Eddie Rath: Unmasking the Verbal Samurai of Nerdcore and Animation from Zambia [with interview]
Article written by Reece bledsoe (mf oblivion)
Interview conducted by LFTRSV on 6/07/2023
Eddie Rath, born Edson Hamakowa Jr., is an undercover verbal samurai, “nerdcore” veteran and an animator out of Zambia, a southern country in Africa.
Eddie is known for his creative approach to this unique fusion of anime and lyrical expression in rhyme form, bringing the best elements of both worlds into a cohesive experience for listeners to delve into.
Eddie has been rapping and creating “nerdcore” content for around 20 years now!
He picked up the ability of rhyme slinging when he was a kid living in Cape Town with his parents, being about the age of 15 years old when he first started freestyling.
It was around 1999 when he would really start writing and getting busy with the craft!
Rapping was also one of the few activities he would seriously indulge in growing up, Eddie shared some experiences in the podcast talking about when he would escape from the dorms at night to go be kids with his friends on his off time, catching up on all the latest anime in between the musical and educational adventures. Eddie Rath has always had a serious love for the art of anime and rap, the passion shows in his work, especially with songs like Demon Slayer or Shikamaru that really show his attention to those little details
Eventually after some time of getting the technique refined a bit, he started recording and pushing his content!
It was around 2005 where Eddie really crafted this “anime rap” and “nerdcore” approach.
Digging deep in the scene, this is some of the earliest serious evidence of any sort of “anime rap” or “nerdcore” content I have personally found that was happening at the time he was doing it.
Being out in Zambia, Eddie Rath was intrigued by hip-hop and “west world culture” growing up but had limited access to what he could really get his hands on before the internet craze seriously blew up where he was. Being stuck with whatever he could hear on the radio growing up, he found himself listening to many well-established artists in the hip-hop/rap scene, taking note from artists like D12, Jay-Z, Andre 3000, and most notably, Xzibit.
Before streaming platforms like YouTube, BandCamp, SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes, and all the other weird regurgitations of the platforms, he would make demo CDs and hand them out to people to keep his art floating around his peers. This was at a time in life when this was one of the only ways to get your music seriously heard locally, encouraging more new and original approaches to his promo techniques as an independent artist. This built the foundation of his content pushing capabilities, which would then lead to him finding his new medium several years later, with the discovery of YouTube!
Eddie hopped on the YouTube wave shortly following the time of it’s spawning (around 2006), and utilized the platform to his advantage to reach new audiences WORLDWIDE. One of his oldest pieces of content that can still be found on YouTube is featured down below, currently sitting at 5 years old, check it out!
This is what led Eddie to find fans all over the globe, and allowed him to really connect with other creators alike in the rapidly growing movement collectively known as the “nerdcore” genre. With the dynamic dimensions of the internet from this point forward, there was an increasing opportunity in what the internet could actually do for creators like Eddie!
With every release, he seems to catch on to a little more than what he knew before, leveling up each and every time he puts himself back into the world with a new drop!
Eddie now sits with 32.3k subscribers on YouTube alone and over 7.5k monthly listeners on Spotify, together having an approximate reach of 39.8k listeners total at our current date in 2023!
One of his earliest documented and published recordings, “Naruto 2009”, released back in 2008, was something very much so ahead of its time. He used this project as a chance to give listeners a deeper scope into Rath’s head, utilizing the storytelling in this album to tell the story of his rise in the scene. Keeping it pure to his love for the anime culture in every track, tying lessons learned from his favorite anime classics he’s watched over the years into his life, then transcribing it into rhyme form for listeners to enjoy.
As a result coming up with some of the coolest, distinct sounding music to hit the soundwaves of mankind. Eddie Rath’s music will keep you locked in, and engaged the whole time listening.
This project was also his first album that really felt “done” in his eyes, as he put it in discussion. He has tons of other songs under the table he had made before this project that weren’t up to par with what he was shooting to achieve, so he left them all to sit in the archive, maybe to be found by another space traveler in the future or something.
But this critique allowed for a more serious beast to awaken in the years following this release, and he would go on to make many more projects that would collectively develop upon this character we now know as EDDIE RATH.
There’s a lot more to this character than what we know on the surface.
In his music he’s a verbal warrior living in this universe we have yet to fully experience ourselves. At home he’s a super down to earth individual, a typical family guy, just doing what he can to live and push through his day to day for his family and friends!
If you haven’t heard his music yet, give it a listen, check out all of his links presented above and below because THIS GUY is the real MF DEAL.
Get ready for the battle, cause things are gonna get INTENSE.
