Why it's idiotic to assume that rapper iFani couldn't possibly sell 20,000 albums in a day

We usually pay little attention to Twitter wars because they tend to be big on ego and small on sense. But this time we have to give our two cents. Here's the story:

About two months ago, rapper iFani launched a campaign called 'First Day Gold': to sell 20,000 copies (yes, that's gold in SA) of his new album on the first day of release. Well, the album hit CD stores last week (and is also available on itunes) and guess, what? iFani reached his target.

I'm signing CDs at the Musica in Rosebank from 12:30pm today □ come buy & take a pic with me and this Gold Award. pic.twitter.com/VqFzDT8GEi

— iFani (@iFani_Haymani) May 1, 2015

We love good news, don't we?

There's this idea that South Africans don't buy music, which is of course, bullshit. Just ask house musicians, for instance. But for a long time, local hip-hop was in a commercial slump, until it was recently revived by artists like Cassper Nyovest (whose Tsholofelo sold platinum) and K.O. (Skhanda Republic has gone gold). Both artists give rap a distinctly South African flavour.

But the idea of hitting gold in a day? Insane. That doesn't mean it can't be done.

Well, AKA got involved on Twitter last night when he claimed that booze brand Redd's, who sponsor iFani, were the ones who bought 20,000 copies of iFani's album so that he could go gold. Some of his tweets:

This 20k selling album? ... Featuring hits singles like _____________________

— AKA (@akaworldwide) May 12, 2015

BE ON THE LOOKOUT. IFANI AND REDDS WILL GIVE YOU COPIES OF THIS ALBUM!!! NOT A FUCKING MAYBE!!! ITS A GUARANTEE!!!

— AKA (@akaworldwide) May 12, 2015

AKA went on to "praise" iFani's business savvy, claiming that he's not hating, merely complimenting and acknowledging iFani's strategy. Um... yeah. We believe him. 

Of course, he's not the only one who thinks iFani and his record company Sony are either a) lying about the 20k copies sold in a day or b) hiding the "fact" that a major brand bought the albums, not iFani fans.

Now we don't know for sure whether the Redd's thing is true (we think AKA is jealous because his Levels album, which came out almost a year ago, is yet to hit gold), but we call bullshit on the idea that it's impossible for a Xhosa rapper from the Eastern Cape to reach gold status in a day.

Sure, iFani doesn't have as many Twitter followers as AKA (133k vs 500k), and he's not one of the "cool cats" of rap, but guess what? Fans don't give a fuck about that. The major difference between AKA and iFani is that one has the image of an aloof rich kid while the other seems like a down-to-earth hustler.

Seriously: iFani isn't bragging about "levels" and making people feel like shit because they aren't having lobster for lunch. More people can relate to iFani's storytelling lyrics than AKA's egotistical rhymes. Content-wise, it's like K-dot vs Rick Ross. They are not even talking to the same audience. 

This is South Africa, FFS. The country where 1 in 5 households in Gauteng goes to bed hungry. The country where a quarter of the population is unemployed. The country where many feel stuck in small towns and rural areas, where dreams of big city life are harboured and often never realised. I interviewed Ifani four years ago and this quote still stands out:

"I'm making my life work. If you knew how I grew up, you would have never guessed that I would be here right now. If someone was to play you a clip of how I grew up, you would have put your money on 'he's not gonna make it.'"

But he made it. He's the underdog, and people love the underdog. Why? Because most of us can relate, something DJ C-Live emphasised when I asked him those years ago what iFani's appeal is:

"He speaks the language of the people... A lot of people can relate... It's what hip hop needs in this country."

If you look at iFani's Twitter feed, he's not out here dissing people or acting like he's better than them because he's made it. Often, how people perceive you and feel about you impacts their decision to buy your music more than just how good your songs are. Especially in a market as small as South Africa's. This tweet pretty much sums it up:

AKA must understand! Yes I will bump 2 ur music and LOVE IT. But ur attitude determines whether I get it frm ShareBeast or iTunes.

— nCOOLuleko (@Za_Maniac) May 12, 2015

It's about more than just the beats and the flow and the outfits and the cool videos and Burna Boy singing hooks. It's about relatability. The story of the underdog who's made it is always more relatable than the story of the living large rapper. Always. That will never get old. Already iFani has a bigger market to speak to. Plus iFani raps in Xhosa - not to say only Xhosa people listen to his music (I'm Pedi and love it): 8.1-million South Africans are native Xhosa speakers, and people would rather be spoken to in their own language than bragged to in the Queen's language with an American twang. Relatability.
 

Now onto the sales. Local hip-hop is the belle of the ball right now: turn on any commercial music radio station or TV music channel and you're bound to catch some Nyovest/ Kid-X/ AKA/ iFani/ Khuli etc. Festivals like Back To The City are a big deal and the SA Hip-Hop Awards are slowly taking off. The latest ABC figures show that in the notoriously difficult magazine industry, hip-hop mag Hype is one of the very few to have increased sales over the last quarter. Hip-hop is not just for the hip-hop heads anymore. 

On his website Slikour on Life, Slikour of the legendary rap crew Skwatta Kamp has written a post about how huge sales are nothing new for local musicians. It's a big deal today because record sales have slumped, and local rap isn't usually such a big seller. Slikour writes that it doesn't matter how iFani reached gold - the fact of the matter is he did. Read his whole post here. 

When Zahara first came out, she went from unknown to platinum in two weeks. Why were we applauding her then yet we're hating on iFani now? What's that about?

For a while now, iFani and his record company have been heavily marketing his 'First Day Gold' campaign. He didn't just put out a tweet that said "buy my album" and then move on with life. He hustled and worked his ass off to make sure everyone knew what his aim was.

He has the backing of a major record label, which (usually) makes it easier to get on the right channels and expose yourself to the right people. Marketing goes a long way. This idea that it can't be done just because you didn't do it is BS. It can be done, today, in South Africa: it's just not easy. Does that mean we shouldn't try? Does that mean we shouldn't aim big? 

If Redd's bought 20k of those albums, why does that "discredit" local rap but the Jay Z/ Samsung deal didn't "discredit" music as a whole? Because the same people who are hating on the possibility of Redd's buying those albums are the same ones who praised Samsung buying a million copies of Jigga's Magna Carta Holy Grail.

Redd's or no Redd's, why are we pulling iFani down for having a dream and making it happen? 

Side note: A little beef can help sales, so maybe this is part of AKA's strategy to sell those 2,000 copies so he too can reach gold status? No? Okay.

This article originally appeared on Daily Planet.