I discovered the rapper Caylah during my research and I am thoroughly impressed by her work. Her flow is so different, it almost feels like she’s talking in a very theatrical way. This particular song that I gravitated toward, SAFEBOOK, was so beautiful it stopped me in my tracks. The words are obviously foreign to me, however, I knew she was saying something that deserved attention. Our textbook Hip Hop in Africa states,
“Female emcees use their voice as an opportunity to speak to gender oppressions and bring feminist voices to African hip-hop.”
Excerpt From: Msia Kibona Clark. “Hip-Hop in Africa.” Apple Books.
That’s exactly what Caylah has done with this song where she talks about a non-consensual sexual relationship with a man that no one helped her from even though they all saw it. Her lyrics can be translated to, “I was the victim he was the executioner and you were the witness/ I wasn’t guilt he wasn’t innocent but you were accomplices because you didn’t do anything to me”. The song is so raw and delivers such a message, that she’s bearing her soul, she expresses that she never thought something like this could happen to her until it did. Caylah’s style of music and the message she offers are needed and extremely important. She is not only giving the public a glimpse into her experiences she is relating to so many women who have gone through the same things and she is speaking to the soul of the bystanders. Women in hip-hop have always led the pack when it comes to bringing light to important issues in our world and our communities, and Caylah from Madagascar is no exception. Dear Caylah, you have gained a supporter in me.
Caylah’s youtube: https://youtube.com/@caylahslam4066?si=icCpqr5CfrzNQQ_i
