Friday, March 27, 2009

Greatest MC Battle: Round 2 Begins

Jimwat, Frasha, Jahmani Eliminated in Round 1!
At first, we didn't think we could do it; compile a list of at least 64 of the illest MC's in Kenya to ever bless the microphone, and pit them against each other in an FA Cup style, head to head battle. So our team of dedicated hip hop enthusiasts spent many hours, discussing and listening to Kenyan beats going way back to the early 90's. Way back when we had BMW and Fundi Frank (then we figured that's way too 'way back') - most readers of The Insyder wouldn't even know who those are. So we decided to limit our list to 1995-when Kenya's hip hop really got a definitive vibe and identity.

Forward to April 2009 and we're already into Round 2 of The Insyder's Greatest MC Battle. After receiving almost 3,500 votes, we've cut down the list of 64 to 32!! And there are some real shockers; some of the MC's expected to make it to the next round were felled by underdogs (or is it undercats?)

The drama is all unfolding in the April issue of The Insyder. You've got to grab your copy to find out...check out the results from the GREEN GROUP below. The MC's who made it to Round 2 are highlighted in pink and you'll be surprised at those who didn't make it...





Who Is The Greatest Of All Time?

Every time the topic comes up, one thing is for certain; no one agrees on who the greatest Kenyan MC or rapper of all time is. But we all agree that it’s time we settled this once and for all. So we at The Insyder have decided to take the debate to the people, to you – the fans. The Insyder Presents…The Greatest MC Battle, an interactive, World Cup/FA Cup, knockout-style tournament pitting the 64 top MC’s, dead or alive, against each other in a head-to-head competition: All this to determine who you believe to be the best in game ever.
The first round of voting jumped off with the commemoration of the 5th death anniversary of E Sir in March. Votes opened on March 1st, 2009. There will be a total of 5 rounds, with each round lasting one month. Winners of each match up will be determined by your vote either through an entry form found in The Insyder or online through theinsyder.com
There are four pools/groups into which all the MC’s have been placed into. Each of those four groups represent the colours of our flag i.e. Red, Green, Black and White.
Select any one of them to begin voting. You can vote once or as many times as you like. At the end of four months, we’ll crown a king or queen, and the winner will be announced in our July issue.

The Pools
Who is the Greatest Kenyan Rapper Ever? We're tired of guessing, so The Insyder has created an elimination competition to let you, the reader, decide once and for all just who is the best rapper ever. There are 32 names, but in the end, there will only be one. Who will it be? That's for you to decide by ticking (or clicking) next to the name of the rapper you prefer in each match-up. Come back every month to see who made the cut and moved on to the next round.
The Bloods (Red Group)
The Commandoes (Green Group)
The Peace Makers (White Group)
The Peepz (Black Group)

The Pots
Just like in the World Cup or FA Cup, the top teams only meet in the latter stages of the competition. In The Insyder’s Greatest Kenyan Rapper Ever, this will be no different; we will seed MC’s according to their lyrical prowess. This means that MC’s will be categorized according to their rhyme-spitting and hit making abilities, so as the illest one’s don’t meet in the early rounds. Thus, we will have eight POTS consisting of four MC’s each.
Keep it locked right here as next we'll reveal the draw for the toughest MC battle ever...

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

It’s Austin’s Again!





The writing was on the wall; just two weeks after defeating the seemingly invincible NIS at The Insyder Slam Jam championship, St. Austin’s once again became the Nairobi Province Champions by snatching a heartbreaking 86-83 overtime victory last Saturday.
In the girls’ final, LA High outlasted St. Gee to win 51-36 with Mercy Wanyama emerging MVP scoring 26 points.

Martial Arts Fighter Offers To Train Rihanna

Mixed Martial Artist Din Thomas offered his fighting services to Rihanna. On Saturday night, Thomas fought and knocked out challenger Gabe Lemley. After his victory over Lemley, Thomas called out Chris Brown. "It's not cool to put your hands on a woman," Thomas said from the ring. "So Rhianna, if you want someone to kick his a**, holler at me." Thomas knocked out his opponent with a vicious knee to the face. The UFC competitor is a featherweight that weighs about 145 pounds when he is actively training. He is also renown for his knockout power and his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. In an exclusive interview, Thomas went into further detail, while acknowledging his offer to Rihanna still stands. “I’m not a bully,” Thomas explained to a leading internet news site. “Anytime you try to take advantage of a person, whether it’s a girl or a kid its just plain wrong. It’s generally called a mat bully [in MMA]. And in my place, it gets dealt with. They say we don’t know what happened, but she didn’t go in the car with two black eyes and bite marks.”