A battle between two of Ghana’s most influential rappers will not pass under the social media radar and this one most certainly did not.
Sarkodie and Manifest have caused a social media storm in Ghana with apparent ‘diss’ tracks to each other.
The exchange of words by the two has got everyone talking, particularly on social media.
The ‘Beef’
Manifest’s release of godMC was seen by most Sarkodie fans as an attack on the BET award-winning artiste.
One of the lines of Manifest’s song goes “What’s a king to a godMC? Numero uno, that be me” – which may or may not be a reference to Sarkodie’s proclamation of being king of rap – even his Twitter account says so.
Sarkodie’s response was swift and brutal, or unnecessary and uninspired, depending ion which side of the divide you are arguing from.
He delivers a lot of ‘punchlines,’ touching Manifest’s use of ‘big’ English words, adding that the ‘No Shortcut to heaven’ hitmaker won’t be as good as him.
“See, I’ll help you for free but ɛfiri nnɛ korɔ no we [will] be working pro bono. I gave you the highest retweets, gave you some bath on the street. I know you dey aim for my spot but you think my position be cheap,” raps Sarkodie.
However the most hard-hitting line from the song (presumably), certainly the most divisive, is where Sarkodie attacks Manifest’s fashion sense, mocking his local print clothes.
“Swag na wonni oo nnyɛ sɛ ebia you no wan shadda. Dope rapper bɛn na ɛde Woodin pam kaba? Afro-centric, masa wo swa”
And of course, the Twitterverse has had a lot to say:
This thing check last scene of a movie when the hero and villian drop their guns to fist fight. Sark just pick the gun shoot cos time no dey
— President Marique (@tailorMARIQUE) July 3, 2016
If you are a true @manifestive fan. Please don’t listen to @sarkodie kanta.
Eyyyyyyy King Sark!
I never been a fan.
But I bow now ??— Godfred Nsafoah (@OneKeys) July 3, 2016
Sark be like #willMANIFESTreply ?
Me:Nope#twitterchoices— Mr_Humphrey (@quarhme_harmony) July 4, 2016
@manifestive is a GH Nas ? @FlowkingStone is a GH Eminem@geminiGH is a GH The Game
Sark is a Tema Pappy kojo#willMANIFESTreply— Osafo Wiredu (@Bra_bean) July 4, 2016
Its lyk comparing Toyota (Sark) n masaratti(Manifest).How many Gh’ians know Masaratti? Yet dat brand has its https://t.co/6w8qY0wmjL be less
— Kwasi (@_infact) July 4, 2016
Twitter goes wild
The two artistes trended massively on Twitter over the weekend and into Monday.
Fans of the two were having a go at each other, pointing out ‘punches’ in the lines delivered by their artiste and stating why one or the other had won the exchange.
Several trending topics were spawned including ‘Afrocentric’ and ‘#willMANIFESTreply’ an attempt to bait the artiste to respond to ‘Kanta’
I love both rappers, but the question still remains… #willmanifestreply ? pic.twitter.com/lDDSE2W2Eu
— Kojo Nyeduala (@kojonyed) July 4, 2016
#willMANIFESTreply if @manifestive tries to reply, @sarkodie will need the Oxford dictionary to be able to understand the flow, so need to
— иαиα σzιℓѕαи¢нєz (@dimexjunior) July 4, 2016
#WillMANIFESTreply a king who needs to always remind us he is king by sayin it instead of letting his crown do d talkin aint worth a reply
— YaSiin Bey!! (@Yungwarlock1) July 4, 2016
Yaa Pono and Pope Skinny?
Two artistes one might initially have considered to be unrelated to the exchange between Sarkodie and Manifest have been drawn into the mix.
Rappers Yaa Pono and Pope Skinny shot up the trends list on Twitter on Monday with some (mainly tongue-in-cheek) references to how the duo would fare in a lyrical battle against either of the two.
While there may not be a conclusive answer to that, one thing is certain; Twitter can be cruel:
Pope skinny de3, he is like the guy who is promoted from class 6 to JSS 1 but goes back to class 6 so he can be called class 6 papa
— King Ragnar (@martinelpollo_1) July 4, 2016
Not entirely related but Yaa Pono > M.anifest
— Ukhti Yän (@queen_simba0128) July 4, 2016
Ahhh so why yaa pono dey trend? ?????????i laf enter kaba inside
— Akra-aca made_Me (@its_nimogh) July 4, 2016
Please someone should try Yaa Pono
I’m begging Manifest u can hit him if u want to or Sark u can also try him out.
Hahas
**divert**— Divert Beats (@ashiboi_james) July 4, 2016
Yaa Pono will start wearing suits and red bottoms. Neat hair cut. Trimmed beard. Expensive perfume. Plus G-Wagen. Tour Europe and the U.S
— Djokosoft (@Djokosoft) July 4, 2016
Me searching for answers to why Yaa Pono is trending..Anyone with answers?? pic.twitter.com/ikltj9y4jo
— Piesie Ansah Yeboah (@the_piesie) July 4, 2016
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EdKwakofi