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Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
WHEN the weekly Hip-Hop Power Sessions were established this year, one goal was in mind: uniting spitters of bars, metaphors, and rhymes in Bulawayo with the aim of growing the genre, but what happens when people start picking up on arguably the hottest hip-hop artiste in the city?

Spilling of booze and verbal slurs become the result and a filthy can of worms opened in public when altercations boil over. On Friday, the Red Café became a stomping ground for local rappers Asaph and Lee_Zie Taylor with the latter addressing the former as a “woman”.

Asaph

“Asaph is welcome to face me, woman to woman as I’m not scared of him. It’s about time I stood up to him,” she said.

As has become the norm, scheduled rappers took turns to perform at the establishment, but the standout performer was arguably Lee_Zie Taylor who stole the show after calling out the Def Jam Recordings Africa new recruit.

Hip-Hop platforms have now turned to an Asaph versus so and so and one wonders whether that is for clout or there are other underlying winds that contribute to this whirlwind.

Lee_Zie Taylor turned heel and said what she was about to say was a necessary evil since Asaph, “said I’m fake”.

“When I first came to the Hip-Hop scene, I called out Ganyaz and Asaph felt some type of way and said I’m fake and talentless publicly. I’m not fake. I tell you straight in the eye if I don’t like you and vice versa so that was incorrect for him to even insinuate that,” said Lee_Zie Taylor.

Asaph must have been alerted of the verbal slurs from Lee_Zie Taylor through the grapevine and came to Red Café to talk to her. Big mistake!

As if a verbal altercation was not enough, the situation escalated to Lee_Zie Taylor throwing booze at Asaph and other rappers quickly intervening at what was about to get physical.

Lee_Zie Taylor performing at one of the Hip-Hop Power Sessions at Red Cafe

Queen Kong, as Lee_Zie Taylor is known, was in no mood for a civil conversation with Asaph and all she did was wantonly throw beer at Mambo Asaph. She said Asaph was unfairly picking on her just because she was a woman. She would fight back the only way she knows how.

“Asaph is just picking on me because I’m a woman thinking I would back down and take this lying low. I’m ready for him and he better be ready to face me woman to woman. He has picked up fights with other male rappers and failed to back up his speech.

“So, pouring booze over Asaph’s head is something I’m unapologetic for. Ozondayo kazonde ngokwakhe,” vented the visibly livid Lizzy Taylor.

Sources close to the case told Chronicle Showbiz that they have it on good record that this altercation has always been brewing behind closed doors and it was only a matter of time before it burst. Efforts to reach Asaph were fruitless as his phone was not going through.

Friday was a Mariah Carey-Eminem beef without the diss tracks and the question that lingers is, “Does Asaph have a target on his back or there’s much more to it than meets the eye?” — @eMKlass_49