He is not known as king for nothing, because whenever the Malawian Hip-Hop megastar Tay Grin works on something fresh, he means business. Having taken a jumbo step to feature Nigeria’s music legend 2Baba (also known as 2Face), and rolling out a mega promotion campaign for his latest track “Chipapapa”, the Nyau King continues to set the trends as he spends a whopping K5.5 million (about US$7,500) on the production of the song’s video.
The rap celebrity flew to South Africa a week ago to meet 2Baba and proceeded to the shooting of the video in the gold mining town of Nigel in Gauteng Province. Tay Grin and his Nigerian counterpart have been working with South Africa’s innovative production company Pilot Films on the video which has been directed by legendary director Bruce Patterson who has created noteworthy music videos for big South African artists such as Teargas, KO, Donald and Mi Casa, just to name but a few.
While the idea of spending such huge sums of money, especially for a Malawian artist may seem completely bizarre, Tay Grin continues to stress that it is time for Malawi to claim its spot on the African music scene and compete with the best of the best on the continent and overseas.
“Our colleagues have set levels and the music industry has become a serious business not something we should keep doing for fun. Malawi must move with time and follow the trends. Our friends are making major investments and that’s why we have seen the music and showbiz industries boom in all these countries that we now look up to, right here in Africa. Hence we need to do the same and spare no cost. We need to get ourselves emphatically fit to play in this major league with our counterparts, that way we will make all these big moves together,” says the 2014 Best Malawian Hip-Hop/Rap Artist.
“Chipapapa” video features a variety of super models and Soweto’s Finest dancers while styling is by South Africa’s Maestro Holdings. Lilongwe’s deputy mayor Kwame Bandawe also makes a cameo in the video.
“We made sure we got the best team together and to do that it doesn’t come cheap. We had to make sure makeup, styling and production was of world standard yet keeping true to our cultures. This video will showcase globally and people will see the beauty of Malawian culture and Nigeria coming together.
“The video is unique in so many aspects. It brings together class, culture, pride and beauty. It’s a video for both the old and young. I am very proud of the results and soon people will get to enjoy it. ‘Chipapapa’ is Malawian. This video is ours!” states Tay Grin.