Late last month, rapper CHIKA made a ton of noise on the internet after her response to J. Cole’s scathing “1985 (Intro To ‘The Fall Off’),” gained over 1 million views in less than 24 hours. It was the last song off his KOD album, and Cole had harsh words and free advice to what might have been a number of ‘Lil’ rappers, or just one, depending on who you believe on the internet. But even though none of his lyrical missiles had CHIKA’s name on them, and it’s extremely unlikely that Cole had the up-and-comer in mind, the femcee seized the opportunity to offer probably the best response from any rapper.

https://twitter.com/oranicuhh/status/987726695062036480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fhiphopdx.com%2Fnews%2Fid.46595%2Ftitle.chika-goes-viral-with-epic-response-to-j-coles-1985&tfw_site=hiphopdx

CHIKA spent most of her “1985” freestyle laying into the kind of new rapper Cole was rapping about, raising legitimate questions about their place in hip-hop and they images they portray. But she doesn’t spare the Dreamville General either, taking a few sleek shots at him.

Priorities don’t correlate to age /
Niggas is 33, I’m 21, we on the same page /
…
It feels like every time you make a point, it’s nagging lately /
…
It’s so much you can say, look at the life that you’ve been handed /
Acknowledge and apologize for pressing ya /
I’m just responding, so try not to shoot the messenger /

Her viral response aside, CHIKA is a J.Cole fan, and she’s gone on to rap over other beats from his new album. In doing so, what she’s showing the world is that she can idolize someone and still not be afraid to check them. CHIKA has used this admirable artistic quality to build a reputation.

CHIKA — full name Chika Jane Oranika — is a 21 year old Alabama native, born to Nigerian parents. According to CHIKA: “I’m an artist of many mediums, but my most prominent one is music. I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. Somewhere along the way, I began writing poetry and voila!” Like most artists with a dream, she started putting covers of her favorite songs on YouTube 5 years ago. She covered songs like Ed Sheeran’s “The A Team” and Bruno Mars’ “Marry You” from her bedroom. CHIKA then packaged an album’s worth of those covers into a couple of projects, namely S P O K E N W O R D and L I V E M U S I C on SoundCloud, and continued to build her buzz online.

Last year, CHIKA released her first project containing solely original music titled Full Bloom (A Poetry EP). The 5-track EP explored the young artist’s other love: poetry. She spoke candidly about her life, her sexuality and the challenges she’s facing as a young, black woman coming into her own in America.

YouTube and SoundCloud have been beneficial to her growth, but where CHIKA truly built a reputation is on another social network, Twitter. Her short freestyle videos have repeatedly gone viral in recent months and brought attention to her amazing talent.

Before her response to Cole, the MC fired off an open letter to Kanye West on April 26, which — to date — has racked up over 6 million views. Rapping over the “Jesus Walks” beat, CHIKA really went in on Mr. West, jlambasting him for his recent “free-thinking” exercises that have exposed how the hip-hop legend has dropped out from reality and graduated in ignorance; this was even before his infamous “slavery was a choice” comment.

https://twitter.com/oranicuhh/status/989550438038097921

Now Mr. West take a seat, I implore ya /
Over time, it seems it’s gotten harder to ignore ya /
…
It don’t matter how much money you got or you lack /
When that check clears, don’t forget your children are still black /
And your music has been wack /
And your views are moving back /
To a day that trigger niggas cos we still hear that whip crack /
…
I’d have to admit it, I’m annoyed /
You came up on nigga’s coin /
We thought you could feel a void /
You’re a puppet /
You looked at all your fans and you said: fuck it /
…
I don’t give a fuck about your clothes /
Or your wife’s new naked pose /
Or the fact that you can stand for what the people all oppose /
It’s not a cross you had to take up /
I just hope that one day you could wake up

CHIKA’s 2 recent freestyles have given her the most press she’s ever received and got her a coveted seat beside legendary Hot97 DJ, Funk Flex this week. As the 98th entry into his popular freestyle series, the femcee delivered a nearly 3 minute-long rap. And this time, she didn’t come for anyone.

I make killing ethical /
Coming for the slaughter /
Cos I am my daddy’s daughter /
But I flow so hard they looking for my testicles

CHIKA’s Funk Flex freestyle solidifies her place as one rapper to watch. She’s more than a serial rapper-dragger, and in time, her other talents will get attention. CHIKA’s employing a much milder and far less aggressive come-up strategy to 50 Cent’s “How To Rob” or Maino’s “Rumors”, where both rappers dissed an entire industry. But CHIKA’s strategy could prove to be as effective as theirs.

It will be interesting to see if she’s able to turn her Twitter noise into a music career and her freestyle bars into hit songs in the future.