A ZIMBABWEAN rapper has helped a German eurodance group to the top of the UK charts.
The German-based Carlprit celebrated Cascada’s UK singles chart topper ‘Evacuate the Dance Floor’ by wearing a ‘Harare Hustler’ T-Shirt designed by Kunta Kinte Conscious Clothing for a live performance on UK television.
Cascada called on the 22-year-old rapper whose Eminem-like rhymes follow a vocoder verse, change the track’s tempo and take the group into brand new territory.
Carlprit, real name Rudi Schwamborn, appeared with the group on ITV’s GMTV two weeks ago to promote the single.
Cascada’s lead singer Natalie said: “Carlprit was amazing. You’d think he had been rapping for ten years, but he’s only just started.
“Everyone who has heard the song has commented on him. In the clubs, when his rap comes in, kids are going to go crazy.”
Evacuate the Dance Floor - Cascada feat. Carlprit
Carlprit was flown to New York for the big-budget production of the ‘Evacuate the Dance Floor’ video which was shot in Hollywood’s historic Avalon club, where Jerry Lee Lewis used to record his weekly TV show and which featured in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.
In a recent interview, Carlprit says he was introduced to rap at a young age while growing up in Harare’s Mabelreign.
“I guess I was around five or six-years-old when I wrote my first rhyme,” he said.
He lists his brother, Zimbabwean hip-hop pioneer Metaphysics as his greatest inspiration.
“Canibus helped me understand the Battle mechanics and later Jay-Z would show me the flow of the century, but my true growth as an Emcee came from my brother who was not only my motivation but my competition,” he said.
Evacuate the Dance Floor - Cascada & Carlprit Live on GMTV
He reveals that he attended the Ellis Robins Boys High School “which was sadly one of the worst schools in Harare at the time”.
“After O’ Levels, I moved to Germany, got in trouble with the law, got a girl pregnant, had a kid and became one of Zimbabwe’s most active Emcees. And now, I live my dream everyday,” he says.
On his Facebook page, he lists his influences as “music as a whole, life and Mabelreign.”