In part one of this Podcast, I shine a spotlight on three Fallen African music Legends (Aurlus Mabele, Manu Dibango, and Joseph Shabalala) who have passed on during these apprehensive COVID-19 times.

Ugandan researchers have developed an inexpensive COVID-19 test kit that can deliver results quickly, offering hope for a “homegrown solution” to sub-Saharan Africa’s testing needs.

In this Podcast, I give you a flavour of some of the greatest Ugandan Hip Hop songs of the past decade.

One early January morning 34 years ago, the hurly-burly of life at St Mary’s College Kisubi, one of Uganda’s premier secondary schools was thrown out of gear when a group of haggard-looking government soldiers, fleeing from disheveled but heavily armed National Resistance Army [NRA] rebel soldiers scampered through the school compound.

Several volleys of automatic gunfire had earlier been heard, not far away from the school. None of the petrified students who were at the College that day had ever imagined that their school would become a flashpoint of conflict.

“It was the morning of either the 23rd or 24^th of January-1986. The school had just re-opened after a holiday recess. I was in S3 then and we were in class when several rounds of automatic gunfire started going off. The firing went on for a while and then we saw government soldiers running through the compound-shedding their uniform as they fled towards the lakeside,” Andrew Magona, one of the old students, calls to mind.

“Shortly after, we saw young boys in rugs, barefoot and armed to the teeth, giving chase in what we later found was a surprise NRA attack to cut off Kampala from Entebbe.”

Ronald Mutumba, now a certified Public Accountant vividly remembers that day.

“That morning, I remember one of my roommates hastily waking me up. I was not accustomed to rising early. Because of fright, I did not even have breakfast. I remember joining other students as we figured ways of staying safe.”

Luckily for the students, the rebel soldiers were not the forbidding type.

“They were amiable and approachable. That gave us the confidence to accost them and have a chat. By the time, the rebels got back to the College, after pursuing government soldiers, some of our colleagues had picked up some discarded boots from fleeing government soldiers and had tried them on,” Magona recalls.

The rebels who by then had gotten the worst of some back and forth battles with government forces in a bid to capture Entebbe knew that their presence at the college raised the specter of a government reprisal attack and so they advised the students later on in the day to find their way to Kings College Buddo through Kawuku.

The rebels who were under the NRA's 5^th battalion rationalized that Buddo would be a good sanctuary for the students since it was in an area that was under their control.

When the students led by Brother Peter Kazzekulya, who was the school’s headteacher reached Kawuku, they were advised to eschew using the main road.
They moved along a tiny checkered footpath that led them to villages such as Ssisa, Nakonge, Nsaggu, among others.

When the students with their headteacher got to Ssisa, which is about five kilometers from Kawuku, it was decided that they would camp for the night at St Peter’s Primary School.

“That night the Milky Way was resplendent with shining stars. Many of us just gazed and feasted our eyes on the starlit sky for most of the night. Very few people slept,” Nick Mujira, an old boy and now the proprietor of Inspection and Certification Company, Inspecta Africa Limited, recollects.

Earlier on as the sun hit its twilight that day, the students heard government helicopter gunships hovering through the skies.

“We had earlier been advised by the rebels to leave spaces between each other as we slept as a means of eschewing death in the event of a government helicopter attack,” Andrew Yawe, one of the old boys tells Masaabachronicle.

Rather ill-advisedly the next day, the students were given the cue to head back to the college. It was a false dawn. A few kilometers into their trek back, sounds of heavy gunfire rang out as government forces fired on fleeing rebels. The rebels met up with the students.

“The rebels were making a tactical withdrawal. There was pell-mell as we took to our heels. Everyone ran. That day was a far cry from the previous day when we calmly walked and reached the Primary school without much incident. In the process of fleeing however a stray bullet ripped through a shoe of one of our colleagues who has since passed on. The bullet grazed his ankle, causing even more panic,” Magona recalls.

Reliving the experience

On Saturday 7^th March, about 55 of the College’s old boys, who lived through the chilling scare gathered to relieve the experience, principally reenacting the grueling 25km trek they made as they sought to reach Buddo in 1986.
It wasn’t just walking however for the students, most of whom were teenagers then. On occasion, they ran especially when they had gunshots.

