Respected rapper Third Eye recently announced that he has quit music. The artist is famed for his imaginative lyrics as well as well thought rhymes. He even wrote a book in 2014 Michael Comes Home. Born Mandela Mwanza, the YALI graduate is also the founder of the disbanded Soul Rebel Entertainment and CEO of Rediyo App.
Third Eye cited low return-on-investment as one of the main reasons he’s quitting. However, as true as this sounds, he, himself is to blame. He came to a novel rap industry with his deep-thought English rap songs. Although, the songs were right, but the market was not; talk of wrong approach, wrong place, wrong time.
He has over 7 albums recorded between 2007 and 2016. Yet only a few are well known. As for me I know, Imagine Being Jesus And Not Knowing It, The Hat-Trick and Highly Underrated. However, despite the broad collection, I only know about three songs; Deep, Lazaro Dzuka and Hometown.
Poor Marketing: Even to an audience that only regurgitates Chichewa songs, Third Eye marketing was poor. He gained fame around 2009 and 2011. Consequently, he lost his Hip-hop crown with the coming of Lilongwe young rappers such as Gwamba, Krazie G, and Martse. These young artists came with a storm. Instead of releasing albums every year (like Third Eye), they concentrated on making singles; hit singles. In addition, they frequently featured other artists. In a few years, these novel artists had gained more recognition and approval than the legend himself.
Being the only urban artist with such a big collection of albums, he should have learned a few lessons by his third album. He should have noted what works in Malawi, what Malawian listeners like, and give them that. However, he still stood by his hardcore hip-hop, even though it was clear that it wasn’t what Malawians needed.
Even for established international artists, they release singles first which promotes their upcoming album. Third Eye never used this strategy. Without even a single, you will hear that Third Eye has released another album! What marketing strategy was that?
Too foreign: Even the most successful rap group in Malawi, the Real Elements fused local elements to the hardcore hip-hop. Third Eye didn’t. He occasionally rapped in Chichewa. The same problem can be mentioned of his compatriot and his main producer; Dominant One. Thus his music gave him the hip-hop respect known as the street-cred, and nothing more.
Over-reliance on one producer: Third Eye’s songs and albums don’t sound different (to me). They have the same feel and you may feel like it’s just a long playlist and not necessarily different albums. Almost 95% of his songs are produced by Dominant One. Maybe D1 is the only producer who does what he like, maybe it’s because they are childhood friends, or maybe he was just not ready to work with other producers. He needed to give listeners other music feels apart from the D1-infested beats. Lately, he started working with BFB and Hometown really felt like something he should have been doing.
This is an eye opener to other Malawian artists. Some things can be done right, but to the wrong people and wrong audience. Its high time artists become serious and focus on a wider audience other than focusing their energies to a people who won’t give them the respect and accolade they deserve. Talk of Gemini Major, almost all his songs are hits. But none of that would have earned him that global recognition he’s now swimming in if he were still in Malawi. Dali, Theo Thomson, Genii Blakk, Malinga, Home Grown African, Charisma and Purple C are very good artists but may end up frustrated like Third Eye if their only foci market is Malawi only. It’s high time artists make songs that will NOT only be heard on Joy Nathu’s Made On Monday program NOR gets uploaded on Malawi Music website and get thousands of free downloads, It’s time to go global!
To crown it all, the legendary Third Eye tried his best. But Malawi never received him or gave him the honour he deserves. But the junk of the blame goes to Third Eye himself; his insistence on making songs he needed, not the songs the people needed. It’s a shame that the awards have started when his fame is at its lowest. He quits as the best old school rapper, though without any official award to show off. But we know, he’s still young and will come back again, possibly next year with another album.
thenyasablogger 