Edukate is an 18-year-old hip-hop artist from regional South Australia. He’s got a small but appreciative following on social media and a definite talent for spitting thought-provoking, whip-smart, maze-like rhymes.
However, the emcee has spent the last 11 months totally divorced from his musical aspirations. Slumped in depression and questioning whether he should bother trying to ‘make it’, Edukate posted his first rap video in almost a year on Tuesday.
“After 11 months in struggle town, I just recorded the first rap video I’m happy with,” he wrote. “Nothing special, just bars I laid down in my lounge room, but the lyrics are pretty deep and I reckon it’s a step up from previous shit I’ve done.”
The video, which Edukate unassumingly posted that night, has since accrued more than 211,000 views, 7,000 likes, and thousands of shares and comments. Not bad for a little-known rapper with less than 10,000 Facebook followers.
“This is the first rap I’ve done in 11 months,” the Port Pirie rapper says at the end of the clip. “It’s just been a weird sense of frustration and everything’s a bit beyond me, a bit above me, a bit beyond what I’m capable of.”
“I’ve been right on the verge of just throwing this whole thing away. I won’t quit yet, but I don’t know… I’m just fishing for compliments, casting that line and reeling in some sympathy. But just tell me I’m good at something so I keep doing this shit.”
I wrote a rap about quitting rap.Hear me out though.
Posted by Edukate onMonday, February 8, 2016
A few folks did tell Edukate he’s good, including homegrown hip-hop stars 360, Dylan Joel, and PEZ. “Fuck, another young dude absolutely destroying this shit.. this shit is REAL AS FUCK, this kid has a gift, really hope he doesn’t give up,” wrote 360, sharing the clip on Facebook.
“That was potentially the most vulnerable and honest I’ve seen someone in this country rap,” added Joel. “That ill. Just peeped the rest of your stuff, and it’s that inspiring to see someone create with the intention of being selfless.”
Meanwhile, 360 collaborator PEZ informed the 18-year-old that he’s not alone: “Edukate you just summed up the last 6 years of my life bruh haha… Keep at it.. Good things always seem to come just after those biggest lows of self doubt.”
[include_post id=”440916″]
Posting in response to the reaction his video’s received, Edukate wrote, “I honestly don’t know what to say. When I got up for work at 7:30 this morning, the video I uploaded yesterday had a few hundred likes and 10K views max.”
“Got home from work about twenty minutes ago and saw that it’s gone semi-viral, in no small way thanks to the support of dudes like 360, PEZ and Dylan Joel. I am tripping balls completely. This is insane and I am not in the right state of mind to make sense of it.”
“Please just know that I appreciate every little bit of support so much. I’ll do my best to respond to every message, even if it means I’m up until the crack of dawn. 48 hours ago I was convinced that I was completely alone in pursuing this music dream.”
“Suddenly I feel like I have the whole country behind me. That’s a bit of an over-statement, but it’s literally how I feel. I’m so pumped right now I feel like I could KO Conor McGregor. THANK YOU.”
