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SNAPPY 7: Petra – Rap is not about beef – VIDEO


She describes herself as an international rapper and would not like to be compared with any local artiste because she believes she’s in her own league. Petra Yolanda Sonia Bockle aka Petra sat down for a chat with Nairobi News.

1. Why did you take a break from music? I was focusing on family, my pregnancy and my marriage, and also to plan my career. You will find out that most artistes do not have a long term plan. That is why I took time away and, as you can see, it is working out for me.

2. You came back with several collabos, why was that? It was part of my plan. I was out of the music scene for a while and the last time people heard or saw me, I was everywhere. They liked and appreciated what I was doing. In order for me to really make a comeback, my PR team thought a collabo with well-known artistes would help.

3. Are you signed to anyone at the moment?  No, but plans are under way. On my next project I have people who are going to be funding everything.

4. You quit Taurus Music and they threatened to sue you, what happened and are you in talking terms now? We are good now. We are like family. I do not believe in having grudges with anyone; we are all human beings and we are all in this world for a purpose. I do not see why one human would hate another for a small misunderstanding. Taurus are actually helping me out in promoting my work. I do not want to get to the part of why I quit and if I paid because that is what caused the whole friction between us.

5. You and Khaligraph go way back and ‘Rider’ was not the first collabo with him. What is the difference between working with him now and when you first collaborated?  Khaligraph and I have known each other for a while. When I got married and started focusing on my personal life, we lost touch. Rider is much more serious compared to our first song Kung’ang’ana. In the first collabo we just hit the studio and dropped some lines; the vibe was casual and we were just having fun. But this time it was all about work.

6. The Kenyan rap industry is blowing up, where can you rate yourself among the female emcees? I rank myself at an international level and that is where I’m working towards. Things are going well. Let me not categorize and just say a rapper is a rapper. When we dropped Rider, I was judged as a rapper and not a female emcee. Unfortunately, in Kenya most emcees do not take it seriously. Rap is not about beef. If they take it seriously, rap can pay your bills. People here like to beef and yet they lack talent. You must have that talent to rap and be categorized as one. I have never called myself a rap queen or an empress, my fans do that.

7. What’s next for you then? I’m more focused on my singles and some international collabos coming soon. An album will have to wait. I have a collabo with a Tanzanian artiste coming out soon. A Nigerian collabo is also in the works and a Chinese, American and European too. Watch this space!