At the crack of dawn, as glints of sunshine penetrated the school horizon, the nostalgic jaunty trekkers were flagged off from the College’s football pitch by Kazzekulya.

Dressed in tracksuits, custom made t-shirts, sneakers and shorts, the trekkers who included Fabian Kasi-the Centenary Bank Managing Director of, Brother Francis Aganze-deputy headteacher of SMACK then, Eng. Godfrey Kaaya, Godber Tumushabe- the Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies-Associate Director, Nick Mujira- the Inspecta Africa managing director, Charles Odaga-the Finance Trust Customer Service Manager and also the President of the SMACK old boys association seemed buoyed as we approached Kawuku.

Have a listen here to Linambo [Lumasaaba for Nation]; a narrative and message-driven Lumasaba Hip Hop song-which speaks to the pressing issues in our country, in your home town, village, etc

It's off the album-Bityabirye [How are things going]

The bloom has steadily been falling off the rose of Uganda's oldest musical genre-Is Kadongo Kamu dying a slow death?

Have a listen here to the last edition of my Kadongo Kamu Podcast

Have a listen here to some new Lumasaaba Hip Hop by Supaman Wetaya-This one is called Tsilomo [words].
It will be off his 5th album-Bityabirye [ How are things going]

Kadongo Kamu music, which ostensibly is Uganda’s oldest musical genre, is what many people in the country like to call-thought-provoking music. A far cry from today’s afro-beat/pop sounds, it is in many ways, Uganda’s equivalent of America’s country music.

While growing at a much slower rate, compared to that of countries like Kenya, Uganda’s male grooming industry has steadily been making inroads.

Several estheticians in Kampala contend that the industry will likely bask in more glows, as more Ugandan men, strive to look good in the New Year.

In many of the country’s urban centers, facial moisturizing, pedicure and manicure parlours are now, not just exclusive to women. Gender barriers are increasing being broken as more upper-class and middle-class men frequent them to keep their nails, beards, teeth, skin, hair, and toes in mint condition.

“Increasingly, more Ugandan men are embracing grooming and self-care [regular facials, trimming of beards, keeping hair neat, trimming of finger and toenails, skincare, etc].
A smart preened and polished outward appearance is what every man should strive for in this New Year,” Catherine Onyait of the Ntinda Unisex salon and cosmetics clinic, told Masaabachronicle.

One of the first grooming basics, men should live by this New Year, according to Onyait, is to regularly shave and keep their beads clean. The disheveled and rugged look should be a thing of the past.
 
“Beards grow rather fast so shaving once every week is advisable. It is important to wash your beard daily, with a gentle beard shampoo using a cloth or sponge, because they easily pick up dust, food and other particles throughout the day,” Abdullah Ali Halage, a lecturer at Makerere’s School of Public Health, says.

“If you experience beard dandruff, use a dandruff specific product like gentle Vikings beard or beard wash. If you struggle with skin irritant razor bumps, which usually occur when inflamed hair follicles become infected by fungus or bacteria, ditch the razor. Use it only when you have some good pre-shave creams or oil.”

Ostensibly, using a shaving cream ensures a smoother shave and lubricates your skin, making it easier for the razor's edge to glide across the skin surface.

“The best bet; however, is to buy an electric clipper/trimmer for oneself or to go to the salon. Clippers are the best for grooming the beard, stubbles and mustache area,” Halage says.

To steer clear of razor bumps as well, do not stretch your skin when shaving, and at all times, shave in the direction your beard grows. After shaving, press a cold, wet cloth against your face for five minutes,” Onyait advises.

By all accounts, shaving pubic hair is also a good hygiene practice; men should embrace in the New Year.

“Electric clippers and disposable cartridge safety razor blades usually do the job, well, though the cartridge safety razor blades get clogged with hair, as one trims,” Dermatologist Dennis Wandukwa of Mukhuwa health center in Mbale, says.

Like any other ardent basketball acolyte, NBA fan and erstwhile basketball player, I was crushed upon hearing of Kobe Bryant’s death at the crack of dawn, today.

Bryant was a larger than life basketball icon, who made many people fall in love with the sport; on account of his relentless competitive drive and zeal to win. In the early days of his career, he made scoring in a basketball game look easy like shooting fish in a barrel but he was no easy act to follow.

