|
They are the duo of the Ugandan hip-hop scene with lyrics that take you back in the day of socially conscious hip-hop. They take us back at a time when African American artistes like Afrika Bambaataa, Queen Latifah, Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, KRS-One and A Tribe Called Quest advanced the wordplay, delivery, and subject matter of rapping by combining soul-laden production with positive messages which were meant to uplift black communities all over the world. Instead of promoting materialism (bling bling), misogynic lyrics and gun violence the hip-hop artists of those days discussed the empowerment of the black community, unity, Afrocentric pride and respect, the elimination of violence as well as moral and ethical issues in the American ghetto. 
UGPulse Promo
Play Video:
Krazy Native, Sylvester, Abramz and Leen from Indegenous: 'Locals and Natives'
Click here for more from Indigenous Uganda
Abramz and Sylvester, the rap duo behind the hip-hop song and video Lemerako are seasoned rap veterans who are only starting to get recognition recently. Their aim is not only to take hip-hop back to the original taste and flavour it had, but also to give Ugandan hip-hop it's own unique identity which is entirely stripped of all Americanisms by using local dialects which the average Ugandan can relate to. They also make sure that their videos are shot in scenarios which are unmistakably Ugandan. They are working towards revolutionizing the Ugandan music world and shaking up corporate Uganda with their political, social and cultural consciousness, saturating their songs with skillful rhymes backed with jazzy backbeats. Their growing up in the "ghettoes" of Kampala gives them the credibility they need to succeed in the hip-hop game and rap about the rougher elements of Ugandan society. I had the opportunity to interview them and discover what motivates them.
JANE: Please tell us more about yourselves...
Sylvester Kabombo.
SYLVESTER: I am Sylvester Kabombo. I was born 25 years ago to the late Edward Kagimbo and Evelyn Kyomubi. The schools I attended are Kabaka'njagala Road Educational Institute, Kibuye Primary School and St Peter's Secondary School-Nsambya in Kampala.
Abraham Tekya.
ABRAMZ: I am Abraham Tekya. I was born in 1982. I was born to the late Edward Kagimbo and Evelyn Kyomubi. The schools I attended are Kabaka'njagala Road Educational Institute and Kibuye Primary School.
JANE: So you guys are actually blood brothers. Are you also good friends?
SYLVESTER: Yeah we are blood brothers born from the same mom and dad and I also can't deny the fact that we are good friends because a lot of people say that you can hardly find two brothers with a lot in common.
JANE: At which point in life did you know that you wanted to be hip-hop artists?
Sylvester and Abramz.
ABRAMZ: That was in 1992 in Primary 2 although we were still young. We heard some elder cousins who were already in the game by then and there were more than enough old school hip-hop records which we used to listen to. I personally liked artists like Chubb Rock, Brand Nubian, Big Daddy Kane, De La Soul, Digital Underground etc. It all sparked off officially in mid 1992 when I watched the live performance of "Check a Rhyme" a song by A Tribe Called Quest. Since then life has never been the same because after that, I used to hide my self where nobody could see me and imitate whatever I had seen and heard. I would practice incessantly. That's when I got to discover the emcee I had in me.
JANE: So how did you really get into the hip-hop game?
SYLVESTER: Well we started by kicking the verses of American Idols who we had heard- through picking up most of their words was kind of hard because we knew very little English back then. Also there were no lyrics to be downloaded off the internet as is the norm today. But around late 1993, we started composing our own kiddish rhymes which many old cats used to laugh at all the time. We used to put our music books in the middle of the school books and pretend that we were revising while we kicked our rhymes quietly. We used to kick them at school because we were in the same boarding primary school (Kabaka'njagala Road Educational Institute) and our age mates used to feel us because among the blind a one-eyed man is the king. The fact is that no one at school used to rap apart from us. We used to rock our songs in the dormitories, school compounds, speech days and weekly school concerts which were held every Wednesday.
JANE: What did your parents think when you decided to pursue it?
ABRAMZ: Unfortunately they died before they knew about it because we had always kept it from them. The bottom line was that most of Ugandan parents had a misconception that you couldn't do music and study at the same time.
JANE: That is very sad to hear.
"Lemerako" meaning "Hang On"
JANE: What inspired the video Lemerako?
