Kamili and Saint: Rapping tales through 'Kazi Kasi'

A beat with a background of metal ringing accompanied by sounds of people screaming ‘wooh, yeah’ repeatedly hit my ears. In a few seconds, a voice starts rapping slowly. The rapper’s voice is between thick and thin, it can even be described as both.

The lyrics rhyme with the beat and there is a thin line between getting lost in the sound and paying less attention to the lines sung. The rapper is joined by another voice and a connection forms between the two as their rapping pace keeps increasing.

The two voices belong to Kamili Freeman and Kamran Mitha whose stage names are Kamili and Saint. The two have released their joint album recently dubbed ‘Kazi Kasi’ and this is one of the songs on the album called ‘SisiKii’. The two are both fast rappers and their voices complement one another in a way that outstands their project.

They have both sought inspiration from fast rap from Eminem and it has been their identity since the beginning of their journeys.

“It sounds cool and different. This kind of rap is not common in Tanzania,” says Kamili.

Aged 30 years old, he began his musical journey when he was in grade five at Dar es Salaam Independent School (DIS). It was his class’ turn to perform at the assembly and one of his fellow students suggested they perform rap instead of a play, which was common on their grounds.

That day, Kamili went back home and asked his sibling the names of their favourite rappers and they mentioned the likes of Eminem and 50 Cent. He memorized some of their lines and performed in front of the entire class. The school loved his rap and at the same time, Kamili felt like he had found his identity after the reactions on his fellow students’ faces.

With that, he began to write rap songs on the back of his exercise books and this exhilarated him. He felt more alive. This writing saw him release his first song called ‘time’ and as he calls it while laughing at the memory ‘lies, it was lies!’

The only problem he had at the time was beats because he did not know how to create them. During his early career days, Kamili had a habit of downloading them online based on his writings and he would pose as if they were his own. Later on, a producer gave him a software program that assisted him to produce his own songs and with time, he started producing other people’s songs.

“My first beat was…Oh my God! (He laughs to himself) When I played it to my friends, they hid their true reactions by being encouraged that I could do better with practice and time,” he says.

His music-making process starts with making beats before seeking feedback from some of his players to whom he plays the beat. After identifying the beat, he gets in the studio and records the song, most times without noting down the lyrics, after the song is complete; he shares it on streaming platforms.

“It’s always your most personal experiences that people can relate to and this has made me make songs about the things I feel, see or go through in a manner that someone, somewhere can

Saint’s music journey also kicked off when he was a form four student at Aga Khan and it took him about two years to win support from his family who at first believed that he would end up ‘mhuni’. He now has three released songs including…

Kamili and Saint were connected through a mutual friend named Abubakar who is also an upcoming musician. They created a joint single and at first, listen, they were both convinced that a project expansion would be ideal.

“This project will be a fast rap kind of album that will highlight how fast we can rap. On the other hand, we want to tell a story through our album in hopes that it will encourage other young people to be more authentic as they work on themselves,” Saint details.

While this will be Kamili’s fifth album whereas the previously released include Kawe, Ice CrEam SAuCE, Adeline and NoTHinG, this is Saint’s first album.

“This album will have 12 songs, three of which have features. Working alongside three other producers, I have produced and mixed every song on the project,” Kamili hints.

He unravels that through this album, they have addressed the youth on the ways to live more presently through the lessons the two have shared in the album.

Aside from SisiKii, the other songs in the album are Dope, NOS, Piki Kali and Dandisha.

“One of the best career advice I have ever gotten was to keep pushing despite the challenges that I come across and that time sorts everything out,” says Saint.

On his part, Kamili advises young people to grab opportunities whenever they present themselves.

“I would tell them to do everything that they can, whenever they can because that is the only way one succeeds,” he says.