"I Wasted My Best Years of Life On Crime" BA7 Speaks

Prior all the pandemonium around "Who is King of Zim Hip-hop?", a hip-hop emcee known as BA7 blessed us with a sequel to the Cognac and Crimes series, titled Cognac & Crimes 3. It may have gone under your radar because he is not one to clout chase. He comes from the era where music gets to speak for itself.

If you love it you love it. If you don't vibe to it you don't. If you know you know!

On the other hand he probably wouldn't care about "Who is King of Zim Hip-hop?" debate because from his perspective the sub-category "Zim Hip-hop" is limiting in nature. He is from the camp that insists Hip-hop is hip-hop (which is a debate for another day).

As the title suggests, Cognac and Crimes 3 is a repackaging of his real life experience with a life of crime. The artist insists that his brand image is not fictional as is we have seen with many rappers that choose to speak on the subject.

"It's the life I lived for a long time and was in and out of prison so had to write it how I lived."

BA7 (Born Allahu 7) is well known in the underground economy by gang members, police, artists, pimps and people in mystery school. He tends to mix his lyricism with esoteric verbiage as a signal to the adept as a member of real life mystery schools. This is from his own admission.

"Yes I Am part of a few Schools Of Thought. I was tired of running and watching over my shoulder and gaining Knowledge Of Self helped me navigate through life. I wasted my best years of my life on crime and that haunts me daily.

He is also very well known for his love for Cognac. A lot of photos and video footage of the artist holding different brands of Cognac make up his Facebook profile galleries.

"Honor is my favorite Cognac. I prefer Cognac because it's smooth and classy, plus that was the first I drank."

If you know you know!

The intent however of his music is not to glorify crime, he puts it this way, "My advice is,stay away from that life and earn a honest living.There is nothing sweet above the  criminal life."

Side Note: A regular guest on Hood Hop at Tshwane FM in South Africa

If there is any take away from his story it's that Hip-hop and Knowledge of Self can transform lives. The rapper is re-building his life and has subtle influence in the region even among big names. Prior to lockdowns he had monthly Hip-hop events in South Africa and is a gues in his spare time on Tshwane FM 93.6 for the Hood Hop Sessions hosted by Trishy Trish. He performs there at times when he is free (for those who don't know Tshwane is the new name for Pretoria).

The album is quite well put together and his favorite song in it is "Get over you." You have the opportunity to download or stream it via the links I have dropped below. You can follow him on Facebook via this link