You had to have some extraordinary flair to be on the level of Bryant.

BBC radio rang the knell of Bryant’s demise in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California as I was going through my daily early morning 100 push-ups regime. I was 56 pushups in and once I heard the sad news, it just put a huge damper on me that I couldn’t continue.

The fact that he died with Gianna Bryant-his 13-year-old daughter, just exacerbated the sadness. Gianna was a budding basketball player herself, who had dreams of playing in America’s top women’s basketball league-the WNBA.

Like many basketball acolytes across the globe, I am still in shock.
Upon hearing the news, my mind was cast back to the depressing day, last year, when the devastating news of my 17-year-old nephew’s death reached me. Roy Madete was a student at SMACK and he also passed on unexpectedly. I was devastated beyond measure, just like I am today.

I did not know Bryant personally but because he was somebody my teammates and I really admired, venerated and looked up to, and because he was a very supportive family man and supporter of global projects aimed at popularizing the game of basketball, it just seemed as if we knew him.

The basketball world is beholden to Bryant. The glowing tributes that are still flowing in from players in the NBA, from Africa, Europe, Asia, etc; in the wake of his death speak to that fact.
The tributes have come from across the spectrum, including from prominent people like President Donald Trump, his Los Angeles teammate-Shaquille Oneal, from the National Catholic Register, among others.
In Uganda, there are glowing tributes on the Federation of Uganda Basketball Association Facebook page and the page of the National Champions-the City Oilers.

One of my erstwhile teammates [Danny Miles] who I played the game with in High school, at University, and club level admired Kobe so much that he wore his number 8 and 24 jerseys, every time we trained and for good measure, he played Kobe’s music every time we trained. Yes, Kobe did some music too.

Bryant was a joy to watch when he stepped on the basketball court. He wore his heart on his sleeve and brought down the house every time he played, whether it was in guarding opponents, shooting threes or dunking the ball on an offensive play. Many of my teammates mirrored their games on Bryant’s game.

I was not the biggest fan of Bryant’s team-the Los Angeles Lakers, like most of my friends, but there is no way, you could gloss over his peerless skills on the basketball court, even though, on occasion, he seemed selfish with the ball.

Bryant was, in many ways, basketball’s poster Child after Michael Jordon’s retirement. Though he had to deal with a lot of blowback and criticism, earlier on in his career, principally that he had mirrored his game, to that of Jordon, he, at length, carved out his niche and went on to win five NBA Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and two gold medals for Team USA.

Bryant will be dearly missed by the world of Basketball and of course by his family. One can only imagine the grief, his wife is going through. May God strengthen her. Bryant inspired many across the globe to play the game with a passion.
In Abraham’s bosom, he will still play with his daughter.

His death reminds us that tomorrow is not promised to any of us. In our own country, we dice with death every day, given our lifestyles, state of our roads, etc.
Bryant has gone the way of all flesh but his legacy as one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball will forever be illuminated.

In this podcast, below, I make a case for Kadongo Kamu music as Uganda's best music genre ever, given its pedigree of delivering message-driven and proverb-filled-educative music.

Can GNL, Lyrical G new albums revive Ugandan Hip Hop?

Have a listen here to some proverb-driven Lumasaaba Hip Hop Music, by Supaman, the trailblazer.
This song here is called Bulimundu [ Everyone] and comes off his 5th album-BityaBirye.

From a Ugandan perspective, Hip Hop music continues to be wrongly typecast as party-oriented music, with little to no substance, yet as a genre; Hip Hop has put out many mould-breaking songs that speak, for instance, to its protracted fight against HIV and AIDS.

What is unfortunate; however is that the audios and videos of some of those conscious Hip Hop songs like New Hope Squad’s-“It’s never too late”, SP Omugujule’s-“Lwavawa” and GNL’s “Story Ya Lukka” never got any significant traction in the media.

"Story La Lukka" may, however, be an exception, here as it was warmly received.


“Blame that on the cold shoulder treatment, Ugandan Hip Hop music has always gotten. If skeptics care to listen, however to any of the above songs; which all essentially raise awareness on HIV/AIDS, they will realize conscious Hip Hop promotes values to its listeners,” Nelson Dramuke, a filmmaker and creative visual director, says.