SYLVESTER: Many things; first we were inspired by the late P.Tech a.k.a Paul Mwandha. He was a hip-hop artist who started up www.musicuganda.com. This guy lived up to his dream and never gave up until the day he passed away. The life we live and what we have gone through also inspired the video because Sylvester and Abramz are about being real. We had to portray that life and the biggest number of scenes were taken around Kasubi; that's our hood. The video also shows some of the jobs we would be doing if we were not emcees.
JANE: Why did you decide to do it in the ghetto?
ABRAMZ: We wanted to focus so much on what well-off people call low-class jobs and the fact being that most of them are done by the people in the suburbs, we had to go right there. These are people who need peace of mind, an inspiration, encouragement and to get to know that there are people who are proud of them and that we appreciate their contribution to society. Uganda would not be the same without them as they also contribute in their own way to Ugandan society. Ugandan society is not just about the wealthy. The whole concept behind the song and video is to let them know that if they persevere they can raise their game to a higher level. Some of the areas where this video was shot are Kasubi (our hood), Nakulabye, Mulago, Kisenyi, Owino market and Kimathi Avenue and other places around Kampala.
JANE: I think it is cool that
you rap in Luganda. You are staying true to your roots. I am sure that the average Ugandan can understand and identify with you. Was that a conscious
decision?
SYLVESTER: Yeah it was because we started off rapping in English but we found out that most of the people we claim to represent would not necessarily get the message easily. There are a big number of people who hear a person rapping in English and call them a wannabe. They think you are trying to act American which is not real in most cases because we got lots of brothers and sisters who use English rap to tackle issues which affect Ugandan societies. Some think Luganda rap is only for the illiterate but there are a lot of literates who will tell you that they can't hear your words if they are in English and at the same time they say you are talking too fast over the beat.
ABRAMZ: We also believe that hip-hop music can cross over to audiences of people who are not necessarily hip-hop (connoisseurs-*added by interviewer), young and old, but the only way it can happen is when it is our local languages are being used. It must be something they can understand from A to Z. Here when you rap in English and don't perfect the English they call it a failed imitation; if you sound linguistically perfect, they don't give it attention because they think it is an American performing. It's a catch 22. So Ugandan hip-hop needs an identity and on top of that we feel that we can express ourselves better in Luganda than in English, although some people say we are good at rapping in both languages.
JANE: That makes sense. It's important to be proud of our languages. It's what defines us.
So do you have a lot of haters? That is part of the theme of your song...
SYLVESTER: Definitely we do! From relatives to friends, the theme is based on reality and it is what has been going down since day one. Some people have always told us that there is nowhere we are going with hip-hop and that it will only make us starve. The reason being that it does not make a lot of money yet, because nobody can promote it. Amidst all that, we have been faithful to hip-hop, no cheating, because we knew it was our calling. Another thing you have to know is that this song is not only about the two of us but everybody on earth because I believe each one has got at least one hater no matter how good or friendly you think you are.
JANE: That is true. It's called the crab mentality where I live. When crabs see one crab trying to get out of the bucket, they pull it back down. Your song is about never giving up. What have been your challenges in entering the hip-hop Game?
ABRAMZ: First and foremost being a hip-hop artist in Uganda is considered a risk by some people, which means that you have a hell of a struggle ahead of you. There are slim chances for a Ugandan hip-hop artist to be given free studio time, radio airplay or a newspaper interview because they have the crazy misconception that our songs are senseless and we can't address the public musically. You can hardly get sponsorship for a hip-hop concert and no distribution companies buy hip-hop albums because they depend on the unprofessional radio station research which tells them that Ugandan hip-hop has no fans.
JANE: How did you meet 3rdi, the guy who shot your video?
3rdI.
ABRAMZ: I met 3rdi in 2004 around November. I got to know him through his friend Henry J who is also a friend of mine. He introduced me to 3rdi on a Monday night at the National Theatre. You all know that hip-hop is about brotherhood. Those who love it flock together. The moment they told him that I am an emcee and he told me he's a DJ, things started rolling. I used to host the Sabrina's Pub Hip-hop night which used to happen every Tuesday night. So I got him there the next day, introduced him to the rest of the hip-hop heads including my brother Sylvester. That night he displayed his ill deejaying skills and also did some filming. He had very little time left in UG (Uganda) so he went back to the USA and came back to UG in 2005 to work on his "Diamonds In The Rough" project under which he shot the "Lemerako" video among others.
3rdI and Abramz.
JANE: UGPULSE has flooded with emails from your fans wanting to know more about you. Apart from this, how have they shown you support?
