Johannesburg, Wednesday, 10 February 2021 – South African singer, songwriter, producer and rapper, Seriously Daniel, challenges the status quo of Hip Hop culture with new single, COOGI.
Taken from his latest album ‘Colouring Outside The Lines’, COOGI is a song about being stylish, cool, unique and expressive without being like everyone else. Inspired by his favourite rapper Biggie Smalls and Australian clothing brand ‘Coogi’, Seriously Daniel gives an honest account about who he is, where he’s from and the things he can do that cannot be done by others.
“Everyone wants to be unique right? And yet so many people in our industry just have the same ego. Honestly, the song is a flex song. I’m saying I have a weight of responsibility on my shoulders and only I can manage it,” shares Seriously Daniel.
Said that we’d make it like Biggie and Pac but we don’t need to take a shot… I know you afraid of the cops…
“In this piece of my verse, I’m challenging the rap and hip hop game,” adds Seriously Daniel. “I mean I’m a guy from the suburbs, but I have friends in the hood. I know how the good and bad side of life looks like. And honestly, I’m no gangster. That is what most of these rappers wanna portray these days. I’m saying I’ll make it without acting a way that others think is ‘popular’.”
Although the main subject of the hook may focus on the appearance and well known clothing brands, the message is a hype song designed for listeners to feel superior in their own unique way, instead of following what the culture says is ‘acceptable’ and rather breaking away from that to accept how life really is and you can be cool no matter what you wear or who you hang out with.
You can stream or download Seriously Daniel’s COOGI here: https://songwhip.com/album/seriously-daniel/colouring-outside-the-lines
Make sure to connect with Seriously Daniel on social media for his fresh approach to music making and stream or download COOGI off his ‘Colouring Outside The Lines’ album today – https://songwhip.com/album/seriously-daniel/colouring-outside-the-lines
LYRIC BREAKDOWN:
The Hook: “Retro, Boujie – We go foolish, Cool as Coogi, no more Gucci” Here I’m not trying to put down the brand of Gucci, I’m simply bringing more focus to Coogi, which a lot of people don’t know about. (It’s that colourful sweater Biggie was wearing in the pic where he’s counting a stack of cash and a Jesus piece rests on his chest.) I liked the brand ever since I became a biggie fan, I always wanted to cop a sweater from Coogi. So, I decided to make a song about it, and since the picture of biggie is an old one (of course) I decided to use the word “retro” to describe this feeling.
Verse 2: My second verse is about where I am now, (I live in Nanjing, China) and how I feel about it. I throw in a little bit of Chinese “Chīle ma? Chīle” which means “have you eaten? Yes, I’ve eaten” – “I eat beats like Jigga go figure” and I basically wanted this part to say “I make beats turn into songs like Jay-Z.”
I also make a reference to China Mall, where I mean, you know how everyone knows you can just go get any cheap thing in China Mall. Well, it’s not the same when you’re actually in China.
This country is balling “You think China small, I think China ball.” Now I’m not even being ‘patriotic’ about a country that isn’t even my own, I’m laying a foundation to remove stereotypes which is a lead into my next favourite song, but that’s not todays topic. It’s just that everyone thinks “Made In China” it must be fake or bad quality. Things here are expensive and you gotta be prepared to spend if you wanna be COOGI. I also push myself to be a better artist and try to beat my heroes, peers and immediate competition in this second verse “I gotta be the winner, I gotta go bigger…”
Connect with Seriously Daniel:
Facebook: @seriouslydanielmusic
Twitter: @Seri0uslyDaniel
Instagram: @seriously_daniel