“There is a philosophical side to Hip Hop which speaks to serious issues like HIV and in line with this year’s World Aids day theme-which is Communities making a difference, it would be good to shine light on some of the Hip Hop community’s musical contributions to the fight against HIV/AIDS in Uganda,” Silas Balabyekkubo, also known as Babaluku, a Ugandan Hip Hop icon, says.



The lyrics to “It’s never too late”, “Story Ya Luka” and Lwavawa among other songs, paint grim pictures about the consequences of irresponsible behaviour. The songs also encourage the youth to embrace safe sex practices.

From the years of old, conscious Lugaflow artists such as Babaluku, GNL, the late Mulekwa, B.B Muwanvu Muwanvu, Cosine and upcountry conscious Hip Hop artists such as Lumix, Jungle, Supaman, endeavoured to have wide representations of HIV/AIDS in their song lyrics.

The 2010 poignant song “Story Ya Luka” by Ugandan Hip Hop legend-GNL Zamba was a powerful gem in that regard.

The song, which showcased GNL’s unrivaled storytelling skill-set is a call to action for all Ugandans to fight HIV, to avoid stigma and to treat people living with HIV-humanely.

Essentially, the song tells the story of Luka-a young high roller/ bar hopper, who in his moments of indiscretion contracts HIV.

The song was later selected by Uganda’s Health Ministry to headline a 2010 AIDS youth education campaign in which GNL himself played a leading role.

“In those campaigns, we spread messages about the need for Ugandan youth to practice safe sex and to fight the widespread stigma which existed then against people living with HIV. Some of them had gotten the disease, through unfortunate circumstances,” Zamba says.


“Our campaign was a double-edged sword in the sense that we used music and word of mouth campaigns. At that time, Hip Hop spoke and it showed its strength in the way it impacted the youth.”

Dramuke says “Story Ya Luka” resonated with him on account of its fascinating storytelling narrative.

“Not many Lugaflow artists were dab hands at telling stories like GNL at that time. The first time I heard that song, the message just stuck.”

In subsequent years, GNL recorded more potent songs that speak to Hip Hop’s role in the fight against HIV like the 2014 thought-provoking song-“We Cry”. The song features GNL’s wife-Miriam Tamar.


In the song’s first verse, GNL tells a sad chronicle about a young vulnerable girl who is trapped in a guest house with a man who has been her benefactor for years. The man, who is HIV positive, later compels her into unprotected sex. After a few years, she passes on, much to the chagrin of her parents.

In the same year, the Twaweza Initiative awarded GNL for the song’s strong positive impact.

“Given that adolescent and young adults account for the majority of undiagnosed HIV positive cases; it is important to use a culturally relevant method to halt the spread of the HIV pandemic and Hip Hop fits that bill-because it appeals to many young people in Uganda,” Arnold Muduni, a Hip Hop producer at KYA studios in Kirinya, Bweyogerere, says.

“First, however the negative typecasts about hip hop have to be shed. Bubble gum and potboiler songs pushed by the likes of Fik Fameica, Mun G, Recho Ray and others will have to be put on the back burner because they give wrong impressions of the genre. ”

In the classic Lugaflow song-“It’s never too late” Mon M.C of the New Hope Squad-waxes poetic- rhyming about how HIV has taken the lives of venerable Ugandans like Philly Lutaaya and how it continues to shatter the dreams of many Ugandan families.


“That song, with its beautifully sung chorus-was way ahead of its time. Mon M.C was talking about things that are still happening today-youth recklessness and vulnerability.
He caps it all off with a reminder to the youth to stay safe through the usage of condoms and most importantly to stick to one partner,” Lady Slyke, a rapper and songwriter, says.

“Ugandan Hip Hop has several positive songs that have the educational values needed to stem and reduce the high prevalence of HIV. It should be credited for helping to reduce the prevalence of HIV among young people in the early and mid-2000s in the country,” Saint Ambrose, an I.T professional, and Hip Hop fan says.

In the song, Lwavawa-Lugaflow artist-SP Omugujule and Qreas from Western Uganda trade verses with each emphatically questioning through rhymes where the HIV monster wiping out families in Africa had emanated from.