SYLVESTER: I believe we all know that hip-hop doesn't depend only on radio airplay; it also depends on its fans. These are the people who attend your shows, buy your music and support you in various ways. These are what they call loyal hip-hop fans because they don't wait for airplay to feel you. Besides that, they also decide to buy our promotional CDs which are meant to be free of charge. Some of them always give us free security when ever we stage shows in dangerous areas. We have got fans who sell clothes in Owino market; these guys are so amazing, they give us free clothes sometimes.
JANE: Does the UG corporate world take you seriously?
ABRAMZ: It's just beginning to take us seriously because of our persistence in the music genre which they used to believe can't make in UG. I believe if more hip-hop is done in our local languages it will get enough airplay thus create a big impact and in so doing the Uganda corporate world will take us more seriously. Some of them get surprised when we get big crowds at our shows yet we have no airplay.
JANE: What's your general message to the world?
SYLVESTER: Find out what you know and what you don't know. Be persistent and believe in your self.
JANE: What about the hip-hop summit in UG which happened last year? What did you think of it?
ABRAMZ: Well speaking frankly, last year's Uganda hip-Hop Summit was the greatest in terms of performances and organisation. The turn up wasn't as big as 2004's due to the little time we had for publicity. It was a showcase of extraordinary talent. For the first time, the media reported positively on UG hip-hop.
JANE: I asked Essence Kasozi this question and I'll ask you guys too. Some may argue that they are just too many wannabes entering the musical scene and saturating the market. What is your opinion of this?
SYLVESTER: Yeah it's true that there are just too many wannabes because it's no longer about talent or skill. It's the radio and T.V stations which bring this about. For instance here in UG, it's not about having a song with a good message, vocals and a nice beat. It's about having the money to bribe the presenters to play your song and it's what whack artists do here. T.V and radio stations influence a big number of people these days to the extent that they determine a good song by radio airplay. This means that unfortunately there are people who will not take you seriously unless your music is on radio. Being on radio is not exactly easy for many artists who may not have money.
JANE: What do you think of the state of hip-hop today?
Abramz.
ABRAMZ: Much as hip-hop has gone global; it has changed so much compared to back in the days because artists no longer produce what they feel like but instead aim at impressing commercial T.V and radio stations. That's why we've got more commercials than real hip-hop on the mainstream. Emcees no longer talk about real issues. Most of them are just trying to be corporation-friendly but I believe you can also make them feel the real issues which are going on. You can do that and make money. But instead there is too much flossing and bling blinging which has influenced and led many upcoming hip-hop artists into the wrong direction. All this is happening but I believe that the world will finally at some point have enough of these fronting emcees and hip-hop will get back to its original taste because on the underground real Hip-hop is still surfacing.
JANE: So what you mean is that it's going to go full circle and go back to the back in the day's music.
Which East African musician are you feeling right now?
SYLVESTER: Maurice Kirya of "Beera Nabo" fame, Babaluku, Professor J and definitely ourselves
JANE: Are you planning to tour outside Uganda?
ABRAMZ: Yeah that's part of our future plans, we shall keep you updated.
JANE: What projects are you working on right now?
SYLVESTER: Apparently we are running a weekly hip-hop night with live performances at The Basement Discotheque and a free weekly B-boying (break dancing) class with a B-boy teacher (Emile) from Ireland, all under the organisation "Hip-hop Activists Uganda". We're also working on its website and scouting for upcoming ambitious hip-hop artists plus helping them in all ways possible.
Abramz, 4by4(Hiphopcanvas.com),Emile and Antonio (one of tha b.boyz)
At the break dancing class.
JANE: What's next for you guys?
ABRAMZ: Pushing UG real hip-hop to the main stream and realising our maiden album soon which we hope to do more videos for plus collabos (Collaborations) with surprise artists.
JANE: Ok. I know that hip-hop artists like giving shout outs. Any shout outs?
ABRAMZ: Yes. Much love to: 3rdi, UGPulse readers, Babaluku, Maurice Kirya, Indigenous, Cyprian, P.Tech (R.I.P) Diddi and Tinkavelli...
JANE: How can your fans contact you?
ABRAMZ: Our contact are silkamb@yahoo.co.uk, tekyabra@yahoo.com or +256 712-816617, +256 712-738000.
Sources used:
musicuganda.com,
Indigenous and 3rdi.
| 
