On Monday, November 7, fast rising artistes Kivumbi King and Papa Cyangwe started an online feud after a tweet about which rapper is better than the other went viral. No disrespect to Papa cyangwe but you guys play too much https://t.co/AjE2UeaByw pic.twitter.com/zwjlGJmpnT — PAPA CYANGWE STAN ACCOUNT (@kivumbi_the_1st) November 7, 2022 Reacting to the tweet, Kivumbi said, “No disrespect to Papa Cyangwe but you guys play too much”. He was saying that he can’t be compared to the other artiste because they make different music, a move that caused an online war of fans from both sides that saw Papa Cyangwe run to the studio to record a diss track. This, like many other cases, shows how small things in the music industry can spark rivalry, and it’s not something the sector which has just started growing, needs at the moment more than collaboration among its players. To understand the power of beefing requires one to go back to early days of Hip Hop when Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. started the biggest Hip –hop conflict of all times. Not only did it claim lives of two greatest rappers of all time, but it served as a microcosm for a larger East Coast vs. West Coast or New York vs. Los Angeles rivalry. Do we need that in our small music industry with dozens of players? According to one of the forefront rappers in Rwanda’s music Ish Kevin, comparing Rwandan artists is one of the reasons causing unnecessary beefing and it should be fought as early as possible to protect the industries’ progress at all cost. “There is a disease of comparing artistes and making them look like they are competing against each other yet they should be teaming to work and learn from each other. The good thing is, we are lucky that the process of change is still going on” he said. Ish further added that the little milestone Rwandan music has achieved, in the past two years, was caused by teamwork and collaboration among upcoming musicians, saying that giving feuds room could cause a huge setback for the whole industry. “There is a big gap in our industry that we have to fill rather than beefing. We can leave that game to westerners,” he said. For Riderman, one of the pioneers of the Hip Hop genre in Rwanda, working together is always better than creating conflicts, not only in music, but in other sectors as well. “Hip-Hop has already created a bad image in Rwanda and playing such games will make it worse. We have all seen how good rappers are dying over small feuds, and we don’t want that to be the case here. The likes of Takeoff, Nipsey, and other good musicians died over small conflicts,” said Riderman who has been in the industry for over a decade, adding that rap should be uniting people rather than separate them. According to Miguel Manzi, a music expert and music projects reviewer, Hip Hop is naturally competitive, but working together to create timeless music is even more beneficial. “We need more pure greatness than feuds, especially in 2022,” he said. Kenny Kshot, one of the leading rappers in the game, also told The New Times that feuds nowadays are more fueled by clout than facts especially in Hip hop where some artistes like to gain satisfaction and fame from other artiste’s names. “Feuds are fueled by clout rather than facts because, it’s not about who got the most views or interviews on YouTube, it’s all about art and nothing else! I prefer having 10 real views than 1 million fake views but that’s just me. I don’t have to wait for others to appreciate my work, I have to appreciate it first before all the negative comments from irrelevant facts affect me!” “Beef is too soon for the industry, we need to first develop before fighting,” Kenny Kshot added. A record label owner and music manager, who chose to speak on grounds of anonymity, also told The New Times that feuds have made him terminate a contract with a musician who had started the beefing culture. “For our industry to grow, we need to first know what’s best for us. We shouldn’t be playing such conflict games and expect positive outcomes. I’ve lost a number of capable musicians over the same issue. Rwandan musicians can do better than fighting,” he said. Apart from stopping the industry from growing, feuds have also contributed to deaths of many rappers in Africa who belong to gangs. According to Billboard, celebrity feuds are like car crashes — tare unfortunate and you hope that no one gets seriously hurt, but it’s hard for you to turn away from the wreckage.
