In hip hop’s 50th year of existence, there has been a subtle shift when it comes to the sisters of rap. There is a slew of new women in rap who have all made their presence felt and have gone about their business with an unapologetic demeanour.
From the likes of Latto, Sexy Redd to the more established names such as Cardi B and Nadia Nakai, women have the rap game in a choke hold more than ever.
These more established female MCs are also now in a better position to endorse rising talents as we have seen a few times this year. Locally and more recently, Nadia Nakai - who could be considered a veteran at this point - shared her star power with a young spitter who was raised in Lenasia.
It’s all in the Sauwce
Tiara Subban is the given name of a rapper who goes by the moniker Sauwcy. You may not be too familiar with her but those in the know have had their eyes on her for a while now. An edgy and risqué aesthetic with a sharp-witted sense of word play are all tools that Sauwcy uses to craft her creativity.
In what has been a pedestrian year for rap, she has quietly provided the streets with something interesting.
“I always knew I wanted to do music and I thought I’d be singing. But in my matric year I noticed a couple of my friends rap battling and that sparked something in me, I got home and wrote my first 16 bars, it was shit,” the 26-year-old laughs.
“But for that same reason I just kept on working at it and it became a passion. So, I think rap music chose me to be fair,” she chuckles again.
Sauwcy has been making music since 2015 and feeling her way around the music industry in a country that can either be very kind to an independent artist or show no remorse.
She attributes her friends for giving her the stage name she uses.
“My friends had given me the nickname T Sauwcy because they thought I was a really saucy character which I then simplified to Sauwcy when I started my music journey.
“I didn’t fight them on it because I knew that that’s exactly who I am, so it was only fitting to have it as my stage name, it defines everything I am musically too.”
You only need to experience one of her videos to see this name is more than apt. Her sonics are also as provocative as you could imagine.
“I think my sound is very raw, unapologetic and limitless. I’ve mixed P rap (p*ssy rap) influences on hard yet playful beats, yet I can drop straight hard bars on boom bap beats. When the time or beat calls for it, I find myself singing, and no matter what, I’m always trapping so it’s difficult to label my sound."
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All she is focused on mainly is that her music is fresh and unique.
“I’m really rapping on every kind of beat and pushing boundaries when it comes to my sexuality which I think is very evident in my visuals. I’m an Indian girl that raps and is 100% comfortable in showing off my body, so naturally I have to do everything.”
Hot Sauwce
Sauwcy is of the notion that she stands out from other rappers because of her heritage and how she makes a point of embracing her sexuality.
“That already has broken so many boundaries for brown skin girls across the globe, because we are raised to be ashamed of showing our body or talking about sex etc.
“The question “what people will say” is brought up constantly and I think this whole idea is what made me go harder with everything I do because I quite frankly don’t give a shit about what people think, this is my life you know and I am going to live it proudly,” she declares with a fiery sass draping her voice.
“Apart from that, my flows, my cadence, my delivery is unmatched. You will know that Sauwcy is on a song by just hearing it. My work oozes confidence, oozes hot spicy sauwce every time and I think that is universal.”
She prides herself on pushing back against many boundaries set for female rappers especially in SA, “and I think that sets a new tone and level for the future of females in rap for SA. That’s where I got the nickname “The Mom”,” she giggles.
“Because it really feels like I’m mothering a new generation of females in Rap for SA,” she adds.
An A-List cosign
The record Runnin' Back with Nadia Nakai may very well provide this indie rapper with a burst through the proverbial wall between the underground and commercialized raps. Sauwcy has nothing but praise for Nadia Nakai tapping her for a feature.
“It’s been a really dope experience so far! The song came about organically, and we’ve had this one in the vault for a long time actually, so when Nadia hit me up this year to let me know she’s dropping I was quite ecstatic because firstly it’s Nadia Nakai and secondly, it’s such a dope song, the world had to hear it.”
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The pair also cut a racy video to go along with the street slanted track which has been well received so far, “a lot of people been waiting on this collab and I’m happy we were able to deliver that to them and more.
“Nadia has always been so supportive of me so this collab has been a long time coming and so worth the wait.”
Her style is steered by her admiration for rappers like Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Cardi B, Doja Cat with some of her earlier influences being Lil Kim, Foxy brown, MC Lyte and Left Eye OF T.L.C.
“Nicki Minaj and all the rap females on my list had one thing in common… their cadences and delivery and I always found them so powerful. I loved listening to a female rapping hard hitting bars but still so feminine. For me cadence is so important because I want people to know I’m on a song before they see the artists on it. I need to be memorable, and it must be through my voice.”
Being taken seriously as woman of rap has been an arduous task for her.
“We’re first judged on how we look. ‘Surely she can’t rap because she’s pretty, she definitely can’t rap because she’s Indian’ and then we have to fight men who think we can only progress if we sleep with them. People have already made up their minds that we can’t do it based on these things which are difficult to navigate through.
“We must work 10 times harder to prove that I can do this. I find that people aren’t always honest with a female rapper, they’d rather not tell you that you should rework something and do it better. These are all the things I’ve faced but have also been blessed to be around a group of the total opposite and that’s why I’ve been able to get this far. I think it’s important to keep positive, supportive and honest people around you who see the vision as clearly as you do. If you believe in your gift don’t let anybody, tell you otherwise.”
She is looking to have an album out in the next two or three years as she feels she is still expanding her fanbase. The plan is to keep her fans fed with a few EPs with her latest Welcome to the Sauwce Pot debuting at number one on the iTunes Hip Hop chart when it dropped in September.
“You can expect more EP’s and loads of singles and features + visuals for the new year, each one pushing a boundary harder than the last. I’m going to be pushing the Sauwcy brand harder than ever before and trust and believe I’ll be carving my name in history while doing it!”
