Music industry remembers AliThatDude

"He had such a big spirit, I think his body was holding him back. I think he always felt like he had to float - and that was the true essence of him," shared Charmaine Villet, the mother of Alain &#039;Ali&#039; Villet, who recently passed away. Alain was a well-known rap artist in Namibian hip-hop circles as AliThatDude with his group Black Vulcanite and worked under the same name with several Namibian musicians such as Sean K and Hunter Rose."It&#039;s hard to capture him - I think he&#039;s written in another language that the rest of us can&#039;t speak," Villet shared of her son, who is expected to graduate in April.His parents share that Alain was aware of the impact his music had, but that he seemed unable to absorb it. "He never talked about it. We knew about it because the kids in the family talked about it and played his music, but he was the most humble person on Earth. I think it was a challenge for him to believe those things about himself. We knew he was great, but in his eyes he wasn&#039;t," says Villet.However, his father, Hylton, explains that Alain has been testing the limits of the world since he was a child. "He did everything people said he couldn&#039;t do. He always challenged the norm," he said.When Alain originally started making hip-hop music, his parents explained that they didn&#039;t understand the music, but they didn&#039;t try to stop him either. "We always encouraged him to do what he wanted to do, so we supported it because we always knew that&#039;s what he wanted to do," said Villet.However, the Villets believe that their music also had an influence on Alain. "We played a lot of the music that our parents played and we often heard him softly singing or whistling it here in the house."Heartbreak"There is sadness, but it is sadness for those of us who are left behind," says Villet, who says she experiences the sadness in the messages from people who knew Alain. They share that people should remember their son as they experienced him. "When I go and read the eulogies on Instagram, I realize the impact he had," says Hylton. "I would like him to be remembered as someone with tons of compassion who cared for everyone and transplanted his values and views into everyone else," he says."I am grateful that my body was able to give birth to him. I feel blessed that I was able to be the mother of such a wonderful soul - but he was not mine to keep," says Charmaine.MusicAlain was one of the founding members of the award-winning music group Black Vulcanite, whose profound lyrics and Afrofuturistic vision redefined Namibian hip-hop. Black Vulcanite took the local music scene by storm with the release of their EP &#039;Remember The Future&#039;, after forming in 2013. The trio&#039;s fearless exploration of topics such as racial injustice, poverty and African identity earned them acclaim. Their debut album &#039;Black Colonialists&#039;, released in 2016, cemented their place in the music industry with topics such as historical norms and societal norms being spotlighted here.In 2015, Black Vulcanite won the Namibian Annual Music Awards (NAMA) award for best music video. Mark Mushiva, who was a member of Black Vulcanite with Alain, wrote on Instagram upon the news of his passing; "You gave me the best years of my life. I love you. Nothing makes sense," he said.Rap Attack, a television show centered around Namibian hip-hop culture, described him as an artist known for his deep lyrics and ability to weave profound messages into his music. "AliThatDude, along with the other members [of Black Vulcanite], brought a fresh perspective to Namibian hip-hop by addressing issues such as identity, culture, social justice and self-awareness," Rap Attack shared on Facebook.

Music industry remembers AliThatDude

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Namibian Sun 2025-01-30

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Music industry remembers AliThatDude

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Namibian Sun 2025-01-30

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