In his first verse-SP Omugujule narrates how his brother by the names of Peter, died of HIV as a result of copulating with an infected girl after a night of fun.

Both Omugujule and Qreas cap up their last verses with calls to action for more young people to get tested, to get sensitized and to steer clear of reckless behavior.

The song “True manhood” by GNL, the late Lumix, T-Bro and singer Aziz Azion prevails upon the youth to always use protection.

As a testament to the song’s subsequent impact, it won the People's Choice Digital Media Award at the 2011 International Entertainment Education Conference.

Another Hip Hop song which highlights Hip Hop contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS is the BB Muwavu Wavu and Hope Beni’s- “Wegendereze”
Muwavu Wavu raps in Luganda, while Beni raps in Acholi.

“Muwavu Wavu tells the story of orphaned children living in destitution and with no hope for the future because their parents died of HIV, while Beni laments the devastation, HIV has caused on the long-suffering communities in Northern Uganda,” Muduni says.

The song-“So far away” by Jungle, Supaman and Cosine, also paints through engaging rhymes, grim pictures of HIV’s devastating aftermath in the Busoga, Buganda, and Bugisu sub-regions.

In Uganda, as many as 575 adolescents and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 get infected with HIV every week, according to recent reports from the country's Health Ministry.

In this Podcast, I make a case against categorizing the popular Ugandan song-"Parte after Parte" by Big Trill as Hip Hop.

In this podcast, Wetaya Richard discusses the contribution of the #Ugandan Hip Hop community to the #HIV and AIDS fight.

How do we develop effective prototype devices that can in the future help our local communities harness and convert solar radiation to heat energy for cooking? How can we best make use of organic pesticides in agriculture and move a model car using solar energy?

After nine years of hibernation, Ugandan Hip Hop veteran Jeff Kintu aka-Lyrical G is back with a gritty and cohesive repertoire of beat shredding flows, synth-heavy compositions and rhymes for his ninth studio offering, simply entitled “Geezy.”

Geezy Album Official Video

Geezy in urban slang means good or gangster. The gangster-bit is however used jokingly. 
For good measure, the 15 track album, produced almost entirely by Lyrical G, has a feel-good vibe to it.

He is joined for the ride by a slew of rappers, to wit-GNL Zamba, Mc Yallah, St Nellysade, Judas Rap Knowledge Key Nemesis, Foever, among others.

On the album, Lyrical G [L.G] sticks to his blueprint-which is effortlessly juxtaposing commanding and unadulterated Hip Hop lyricism over high caliber beats and sound beds.

It is quite evident that he worked on fine-tuning his rap skills during his hiatus, which saw him fly to the UAE for work.

Times have changed since L.G last dropped an album in 2014 but as the often averse to hip hop media people, many of whom are used to people unflattering the genre by rapping on afro ragga beats; found out at a listening party, he held for them on the 14th of October at the Atmosphere Lounge in Kololo, the rap veteran is not about to alter his musical palette.

       

The Geezy album starts on a buoyant note with the self-produced “Keep it lit”.

The song sets a bouncy tone for the album, with his flow meshing perfectly as he reminds everyone about his lyrical skills with metaphors and brag laced lines like “Mic don- rock shows-last of the realest-that feel good shhhh that has the right ingredients-go ahead place your bets on me-the way I rock mics-I may need an exorcist- extra cold with it, low pro-I’m a savage, back with tight flows, no joke above average”

On the euphonious "Atamukutte [yah yeah]" a Koz&Effekt produced song, which ostensibly is the album’s lead single, L.G holds down the fort, enumerating why he still has to be reckoned among the best Hip Hop wordsmiths in the country, over some captivating Bakisimba infused rhythms.

On the exciting trap-ish- “Ndi Mukyamu”-feat talented newcomer Sliq Teq, L.G manifests why he is in a league of his own with commanding sleek lines like:
“I came in the game as a youngin/ Straight from the depths of a dungeon/ I made a name out of nothing/ this ain't rap, this is outrage/.




GNL Zamba, who has a new album in the works, makes a noteworthy and strong appearance on “Been Bout My Thang”, one of the album’s best ditties.

