I have never seen a Nigerian rapper, male or female, anywhere across the world, developed a style, was confident with it, ate beats, and owned it. Where does one find words to describe the movement that is Bantu, how does one write about the leader of the new school?
It’s your boy Suté.
I took a page from his life’s book and look at where I am.
Msughter Iwar was born 14th November 1992 in Makurdi. Benue’s very own but he moved to Lagos at age 4 and grew up in Victoria Island. Always Lasgidi.
Suté isn’t an average rapper, straight A’s in his report. He started studying classical music at MUSON Centre from age 7. He studied piano from 7-12 and saxophone from 12 till date. So why rap of all genres?
Every rapper has his defining moment. For Royce da 5’9 it was listening to Redman, for Suté it was Eminem. Ever since age 11 wrote Rap. Though, he never sought out being one. Besides making great music (Rap and classic) Suté studied Multimedia & Philosophy in Maynooth University, Ireland.
I’m after songs with vivid storytelling, wit, and imagery. Just like Eminem’s “Murder, murder”. You can picture him walking, robbing, etc. That is what drew me to Sute’s music. The first songs I heard were off “Anecdote I & Anecdote II. It was released in 2014. The first mixtape he released was called ‘Word‘. He recorded it himself at age 15, ever since he has released more. His first professional release was ‘Badagry‘.
Artist these days are independent of labels and so they do as they like, like Dom Kennedy, no features. I noticed the same with Suté, only with his guys. On his first mixtape, Tay was the only feature. Maybe two other features on music released before Badagry, with Leriq, Zilla, Lady Donli, and Isah & David Onuoha.
The first official mixtape was ‘Jelí’. Fun fact: It was a musical movie and each song is a scene. It’s a concept tape in that way. Suté explored his growth and journey as a human between leaving Nigeria and his return. Tied in are references to Nigerian history that mirrored his experiences, like Walls of Benin, Neo Africa, and Badagry is vivid examples.
I have to ask or I wouldn’t be doing my job, can anybody care to comment on the fact that Nigeria has no Hip Hop radio stations or genre specific shows? That’s why Hip-Hop is forced to compete with every other genre. We need a between those textures. If Nigerian hip-hop artists keep making great music it’ll be hard to ignore.
Suté studied classical music and of course listened to a lot of Jazz & Soul. It’s evident in his work. He was also influenced by Hip Hop, R&B, Rock, Electronic & Experimental music. It was difficult to name a couple of artists he likes because it would be telling only a fraction of the truth. He has favorites and specific artists he has imitated but his biggest influences, for now, are his experiences, observations, trials, hopes & dreams. Also water, water inspires him. That’s legendary.
Currently, He’s in New York finishing a course in Audio Engineering. Meanwhile, he plans to put out more music and art and finding ways to make good music reach a wider audience. Plans are in motion to make Bantu global. It goes beyond music.
Follow on twitter: @SuteIwar
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