BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – KITTITIAN Rapper Dagah is a lot like Kim Collins in some ways. Throughout their careers they were both determined to put St. Kitts on the map and have managed to remain relevant in their fields.
Dagah is one of the few artists still around since first stepping out with his music in 2002 and through the years he has always been on his music grind, releasing tracks and videos.
He is excited about his first official album release ‘Da Patriot’ scheduled to be released on September 19 which is Independence Day in St. Kitts and Nevis.
It had been a challenging road for Dagah whose real name is Kwame Samuel to make his first official release.
He was scheduled to release his first album ‘In Search of Dagah’ which was produced by Marcus Nero but that album never saw the light of day as there were complications due to funding.
“I decided that I would just make music videos for some of the singles which were songs like ‘Rep My City’ and ‘I'll never give up’; they all became local classics,” he said.
He then joined the iRepSKN movement in 2010 where he started the iRepSKN Music Group and immediately began working on a Mixtape called ‘SKN Top Rapper’ featuring DJ Kevy Kev but that too ran into difficulty and was never released.
However, persons still enjoy singles from that tape including ‘Your Turn to Cry’ and ‘SKN State of Mind’.
“It was back to square one again. I started collecting music for this album, buying from different producers, and I indicated to my record label that I wanted to work on an album and they agreed to fund it,” he said.
“The inspiration for this album is simply to triumph over all the things I've been through in my career as an artist and in life itself. Life inspired it.”
He spoke of tracks on the album including ‘I'm charging’ which he said speaks to him growing up and understanding his responsibilities as a man and a father.
Another is, ‘Do the right thing’ which he said is about not understanding what to do when it comes to love while ‘Rep My City 2’ is him singing about representing where he is from … something he said that made him a hot artist today.
The album also features other home grown artistes including Dejour, Rolhensha, Charles Emanuel and E.Carter.
Samuel said that the album is directed towards the international market and will also be sold on iTunes, Amazon and any other digital download websites.
“I think it’s time for me to compete on a bigger market, like I said a few years back on ‘Rep My City’, ‘Am the Kim Collins of Rap’, the underdog that's going to prove all the doubters wrong.
“I dare you to get a copy of ‘Da Patriot’ on September 19 and I bet you will see me as a strong competitor in the world of music.”
With all his disappointments he is still driven, focused and hard working … Who do you know grinds like he does? Represents like he does?
Samuel raps… “When it comes to representing I am the king, am kinda cocky, it’s a SK thing.”