Other notable songs on the album are “Worthy” where L.G raps about his introspective reverence for God; “Wetuli”-where he showcases his tongue-twisting wordplay flow skills and “Float”- a Love song, where he gets lovey-dovey and waxes lyrical about his significant other.

On “Never Knew Pain”- an ode to his late mum, Barbara Kintu, L.G wears his heart on his sleeve-as he plaintively reminisces about her.

Strong as it, L.G’s comeback project is however not without flaws. Rustiness shows on un-inspired verses from some of his guests like Ossie Entrance and B-Money on the “Tuli Majje” song.

In Uganda's chequered Hip Hop industry, the spotlight has always been unfairly cast on Kampala based artists, their music and trails they blaze.   

For a long time, media coverage and public space conversations about talented upcountry Hip Hop artists on missions to expand the genre’s horizons in their indigenous languages have been only occasional and not pronounced enough.

Aside of song collaborations with established Hip Hop artists from Kampala, to occasional song plays on radios such as HOT 100 to Radio City and nominations for Hip Hop industry awards; talented Hip Hop artists from upcountry such as T-bro, Judas Rap Knowledge, Byg Ben Sukuya, Amani Amaniga, Crazie Wispa, and many others, continue to play second fiddle to their colleagues from Kampala.

There are however, upcountry Hip Hop artists who despite not being given a fair shake in terms of respect, promotion and media publicity, are expanding the genre’s horizons to depths their colleagues in Kampala, who have been in the game longer, can only dream of.

“Upcountry Hip Hop artists, especially those from Gulu in the North of Uganda and Kigezi, are far from the blackballed rappers in Kampala, as they have respected followings in their home areas,” Ronald Odongo, a Gulu radio host and blogger, says.


UPCOUNTRY HIP HOP ARTISTS CREATING A BUZZ FOR THE GENRE

Gulu has a gifted and firm Hip Hop flag bearer in Judas Rap Knowledge aka Lapwong or teacher. Knowledge’s strength is his ability to craft rhymes and rap them fluently and commandingly in both English and Acholi.



His "Labong and Gipir” album was pretty much a showcase of his strong emceeing skills as he went back and forth, rhyming adeptly on various issues such as poverty, war, love, partying, among others.

Just like Lumix who was the first genuine Hip Hop star from Gulu, Knowledge has a rising fan base in Gulu and neighboring districts. He also has a sizable social media following.

The 2019-256 Hip Hop awards People’s Champ winner has his rap posse called Soulz of Afrika and his “To the Top” single-off his forthcoming, yet to be titled, studio album-was recently voted the 256 song of August.
He also features on Ugandan rap legend-Lyrical G’s new album-GEEZY.

“If there is one person, Hip Hop can look up to in the North, after the demise of Lumix, it is Knowledge. He gives a good account of himself, lyrically, whether he is rapping in English or Acholi,” Arnold Muduni, a Hip Hop producer at KYA studios in Kirinya, Bweyogerere, says.

In Western Uganda, there is a Hip Hop trailblazer by the names of T-Bro. T-Bro, who is not a newcomer, by any long shot, is associated with Kiga-flow or rap in Rukiga.



He recently won the Western rapper of the year honor at the 2019 MTN Hip Hop awards. Unlike Judas Rap Knowledge, who is a purist with his lyricism, T-Bro tries out other genres such as afro-beat. In many ways, that has helped get him into the good graces of many people in the Kigezi region.

Recently, T-Bro left fans spellbound with his performance at the All-Star tour in Kabale, with songs such as “hustler”, “Kigangstar”, “Hija Ondarire” and “ne must” one of his newest songs. One of his strong musical stocks in trade is his powerful commanding voice and stage presence.

Unlike Judas Rap Knowledge, T-Bro’s Kiga-flow music, some of which features Kampala based artists such as Lady Slyke, GNL, Keko, and the Mith has enjoyed some considerable rotation on Kampala radios such as Hot 100 and Radio City. His songs are also highly popular with the Banakigezi in the diaspora.

T-Bro’s first mixtape was titled "The black man's dream". It spawned hit singles such as "Omukiga and Jazza".

