You’re probably wondering how I managed to draw this parallel between two seemingly different rappers but allow us to elaborate.
Maggz (real name GIft Magubane) first burst on to the scene back when hip hop was still finding it’s footing, often modelling itself on the American blueprint fed to us through pop culture. Long before it evolved into the distinctly South African version we currently enjoy.
Back when, as I have stated before, we wore embarrassingly large clothing, obnoxious sneakers, do-rags and everything was about bling.
A time period which was also characterized by an affinity for crews. I belonged to one at the time and though we went through multiple names we eventually settled on ‘Elude.’
Maggz was also in a crew (if you can recall that far back), alongside L-Tido, Sean Pages and Morale Veritaz. They went by the name Glitz Gang and according to this old blog post I found, all the former crew members have released an album except for Maggz.
“Maggz [is] yet to put something out, when asked, he reveals he is still working on something,” wrote a user who went by the name Young Dee Killa. Bare in mind that this was back in 2011.
While he may have never put out an album, Maggz has featured on a significant number of popular tracks, never failing to demonstrate his lyrical prowess. It is for this exact reason that fans have been begging him to put out an album from the get-go.
According to Daily Sun, a 2010 theft charge set Maggz back quite a bit in terms of his music and though the charges were dropped, he was never able to go back to the way things were.“This drained me, it knocked me down emotionally. I am emotionally involved in my work and most of my work was lost,” he told the publication.
He later went on to join CashTime Life in 2014 and released a few hot singles while with Cash Time but still, no album...
We all know how that relationship ended though and now, we don’t know if we’ll ever get the elusive Maggz album that has been YEARS in the making.
Although Rouge (real name Barbara Wedi) is relatively new to the game, we believe three years on the scene is more than enough time for someone with the recognition, talent and connections that she has to put out a solid body of work as a debut effort.
Like Maggz, she has suffered a few professional and personal set backs, but when it comes to the music, Rouge is nice widdit. They also each have a distinct look and persona on lock.
Unlike Maggz however, Rouge currently has a few factors working in her favour.
She is still relatively fresh in the minds of music fans and therefore has a fan base ready and willing to devour whatever she cooks up. Most of Maggz’ fans have fallen off over time, probably due to the fatigue of waiting for an album that never came.
She is also still new to the scene so the curiosity surrounding her as a musician is yet to peak. Lastly, she hasn’t lost as many key relationships as Maggz has so the title is hers for the taking, all she has to do is grab it.
It is for this reason that we don’t want her to become the female Maggz.
No shade to Maggz, his talent as a rapper is something we can never take away from him, but like that dude who kept promising to call you after a great date but never did, “you’re gonna text me one day and I’ll be married.”
Main image credit: Instagram