Tay Grin came on the scene over a decade ago, he introduced himself as a Business in “Ndabwera” as he rapped, “As a matter of interest, I went to explore profits and losses and now I am back, all profits, no losses with interests. I am a business, man.” However, the artistic side of his hustle has been a major boost for his journey and the local industry in general.

Before Tay Grin, local Hip-Hop was more of a thug and high school culture than an acceptable genre and a music business. We had very good rappers that came slightly before or simultaneously with him, but they did little if not nothing to turn the culture into a money making venture.

Also, Tay Grin has done almost everything. With his so-called “little talent”, he has been to the world stages including winning an award at what used to be Africa’s Best Awards, Channel O music awards.

His “Moto” song featuring Wendy Favour Harawa remains one of, if not the biggest commercial Hip-Hop song for a global brand in Malawi. Watch that video, again today, you will see that it was produced ahead of its time. As a matter of argument, it is the biggest commercial Hip-Hop song from Malawi.

Up to date, he remains the only Rapper from Malawi to have his songs played on Mnet, African Magic and other non-music big channels on Dstv. This cannot be achieved in the absence of talent, no matter the connections or money.

I am not sure how people want to define talent in Hip-Hop. Is it perhaps rapping too fast or rapping with the best English slang? Why should we not include composition, concepts and delivery? Man has all this, and perhaps, plus the connections and the money.

I have only shared a fraction of his musical achievements, but maybe, I should write more about his exploits. We seem to have forgotten the rich musical journey by Tay Grin.

Quickly, Tay Grin is:

– The first Malawian Rapper to perform at Big Brother Africa show

– The only African artist to perform twice at Big Brother Africa show by demand, citing the NYAU show to have been unique the first time he performed

– The first and only Malawian rapper whose album launch has been graced by a sitting president of Malawi

– The only Malawian Rapper to win Channel O awards and other international awards
The first and only Malawian rapper to attend Grammy Awards (Quite recent)

– The first and only Malawian Rapper to have his music played on non-music channels on DSTV channels such as African Magic

– The only Malawian Rapper that got featured in the remake of Nina Simone’s Young, Gifted and Black, also featuring Lira, Gal Level, Ikechuku, Stoan, Loyiso, Lizha James, Hugh Masekela, Buffalo Souljah, Da L.E.S, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Pebbles

– Brand Ambassador of Multinationals and the United Nations

– European Union’s Appointed Promoter of Intellectual Property of African Artists

– His events company remains the only event management label by an artist to bring international acts in their prime, such as Nato C and Ice Prince

– And so much more that I haven’t committed to memory, but perhaps, also the only Malawian Rapper to have shared stage with Rick Ross and Jay Sean at a concert in Europe.

The achievements above do not just come with connections and money only, one has to have the talent in them to make it all happen. Tiyeni tisamamuphweketse kwambiri munthuyu, he has been a trendsetter for most of these rappers.

Note: The picture used here is very legendary to those who know Tay Grin from a decade ago.