From Eastern Uganda, there is a flame-throwing talent by the name of Byg Ben Sukuya. Sukuya, who has carved out a name for himself in Mbale and Kampala, partly due to his go-getter manager’s fat wallet, raps in English and Lumasaaba.



Sukuya won the 2016 Best Eastern rapper of the year and has since gone on to release fan-favorite songs such as Ndolelele-denoting “look at me”.


From Arua in West Nile; there is the Lugbara flow-flag bearer-Milton Maopini, also known as Gbaraspoken. Gbaraspoken is not only a rapper however, but he is also a community social worker and spoken word poet.

“With his vibe and charisma, Gbaraspoken, who is the reigning West Nile Hip Hop artist of the year, may just be the second-best thing that ever happened to the West Nile region, since Onduparaka F.C. [Pun intended],” Odongo says.


Gbaraspoken has a huge social media following and usually packs venues to the rafters when he has performances in West Nile.
His songs like “Ma Osura”, “Aparaka Yo”, Orataa, Ketura, camasi ‘bo, Testify, Bile Seza, Ewule Ewule enjoy regular rotation on F.M radios in the West Nile region.
He also has a huge following among West Nilers in the diaspora.

As a means of engaging the youth of West Nile in meaningful livelihoods, Gbaraspoken founded the community-based Hip Hop organisation Platform 503, in 2015.
He released his first Hip Hop album-entitled- Aparaka Yo, that very year. The eleven-track album turned out to be the first Hip Hop album to be launched in West Nile.


From the Bunyoro sub-region, there is the Runyo-flow trailblazer, going by the stage name of Crazie Wispa. His real moniker, however, is Benard Ayesiga and he hails from Masindi. 

Wispa's song-“Bunyoro Hatuli” is, by all accounts, an anthem of sorts in the Bunyoro sub-region. He also enjoys a big social media following and is currently under the Hip Hop movement known as the Abarusuura foundation, which advocates for the Hip Hop revolution in the Bunyoro region.

Is Ugandan Hip Hop about to witness a revival with news that respected veterans-GNL Zamba and Lyrical G are releasing new albums or have already, like in the case of Lyrical G?

For many of the genre’s loyal fans, news of the album releases is a welcome development, given the genre-uplifting pedigrees of the two wordsmiths. GNL and Lyrical G significantly helped raise the profile of Ugandan Hip Hop in the mid-2000's.

“Their influence is still manifest in many of today’s rappers but their absence has been felt, in many ways, because increasingly, today an afro-ragga sound and vibe, championed by the likes of Gravity is rather unflatteringly, being seen and fronted as Hip Hop,” Gladys Kituyi, an entertainment blogger, says.

There are rappers like Judas Rap Knowledge, Fefe Busi, etc who have kept true to the genre’s fundamentals, more like what GNL, Babaluku and LG did but they, of course, know there are long odds stacked against them.

The scoop that rap fans will have two albums to rock to, this year should hopefully be added onto a log enumerating some of the genre’s highlights for this year, 2019.
Besides the 2019 MTN Hip Hop awards, there is nothing else substantial, which has happened for the genre, this year.

“The MTN awards brought some spark back to a genre, which essentially still risks, sinking into oblivion,” Kituyi says.

Why fans should be upbeat

There is every reason to be upbeat though, with this news. Just lyrically speaking, you will be hard-pressed, today to find a hip hop artist in Uganda who wields as skillful a pen as GNL or Lyrical G.

Hip Hop, in many respects, requires not good but proficient poetic writing skills and that is where GNL and Lyrical G have a forte.
Hip Hop emcees [rappers] will talk about anything and most times, they make it sound thought-provoking, witty and educative.

Other times, they use hyperbole, braggadocio, metaphors, and many other figures of speech.
In the history of Ugandan hip hop, few rappers have flexed those skills, better than GNL and Lyrical G.

Other emcees have excelled, of course, such as Navio, Babaluku, Ibraw, Mon M.C, The Mith, L.G, Rugged Made, Ruuyonga, Keko, among others.

The few talented Hip Hop artists who showed that they also wielded skillful pens when it comes to writing Hip Hop rhymes after GNL’s efforts brought Hip Hop to the mainstream, likeCyno M.C, St Nellysade, Burney, Patrobas, among others, regrettably took hiatuses and that sadly spawned the rise of many of today’s Kidandali [afro ragga] beat rappers.

