Tuesday 17 November 2015

CELEBRATE THE WIN.


By Tom Mayanja

We need to start claiming our wins. Be silent about the faults but, always look for ways to correct them. We have seen so much good happen in UGHipHop this year but, for some reason people will pretend like they haven’t noticed any of it.

The year started off with Baru Beats (Baru discusses Redefinitions) releasing his “Redefinitions” project. The project featured 11 Ugandan artists; mainly in Hip-Hop expressing themselves on the same beat. It featured established artists like: Enygma, Ruyonga, and Patrobas, as well as up and coming acts like: Pryce, Code, Tucker, and new acts like: P.I.F, Ninja C and more. The project went ahead to set the tone for the year. New producers, new acts and new ideas were being introduced to push the genre forward.

That trend went on when underground camps used social media to get recognition. 207 and his Kriminal Kase production team delivered the solid Gritty Cypher, Mean Cypher and Mainstream meets Underground Cypher. MC’s who many people had heard of, but had never seen, were now officially in the public eye.

Sylvester and Abramz were there to show us that Old IS Gold with their individual campaigns; Break Dance Project Uganda and Ziva Muntuuyo. Abramz got a 30 minute feature on CNN, and was also featured on DW tv, talking about how they used break dance to help less fortunate kids in the slums, get a better living. Sylvester on the other hand used his Ziva Muntuuyo song, and clothes line, to talk about the current mentality of the everyday Ugandan, the Hustle mentality.



Lady Slyke had a dope year too. She featured on the All Female Cypher, but also went to feature on CCTV thanks to her News Beat show.



Lyrical G released his 8th album, Feel Good Music, EIGHTH ALBUM. Let that sink in please. And to mark that, he had his 1st ever solo event: The Feel Good Music Experience. And everyone in “UGHipHop” was at the event. Everyone from radio hosts to TV presenters, Legends to new comers, everyone was there to support this moment. They were there to support Lyrical G, the guy who had, for so many years, been the Face of what we do.


Ruyonga had 2 concerts to mark the release of his “Glory Fire” album. A V.I.P show, as well as a Fire Army show in the Makerere sports grounds. Mun*G also had a 2 concerts to mark the release of his “Byayanga” album. And even though he had issues with the government, who went ahead and cancelled his Kampala show, he went ahead and had 2 successful concerts away from Kampala. Gravity had a huge concert at Freedom City, on Independence Day.

Mixtapes, albums, ciphers, videos and dope singles were released. A Hip-Hop show was started on Urban TV. Touch FM also started a Hip-Hop show. Continental television was invaded. Events were held in Uganda. The likes of Navio, Atlas, Keko and many more went to events in different countries, both continental and global. But somehow people want to downplay what “UGHipHop” has achieved, and continues to try to achieve.

We need to start claiming our wins. It’s been a good year thus far; let’s work at making it even better.

Notable mentions:

Monday 2 November 2015

#NdiSteady - Lyrics





Written by: Tom Mayanja

Chorus:
Life knocking me down, but you will see me smile
No need to think about it, homie I’ll tell you why
Ndi Steady. Boss Ndi Steady. Ndi Steady. Boss, Ndi Steady
I don’t have a cent on me, but I’m looking fly
My gas tank on E, but I’m ready to ride
Ndi Steady. Boss, Ndi Steady. Ndi Steady. Boss, Ndi Steady


Verse 1:

Ndi steady, Ndi steady
I’m So UG tees, Ndi ready
Earned everything you’ve seen the boy getting
Coz I stay on my grind and receive the Lord’s blessings
Best believe there’s no resting
‘till I’m gone or I’m received in all sections
I repeat there’s no resting/ I got goals I must achieve in all sessions
So keep talking, I’ll keep grinding
Watch me get it all in perfect timing
None of them came close or could out rhyme him
Been all about my Bars, like I owned asylum
The flyest 1
Crossing over to success, no Iverson
Where I am from
I’m always striving for more/
Like Omwony on the court/
You know the boy moving forward.

Chorus:
Hook:
Family/ Check
My boys/ Check
My girls/ Check
Man, I don’t need the rest (x3)

Verse 2:

Ndi steady, Ndi steady
I roll with the K.U.T/ tuli ready
Who would’ve thought, at a younger age/
The words we wrote on a VISA page/
Would get us through our trouble days?!
The hustle pays, and a skill set too/
That’s why I’m never threatened by talks of who’s the next dude
My catalog’s impeccable what could you tell dude?
Only competition is myself, the rest I’ll get through
And while I make moves/ they stay hating
They say they’re in the building/ but it stay vacant
Me and my team stay suited up/ we’re so Made Men
The Don/ got MoHits than a Mavin
I slay all these tracks
You ain’t saying sh*t/ I say more on tracks
I say more with facts/
The Dopest in the game/ you can bet all on that

Chorus…