You won’t regret digging a bit into this character
Below are some questions we had asked the man himself, and his responses word for word for those looking for the words from the man himself
an interview and deeper look with eddie rath
1. Where are you from?
- “I am from Zambia, which is a country in Southern Africa”
2. What gave you the idea for this niche creative flow of fusing anime concepts with raps?
- “At the time I was only doing regular raps, writing ordinary songs, and I was a fan of anime series and shows. One day when I became confident enough with my writing ability I decided to experiment and write a bunch of songs to my favourite anime show at the time called Naruto.”
3. When did you start rapping?
- “I started regular rapping in 1999, and I started anime rapping in 2005.”
4. Where were you and how old were you when you were freestyling your first raps?
- “I was in my parents’ place and we lived in Cape Town, South Africa at the time, I was about 15 years old when I began to play with freestyle rapping.”
5. What’s your method for recording? Do you write ahead of time or do you freestyle with punch-in style recording? What does that process look like for you?
- “That’s a good question. It’s a mixture of both depending on if i’m having a hard time coming up with lyrics, that’s when I freestyle most of the verse as a placeholder and it sounds like crazy jiberish so that I can come and edit the lyrics at a later time . If the words come to my mind more easily, I will write lyrics ahead of time.”
6. Do you record at home or in a studio? If at home, how long did it take for you to create your setup and get your vision going with creating content?
- “I mostly record from home since I wear many hats in the recording process to save on expenses. It took me about 5 years to build up my little home studio, but if I need to work on a major project for a client such as a birthday song, or a wedding dedication song, I will get a more professional engineer who is online or in the neighbourhood to mix and master on my behalf.”
7. How long have you been creating content?
- “About 20 years.”
8. When could fans expect another official Eddie Rath album? Your recent project Invincible (released in July of 2021) was a wicked single, is that a foreshadow for a full length project to come?
- “Oh yes those singles come out on a week to week and month to month basis, but a full length album may not be in the works for a while as it demands a lot of time away from creating these singles.”
9. Naruto 2009 released back in 2008 was a really cool album very much so ahead of its time, was that the first documented piece of Eddie rath content? Or is there other stuff in the vault we have yet to find?
- “Thank you, there is for sure stuff in old hard drives that I did not release to the public because I felt like it was not finished.”
10. Any new content you’re working on right now that you are particularly excited to release?
- “Yes, there is a subsection of my genre that really does well on my channel that I am building on.”
11. Do you have performing history? If so, what are some core memories from those shows?
- “To be honest i’ve never done live shows, I enjoy the flexibility of working from home and having the freedom to spend time with the people in my life. One day I would like to travel and do a show or two tho.”
12. Your page says you animate, where could we find some of your works?
- “I’m currently still working on a channel specifically for animation.”
13. What’s your favorite piece of content that you’ve personally created?
- “Any contend with the title Uchiha in it. Its more like gothic flavoured philosophical rap based on the under dogs of one of my favourite animes. Also those are the songs that happen to do well on my channel.”
14. What’s the top thing that drives you in making your content?
- “There’s a certain level I really aspire to reach in life with my music, its all I think about really. I’m obsessed.”
15. Is Eddie Rath your real name?
- “It’s more like my stage name, my real name is Edson Hamakowa Jr, which is fitting because people have told me it sounds Japanese which is where anime was originally created.”
16. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
- “Older lol,… I see myself enjoying the fruits of my labour with my grand kids.there might be a cure to aging by then so who knows.”
17. Do you know martial arts?
– “Kinda lol.”
18. If you were stranded on an island, and had the elements of food and water, also shelter covered (electricity too perhaps) what are 3 things you could live the rest of your life with on this island?
1. Pineapples
2. A notepad
3. Music editing software, your option of only 3 is a crime.
19. Favorite fruit
– “It’s a tie between mangoes and watermelons.”
20. Last thing you watched? Will you watch it again?
– “Avatar, way of water, that’s an affirmative no, there were too many loopholes in the plot, and I like a solid story.”
21. Top 5 animes of choice to watch alone, then top 5 you’d recommend to someone interested in diving into the world of anime.
– Top five alone
1 – Blood
2 – Akira
3 – One punch Man
4 – Death Note
5 – Dragon ball
– Top five to get started
1 – Neon Genesis Evangelion
2 – Dragon ball z
3 – Bleach
4 – gurren lagaan
5 – One punch man
22. Thoughts on aliens?
– “ If they exist I understand why they won’t hang with us.”
Find Eddie Rath on all streaming and social platforms to support one of the pioneers of the nerdcore movement!
if you enjoyed reading this article about Eddie Rath check out some of the articles we’ve written to find new and upcoming talent like Eddie!
- The yahoos experience : creative journies and building friendships
- Rydeordie : Life lessons, reflections, 22bb and the dark world
- slushroom : exploring life and sound
- eRATT (aka RR the Mystic) : Mystic Creative From the Depths of Western Mass
- Artistry of tanawin Unveiled: crafting the way into a better future – 9/10/23
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