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:
- I’m So UG being featured on CNN
- Dawoo opening a mastering studio
- UGHipHop Awards being announced
- The growth of a Hip-Hop battle circuit
