You pick the topic. He picks the beat. The freestyle rap begins.
Friday nights are the busiest at the Papatoetoe underground
markets. Among the long lines for island donuts and chicken teriyaki plates, large
crowds surround freestyle rapper Tihei
Hararra.
A young family eager to hear what Hararra can do with his words choose a topic. Only a few seconds pass by before Hararra unleashes his rhymes.
Two minutes of personalized
verses and bystanders begin to empty their pockets of two-dollar coins deeming
Hararra worthy of their time and money. Hararra thanks each of his fans
individually with handshakes and hugs.
“A lot of people have their own ways of living life and for
me, I have all this rage inside, and the only way I can let it go is just
making music,” says Hararra.
Autistic and from a broken home, Hararra found his escape early on through freestyling.
“I freestyle to unleash all my anger, to
talk about peoples pain and everyday survival. I freestyle about what I have seen, what I have been taught and what I have
been through just like any other person coming out of dark times. I freestyle about what it’s like to be labeled as a failure and told you're not going to make it.
That is what I freestyle about—everyday reality."
With fans around the world, from California to Switzerland, Hararra could easily take his music out of the
streets. However, the money aspect of making music has never been an interest
for Hararra.
“I would rather get $20 in the streets than $50,000 in studio,” says Hararra.
Being able to make music when he wants and how he wants
brings joy to his work. Hararra believes that money would only interfere with the freedom and happiness. His freestyling is his way of life, his way of
releasing pain, and his way to share with people that are coping with the same
situations that he has gone through.
No matter what the circumstances, everyone has a way of coping with life's struggles. What creative ways help you release your pain?
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