Meet the Rising Star PatricKxxLee

It’s not Alté, it’s not Afrofusion, and it’s not the UK underground either. This is a whole movement of its own. We’ve been observing, we can feel it in our bones, but we haven’t been able to coin a term as a community just yet, while this underground soundwave is slowly boiling onto the surface. From Brotherkupa, Igwe Aka, Zaylevelten, Kayode, Paxslim and now PatricKxxLee–the UG (In short for underground music) movement has pushed niche African artists to be more creative and thoughtful about how they build an audience. We believe that Patrick, or R!CK, is at the forefront.

One thing about R!CK you must know is that he’s not new to this. He has been dropping music projects since the earliest of 2016. At the time, the US underground, or SoundCloud era, as some might call it, was booming, and all eyes were on this group of kids who seemingly had no care in the world and just wanted to make hit songs. Although we can not confirm, surely Patrick was inspired and wanted to live up to this momentum. Until now, we have begun to see the Zambian Boy benefitting from the fruit of his own labour.

To establish UG, not only will it take consistency and resilience, which are all things that Patrick has proven to have, but also the boldness to want to offer something different. While a set of genres work well and dominate the African continent, such as Afrobeats and Amapiano, taken from the spirit of both the US & UK diaspora, the underground scene sits on the underbelly and garners enough attention to be discussed. What sets UG apart is that they don’t cater to the music industry; they focus on growing a core fanbase, and whereas usually concerts and public appearances are the stronghold for an artist’s growth, the internet is their main stage.

Much like movements in the past, there are key elements we can already attribute to the main artists participating in UG. Those are: low-budget videos, nostalgic streetwear/Opium fashion, distinctive samples, African imageries and internet culture. That being said, it is not as easy as it looks, where one can simply group them all together and determine whether they will grow collectively or end up following different paths entirely.

Back to PatricKxxLee; he allows us to touch on a part of the world that most people know little of. Besides Zambian cloth, we don’t know enough about its culture, and music artists that represent the country. Patrick becomes the bridge to this reconciliation, and the fact that he has been repping his roots for so long and stands alone in amplifying the UG scene in Zambia makes it easy for him to stand out and conquer. From clips circulating online, we can see that Partick not only leads the new wave in his region, but also shows that there is a passionate Zambian audience seeking representation in the alternative soundscape.

Whether UG or underground music in Africa will truly take shape is yet to be determined; however, what we can be sure of is that its active members are working to make this movement last. For some, it might seem like yet another internet trend, destined to be placed on the curb as soon as another subgenre or subculture takes notice and people find a reason to become obsessed with it. But this is a real thing, and its audience is certainly there for the long run. From the online engagement, showing up to concerts and participating in the aesthetic, UG has a clear chance to make a lasting statement. Who knows? PatricKxxLee could be the voice that UG enthusiasts didn’t see coming.