News & Interviews

A Brief Interview with Sage Poet | 22.08.20

August 23, 2020

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On 22^nd August, 2020 Legacy Music Inc conducted an online open audience interview with the famous hip hop artist Sage Poet.

The interview went as follows:

Question 1: What is your take on Hip Hop future in Malawi. As urban music in general, are we going towards the right direction?

Answer: I feel like we don’t have an industry yet and, in this case, we still need to concentrate on building the basic steps and not rush to stages we aren’t yet. The only thing that worries me a lot is that we really don’t have our identity with sounds especially the urban circles, most of it is still imitation and emulation stages.

Question 2: How do you manage your brand? We have never seen your videos on our local or international channels neither watched your live interviews.

Answer: I do mostly, I consider what resources I have at my disposal to brand myself. If you have been following my music and those of a similar then you might stumble into my stuff and others on local TV stations like MBC and Zodiak. As far as international audience is concerned it has not really been my priority because I need to have a solid base back home first. As for interviews, some have been turned down due to time factors because I don’t just do music, I go to work and have family time too so to find time for that has been a little hard.

Question 3: How long now has it been since you started doing music and what genre do you focus more on?

Answer: First time I wrote a rap verse was 2002, so we can say that’s when the journey started. I do Hip-Hop music.

Question 4: How do you describe a Rapper as a “The Greatest of All Time?”

Answer: Haha Greatest of All Time is a tough one. But I would say Rakim would be GOAT because of so many factors we will take a while to discuss.

Question 5: Can you give us your top 10 “Greatest of All Time” you can include yourself if necessary.

Answer: Locally

Marvel
Kananji
Dominant One
Third Eye
Phi Ella
Spokesman
Tadala
Deeh Oh Dub
C-Scripture
E.N.E.T.I.X

Question 6: How do you look into the future of Hip-Hop artists of Malawi? And how do credit them as an artist?

Answer: My greatest fear is that we might not be able to have our own version of Hip-Hop native to Malawi any time soon because we are all caught up in the emulation of what we admire from out there.

Question 7: What’s your creative when it comes to composing?

Answer: Usually I spend most of the time conceptualizing on the subject matter before anything else because I believe I am a communicator. Sometimes the feeling is spontaneous, some songs are written in minutes and some take weeks to complete depending on the feeling. I’ve enjoyed the chemistry with all the people I have worked with.

Question 8: Sage Poet you talked about us Malawians not having an original sound but just imitating. To an extent I agree with you. My question is, who in your opinion in Malawi makes original music and should be followed as an example.

Answer: As far as Rap is concerned, Tadala seems to have a hybrid of so many things into his music that makes him unique, it’s very creative and socially conscious. Of course, I’ve heard a couple but this is just an example.

Question 9: Sage Poet as a Hip-Hop artist how do you understand Hip-Hop?

Answer: Hip-Hop is socially conscious integrated way of life that involves 9 elements