“Ke Flabba”
With the deepest of regrets I find myself writing a piece on one of the most lyrically gifted rappers Mzansi has seen in our lifetime. I am not only stating this because this gentleman has passed, I probably wouldn’t have written this article while he was still breathing, that’s the thing with us humans and “giving flowers” .
Nkululeko Habedi fondly remembered by many as “Flabba” of successful rap outfit Skwatta Kamp was a beast with a pen. I was introduced to this guy back in the early 2000s. It must be 2001 at the German Duestche School in Milpark, at my first ever German Beer festival hosted by the school in the school premises.
“When I say Skwatta, the rest shut the f*ck up. My squad says camp right!?” was probably the first time I was introduced to his pitchy cheeky voice on wax. This dude wasn’t just a rapper on surface, rocking Timbs, spotting Fubu gear or that random New York Yankees cap we’ve known almost every wanna-be rapper to don.
This guy’s attitude on the microphone yelled identity and that identity was “Gomora mfanam where the thugs never caught”. He wasn’t about the fancy American accent but this grit in his voice, the pride of being an Alexandra native oozed out of every verse. Where I was born Hip hop/Rap music was frowned upon by many who never understood it. I fell in-love with this genre of music or sub-culture through a dubbed Eminem tape I found in the floor of a bedroom I once shared with my then Teen sister and I was instantly hooked.
Flabba on the other hand managed to drive whatever Eminem did with the mic, home. He made it realer for me. It all suddenly made sense, South Africans can rap too, and I can attempt this rap too. I heard him first with his brothers of Skwatta Kamp.
One of the first Flabba song’s which ultimately makes my list of top 10 rap songs of all times is “Accelerate”. It went a little like this “quick accelerate, I’m right behind you/ oh most definitely Flabbergast that made your fine crew/ Do you promise to battle MCees? Of cause I do/ There’s a lot of competition but f*ck it I’m nice too/”.
What he did was rap about his environment, his “kid brother Tshepang”, his love of Carling Black label, smacking loud mouthed rappers and disturbingly issues he had with his “Girls”. I shared commonalities with his technique of mixing township colloquialisms with High school taught English and American Ebonics.
Flabba wanted to be remembered for his Raps, I could get into trouble for this honesty but he made no attempt to brush up his image for media purposes, this did not mean a thing to him, he had an elevated style of conceptualizing and bringing those set concepts to life through rhythm and poetry.
It’s hard to imagine that this Hip hop legend has left us; and I say “Legend” because his career as a rapper was nothing short of amazing. He probably is the only rap artist to win a SAMA in a group and as a solo artist. He recently just performed at the #AxecessJozi concert a performance which I missed. 38 years of age and he was still doing it like or even better than he ever did. If there is anything I am taking from a page of Flabba’s book it’s that doing what you love is all that matters, whether or not people think you are successful at it.
Rap as a creative tool to tell a people’s story is dying; it is slowly evolving to the sound track of Turn-Ups where no compelling or emotional stories are told. Nkuli was a father, a son, a brother, a friend, but with the utmost respect the world will remember this Gomora flag flyer as one of the wittiest, the cleverest and most honest rappers of the South African Hip hop culture and to quote Proverb’s tweet for Flabba, “Rest In Beats” rap soldier.
Hip hop is proud to have had your consumption and contribution to the culture, we’ve lost one.
R.I.P Nkululeko “Flabba” Habedi.
Nay’ikinga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYJW8W9nv6w