Ugandan hip hop

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Uganda’s hip hop scene began in the early to mid-1990s, especially among university students at Makerere University and elsewhere. The Bataka Squad, formed in the early 1990s is a pioneer in the Ugandan Hip Hop scene and are the originators of the Lugaflow style, using the native Luganda language. Other formative groups on the Ugandan hip hop scene in the early 90s include Young Vibrations, MC Afrik, DJ Berry, and Kaddo. Club Pulsations in Kampala was a hotspot for Ugandan hip hop in the 90s. In recent years groups such as Klear Kut, Milestone, Chain Thought Reaction and many more have been hitting the scene. In 2002 Klear Kut were nominated for the Kora All Africa Music Awards in the “Most Promising African Group” and “Revelation of the Year” categories.

In 2003 Saba Saba aka Krazy Native, of the Bataka Squad, and Xenson formed the Uganda Hip Hop Foundation. Several people in the Hip Hop Community joined the foundation, including Francis Agaba, the late Paul Mwandha, and Jeff Ekongot. In 2003 the Foundation hosted the first Ugandan Hip Hop Summit and concert at Club Sabrina's in Kampala. It was so successful that they have hosted it every year for the past four years. The Summit has featured a lot of upcoming artists and activists. In 2005 the Bavubuka All Starz (www.bavubukaallstarz.com) formed under the leadership of Silas aka Babaluku of the Bataka Squad, with the mission of bringing hip hop music and community together to address social causes.