ONETAKE: THE HIPHOP TAKEOVER KID
Twenty-one-year-old Phanoel Matthews Moyo who goes by the stage name One Take, is a rapper talented with the art of playing around with words that influence better patterns of thought.
He is also a modern-day healer and a conscious rapper.
OneTake broke the Internet with his exquisite rapping skills and punchlines that mirror issues that affect us all.
He recently told Vibe: “My music is influenced by everything around me, I use the skills that I have to rap about topics that affect me as an individual and the youth in general.”
His music is embedded with messages which sometimes need decoding and interpretation by his listeners and fans.
“By not compromising the skill I have to gain acceptance from anyone but rather using it to showcase the talent Botswana has, through the use of visual from Kaone Makoko Visuals and social media I believe my music will impact many lives,” he said.
The rapper said he intends to use his music to open doors for upcoming rappers. “I have taken time to learn the business side of music and this pandemic has taught me a lesson that one needs to be diverse and have multiple sources of income. My vision is to have the brand grow to a point where it can sell itself through brand alignment and also venturing into the record label business,” he said.
One Take hails from Mokwena ward in Serowe and was raised in a musical family, he said. He said growing up, he was exposed to classical Soul/RnB, gospel and golden era hip-hop. He explained that this is evident in his high caliber storytelling ability and simple yet effective flow that is quite reminiscent of a young Nas in ’94.
The young MC noted that his musical influences range from hip-hop legends Nas, Jay-Z and new school heavyweights Cole, Kendrick, Griselda and local rapper, Scar.
One Take described himself as a keen student of the game who takes his craft seriously. He brings new school energy together with his old school ideals picked up from his upbringing and a good ear for good beats. “It does not matter if I am on a new school trap beat or old school boom bap beat, I always bring my A game,” he said. OneTake released his mixtape Genesis last year and his music enjoyed airplay across all local radio stations. The rapper might be the chosen one to bridge the gap between the old guard and the new school to take hip-hop in Botswana to greater heights.