On the frontline of the newly discovered Fijian rap scene, Samisoni Nabilivalu talks to Harry Vasutabu about music, and how the children are our future.

I wondered what type of person he would be, as I waited for Red Child A.K.A Samisoni Nabilivalu. I have many stereotypes that come to mind when I think about the rappers I know or have heard of. Thoughts associated with drugs, guns and bling and words like hoes, pimp and biatch surface in my brain. I have seen him and heard him on TV and he didn’t look like he would be interested in any of the things I listed.

Nabilivau looked nothing like I expected and seemed cheerful but shy, shorter and not as mean as I expected him to be. He was polite and he thought carefully about everything I asked. Not the loud mouthed ego maniac I expected at all. I was quickly reminded that rap isn’t about all those things you would see in a typical 50 Cent (American Rapper) video, it’s about expressing yourself using clever word devices and poetry that rhymes in order to get a message across.

In fact the word “RAP” which has many meanings to many people can mean “Rhythmic African Poetry”, “Rhythm and Poetry”, “Rhythmically Applied Poetry”, “Rapping About Poetry,” “Racing Always Pacing,” or “Rhythmically Associated Poetry”  
Curious as to how he had picked up the name Red Child, Nabilivau told me that red was his house colour at boys boarding school QVS and he had combined this with something he had heard the first time he listened to rap.
“I heard my first mix tape and in the background of that mix tape there was a guy screaming “black spider, black spider, black spider” and that’s when I started thinking of a name,” says Red Child.

The boy from the Nakasi neighbourhood in Nasinu has good English vocabulary that he combines with Fijian street lingo.
“My mum’s an English teacher,” says Red Child. “I would say I learnt English first and then our dad coached us later in Fijian…but I speak both fluently.”

In the modern day Rap world there are many idols with many styles, sub genres and motives. Rap artists focus on a range of issues from politics, marital status, wealth, death jokes, profanity, love and many more.

Red Child says he would like to focus on political stuff but fellow local rappers like Dave Lavaki and Sammy G advised him to localize his lyrics and issues so that more people could relate to what he is on about.  

The history of Rap goes back to 1968 when the first rap song was made but at the time it wasn’t called rap nor did it fit under the genre of hip hop. But it was the first song to fit into the characteristics of rhyming lyrics to a funk beat and that was made by Pigmeat Markham, titled “here comes the judge.” The dubbed dancehall toasts of Jamaica, as well as the disco-rapping and jazz-based spoken word beat poetry of the United States was a predecessor for the rapping in hip hop music in the 1970s. Through the 80s and the 90s Rap has been accepted into the mainstream and now in 2008 it is coming out in a big way from the streets of Fiji.

Red Child is about to release a dynamic video currently being cut by Sammy G. After viewing a piece of it, I noted, aside from the challenging lyrics and neighbourhood scenes that I do not want to talk about lest I spoil the surprise, the number of tattoos displayed on his body.

“I have a few and this one is NKC which stands for Nakasi, this one on my other arm says Ma’e na Ma’e which is like a motto for Ra which means “if it ends in death so be it” which for me is like homage to where I am from and on my shoulder is a 9 which was my room number over at QVS. On my back I have the word “Victorian” which shows I am from QVS, I also have another logo on my right collar bone and I also have this rosary and a spider here on my chest.”

You just get the feeling when talking with Red Child that he is held back at the moment and not fully expressing what he really wants to say about the darker sides of Fiji, something that slips through though when you hear his lyrics and poetry. I asked him if he would like to touch some of the darker issues. 
 “I would like to but I don’t think I would be allowed to although I know music is about freedom. But I guess with mix tapes being produced and passing it around between friends you can say whatever you want.”
Red Child feels that while society regularly complains about young people in crime, not much is being provided to keep youths occupied and away from bad practices.

“I think the key to the problem is youths because development starts young and they have got to have us in mind first. Rugby fields, sports lights, volleyball courts, I mean there is so much to keep a kid occupied and keep them out of crime. When you read the papers all they do is complain about this and that and about drugs. But I think young people today don’t have much else to do.”
Could rap be an answer?

 “Yeah I think it can go very far especially with this hip hop movement coming in, you have dance crews among the youths like Troop 10 and B.S.Q and  it doesn’t take much to get you started,  just a pen and some paper and some music. If local media would give local artists a chance now and maybe an hour a week even if its late nights, that would really boost the industry here and the careers of people with an interest.”