“You can not lay claim to Hip Hop when you rap on afro ragga beats and stop laying claim to the Hip Hop throne when you are far removed from the Hip Hop genre’s fundamentals,” Gid Kibuka, a Hip Hop producer/Emcee in Ntinda, says.

“If you call yourself Hip Hop, rap or rhyme on a real Hip Hop beat. Bottom-line. Do not give me the same old mediocre notion that a pure rap beat, will not resonate with Ugandans and that a dancehall ragga beat suffices more. Hip Hop has an audience here. They are a silent majority. All these young people you see around the country, rocking jeans, baseball caps, sneakers and walking with prances in their steps are part of a growing Hip Hop generation. They are growing up on Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Drake, and Rick Ross.”

Kibuka adds “The only vestiges of Hip Hop about the afro ragga artists who choose to water down their subject matter to “beans” and “goats being on the loose” are the baggy t-shirts, loose-fitting jeans, sneakers, and bling they wear. Fashion-wise, they promote Hip Hop, but not musically.”

The genre has been debased by a bunch of John come lately seeking to expand the genre’s horizons, without respecting its fundamentals.

“When some people come forth and say rap on a Hip Hop beat, do not perceive them as haters or people stuck in the past. Yes, the genre is evolving and yes the dance beat resonates with many people, but there is a crowd out there that minds about preserving a legacy and the knowledge fundamentals of Hip Hop,” Gilbert Bwete, a hip hop archivist, notes.

“Hip Hop is akin to Kadongo Kamu-deeply meaningful and poetic. The guys who rap on afro ragga beats are not Hip Hop artists. If there are award shows, it is only right that they are nominated in the right genre category which is afro ragga. Do you remember how Abdu Murasi was given a go by and ignored by the Kadongo Kamu community; it will be the same with the afro ragga artists who pretend they are Hip Hop, with time.”

New dawn coming

With all that said, however, there is a new dawn coming with GNL’S and Lyrical G’s-the Spear and Geezy albums respectively.
The visual trailer for GNL’s album is nothing short of captivating and already, some of his fans are speculating that it may be 2019’s Ugandan Hip Hop album of the year.

Lyrical G’s-Geezy album, on the other hand, was released on the 30^th of August.
He has been putting out audio and video teasers on social media and local T.V stations like Urban, NTV, and NBS.



The long-suffering genre, where real Hip Hop artists are shunned and the pseudo ones who rap on afro ragga beats are embraced, quickly needs a new lease of life.

That new lease may come with the two albums. Historically, however, albums have been a hard sell in Uganda and the United States; they are increasingly becoming a thing of the past.
In the past decade or so, album sales across the world have been going down. Music fans’ have gotten more partial to singles downloads, than buying whole albums.

GNL star’s shinning abroad

GNL moved to the United States with his wife-Miriam Tamar, some few years ago. They got married but the most important anecdote is that he has not put his music career on the back burner.

Matter of factly, he went the world music way, dropping a joint album with his wife, last year entitled-“Nsimbi” and for good measure, a single off the album-called “Leo ni Leo” won the best World Beat accolade at the recent International Music Awards in New York.

You would be wrong, however, to assume, that he has lost his rap mojo.
In the past year, he blessed his fans with songs like “Zamba the great”, which had him impressively rapping in English, Boasty and “Yours Sincerely”, among others.

GNL was channeling his old self with “Zamba the Great” and “Yours Sincerely”.

“Yours Sincerely” particularly showed GNL’s sensibilities, proving he was fully aware of the threat to his stronghold on the Lugaflow throne, by young rappers, who honed their styles on his earlier music and who intended to use his wordplay blueprint on other beats, other than Hip Hop,” Rugged made, a veteran hip hop emcee and a mainstay on the Kampala battle rap scene, says.

“Lyrically, none of the “Who is Who” rap bragging rights song versions is anywhere near “Yours Sincerely”. “

The “Yours sincerely” record was in Hip Hop speak-“dope”-denoting-really good. It exhibited GNL’s superior and creative wordplay, lyrical dexterity, braggadocio, and excellent rhyming skills.