the music” he explained

 

The musician highlighted how personal this body of work is to him. Pain is beautiful was composed to tell the listener that good things can be born from dreadful situations. 

 

In this project, the rapper summons the listener into his personal life. The rapper discusses the pain of losing his mother and how he is coping with it. He revealed that the hardest song to complete was the outro titled Now and Forever. 

 

He admits that looking back from the boy who was suffering from anxiety and recording songs with only his phone. He is proud of where he is now and the rapper has bigger things coming for South African’s.

 

The young experimental rapper states that there shouldn't be lines or boxes when it comes to making music. His desire to want to experiment with music is something he his bringing to the rap game. This helps him break barriers in the genre. Earlier this year he released an album in which he fused Hip Hop/rap with hardcore Rock elements.

 

“Be patient with yourself” he advises other aspiring rappers and other newcomers.

 

When I posed the question, “what would you change about the South African rap industry” He answered “Ego”. He argued that rappers’  egos are standing in the way of hip hop's greatness in South Africa. He pleads with rappers to not let ego blind them.

 

He discussed that the label ‘Legend’ must not be abused in the hip hop game. Glancing back at how the label is placed before numerous rappers names after they pass on.

 

“A legend is someone who makes music that lives beyond their time”

 

“Be humble” these words that are constantly uttered by his manager Kagisho Rapati. He said that this is the best piece of advice he has received as of yet concerning his music it reminds him that there is no respect for others without humility in one’s self.

 

“I am glad for corona” he stated an unpopular opinion.

The rapper acknowledges the wrath that the pandemic has caused but he feels like people only focus on the bad effects of the pandemic. Why don’t we ever talk about the positive outcomes that came from this whole ordeal?

 

During this lockdown. He went into deep introspection and it helped him get his plans together of what is going to do with his music. He got to the chance to discover more things about himself as an individual and also as a rapper. 

 

The pandemic made him realize how the internet and social media are essential when it comes to connecting with the listener.

 

“The internet lets me connect directly with the consumer, it eliminates the middle man” he stated.

 

The pandemic also emphasized the importance of social media presence for a musician. Even though social media is essential you have to know how to use it, don’t get into the cycle of spending huge amounts of time in these apps without a real purposeful reason.

 

“Know why you are on social media” he pressed.

 

He is currently doing a radio tour to promote his second EP, he started with Valter FM which is in the north west. He also has a show coming up sometime next year September.

 

He has since performed at small get togethers and has upcoming performances at club 442 which is in Pretoria, and later on the 19 of this December 2020 he will be performing at an event in Pretoria called party in the wess.

 

The soon to be “Yahweh of the rap game” certainly has a lot of saving to do and a whole lot of history to make along the mission. He is currently working on a joint album called A way out with Coffin Club World wide (CCW) that is going to come out sometime next year. 

Check out his music on the following streaming platforms Itunes, Spotify and Sound cloud. Follow on Instagram at eli6ah.