Dolly, is the name of a sheep that came to be known as the first successfully cloned mammal in 1996. Could Manzini based rapper Emsohigh be the “Dolly” of Eswatini Hip-Hop?
Emsohigh ruffled up some feathers when he released his music video called Baby I’m Sorry (Official Music Video) in April of 2021. This was mainly because of the rapper’s name having a startling resemblance to a more established Manzini based rapper, Eimsofly who has quite a large following in Eswatini. Aside from performing at major events such as Hipnotik, Eimsofly has worked with heavyweights in the local music scene such as Diba Diba.
For years Hip-Hop has frowned upon mimicry or wave riding as it is often called. The most recent memory of cloning in Hip-Hop was when rapper Gucci Mane was released from prison in 2016 looking healthier and much more defined than his previously chubby look. Believers of the clone conspiracy were quick to suggest that Gucci Mane had been cloned while in prison. Clones in the music industry can manifest themselves in various ways aside from the scientific method, there’s also what we refer to as wave riders; artists that try to be a carbon copy of an already successful artist. American rappers Rod Wave and Murray have been low key beefing over the startling similarities in their melodic rapping styles. Tampa Bay native Rod Wave was first to reach global recognition with his chart topping album SoulFly. However Murray’s rise in popularity prompted Rod Wave to suggest that record labels who had attempted to sign him but failed were now “cloning” him by signing artists that resembled his look and rapping styles. A more audacious form of wave riding came from South African rapper SOS, famously known for his alter ego Big Xhosa who released multiple diss tracks in 2021 taking shots at almost everybody in the South African Hip-Hop scene.
In this instance, Emsohigh found himself tagged as a wave rider of an artist from the same town who just so happens to have already reached national levels of success. When reached for comment, Emsohigh clarified that he has been using his monika since 2014 when he started making music. He did mention that he came to know of Eimsofly after he had already started rapping, ironically Eimsofly has a hit song called Know My Name (Official Music Video). After getting Emsohigh’s response to the wave riding allegations one can only wonder if it is fair that the local hip-hop community has labelled Emsohigh as an Eimsofly wave rider.
Be sure to check out Emsohigh – Baby I’m Sorry ft. Queen K , who is Emsohigh’s childhood friend. The song was produced by Esq Holygrail Records. You can also peep Eimsofly’s recently released song called Ngavulek’ Emehlo produced by AOS.
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