Some like him for his looks and muscles. But most, definite-ly like him for like him for his musical skill and charisma. His exhibition of how talented he is was displayed on a song called “Now or Never” by Dj switch which featured hip hop heavy weights and true lyricists such as Proverb, Kwesta and Reason, which catapulted and validated his status as one of the best rappers in South Africa. He was the number one contender for the year 2017 and truly flew above the rest and over the best like the Eagle he is.
For those who don’t know who Shane Eagle is, introduce yourself and let them know what you’re all about.
Shane Eagle is a New-wave Rapper in South Africa and all I do is rap, for most people the first time they got to meet me was on a TV show called “The Hustle”.
It’s hard for most TV show contestants to convert that hype into a breakthrough in the industry, how were you able to do that?
I often tell people that with the competition wasn’t about the competition but what you did afterwards, it was just the mindset after the competition not to give up and where to use this and how to plug myself and put myself in the right position through the competition. That’s what I managed to do through my team and all of the guys that we were with, it’s always that mindset that helps you move forward.
You come across as a focused guy, where do you get the drive and what inspires you?
Honestly just everything I’ve been through in the past, I got to make sure my Mom is straight and make sure a lot of things are straight. I’ve come too far not to be focused and a lot of people get phased by the flashing lights, the paparazzi and the women. The mindset man, I know where I come from and I know I don’t want to go back there, I just want to keep going forward.
Take us through the writing process when working on a song.
The writing process always differs for me man, I can’t write if I’m not inspired because I feel like I’m just writing a bunch of words that have no meaning. When I’m inspired I feel like that’s when I write the best because there’s so much emotion and it’s just real nothing fake about it, especially records like “cutting corners’’. A lot of people are afraid to show that and show that it’s cool to be vulnerable, in my opinion it’s cool to be weak and weakness shows strength sometimes. You don’t always have to be this cool guy, we’re human and I feel like more people can relate to real life problems or issues you’ve been through than me pulling up in a Bentley. Those things are cool when you get to a certain point in your life, maybe one day when I can afford stuff like that then I will but until then I just do what I know… I just keep it me and keep it real.
What’s your take in this whole debate about Hip-Hop losing its lyricism?
I think we’re losing the lyricism but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, everything is relative. I know people who love the bars and who love the lyricism because that’s where Hip-Hop came from but then there’s a New-wave of people who don’t really want to hear that and there’s nothing wrong with that, that’s just how music grows and evolves.
Now for someone who’s aspiring on building something and is looking at you as inspiration. For you, what kept you going? Because the hustle and the come-up is hard. Yeah that’s the most difficult part, the come up. I just want to let the people know that people are always going to tell you that you can’t do it, they are either going to tell you that it’s not worth it or you shouldn’t do this and that with your career. If you find some-thing that makes you happy and some-thing that you want to do with the rest of your life, I personally would rather do what makes me happy rather than what makes me rich because happiness can be wealth. Just don’t give up. They are going to say you can’t do it anyway… so just keep doing it and believe in some-thing spiritual because that helps.
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