Rulah ZW: Born in the Trap

Personality: Rulah ZW aka Shaun Edward

Role: Hip Hop influencer

The new millennium has seen new forms of the Hip Hop culture emerge. From skaters, to boppers and now we have personalities that represent the genre and are as much a part of it as any other aspect in the game. Rulah is one such personality. 

Born in the late 90s, Rulah was exposed to hip hop music early on with the main stream acts like 50 Cent, Eminem and Snoop Dogg. Now that he has found his footing with the current flow of rap music in trap and soul, Rulah has been following international acts from Bryson Tiller to Isiah Rashad and Dave East among the many he bumps to. This doesn’t mean he has no love for local flavor.

Rulah has a local top five of Zimbabwean rappers mostly from Bulawayo. Included in his list is the on fire Rockie DoUb, Excellence’s very own J. Garnet of the ‘Maleeh’ fame, Skiiny (DAV) also known for his graphic designing skills, Ashley Kempton and M-One who wrote the classic Holy_Mic track. Rulah says 2019 saw Excellence Music Records aiming for the skies as they produced an in-house mixtape, an EP for Martin Jona Tao, a series of singles by J. Garnet and KoKo and the rise of Club Excellence the blog site for promoting local artists and their works.

When asked what he sees as the future of Zim hip hop, he believes Bulawayo rap is the next big thing. He cited that there is a lot of talent in the city and various stables and movements have been putting the city on the map. Rulah says moves like having local radio stations playing Bulawayo artists has not only improved general quality of locally produced music but also increased the number of music available to the public so they also know what‘s going on with their local celebrities. He also mentioned that events like the Color Fest, Bigger than Hip Hop (BTHH) and the Annual August Rush (AAR) have helped put some artists on the map and have provided a platform for other artists to bloom and shine.

Rulah is a staunch believer in local talent and wishes to see all of them put in the work and hours so as to produce high quality music and videos and compete with international counterparts. Rulah encourages unity among artists and says the one way Bulawayo can rise is if artists work together to build the game and see them played internationally. Rulah is no hater and shares everybody’s links throughout his network freely. Get a hold of him on his social media

Instagram: RulahZW

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