'There's commercial music; then there is mine'

Correspondent

Nation Media Group

In one of his songs, Ugandan hip-hop artiste Daniel Lubwama Kigozi, better known as Navio, refers to himself as ‘the son of a refugee’.

The line is more than clever wordplay. It is a reflection of his life and perhaps explains why his countless visits to Kenya go beyond promoting his music in East Africa's biggest music market.

"Most of my songs are about Uganda, and many of my song titles reflect that. But I guess rapping in English has worked against me because most other artistes sing in Luganda. I once had a conversation with the late AKA, and he told me something that stayed with me. He said doing hip-hop is a sacrifice. You are already losing something. There's nothing Jay-Z can do in popular culture to compete with Justin Bieber. But you can never ignore Jay-Z's influence. That conversation helped me understand my own journey. There is commercial music, and then there is the music I've chosen to make. You have to accept that you may or may not get your props (the recognition you deserve), and you have to make peace with that and be happy and comfortable with what you have chosen, which I am. And that is what has made me a legend in Kenya and Tanzania."

“Kicking and opening the door of the Ugandan hip-hop scene and showing its potential and opportunities has to be my biggest achievement. As Klear Kut, we were a first of many things. We did the first full-length album on Compact Disc (CD), shooting high-quality big videos, then we did the first African tour, then we were the first to be nominated for the Kora Awards, which were huge back then, competing with P-Square and other greats of those times. There were so many firsts we did that many saw as impossible. I remember us having an album launch that attracted so many people, turning it into a concert that even forced the police to come shut us down, and from there on everybody began doing album launches calling them concerts. A launch should be different from a concert, but in Uganda we call it that because of Klear Cut.”

“I haven’t had to integrate into their lives, but I feel like it's the other way round. They have integrated into mine instead. We do TikTok videos together sometimes; in truth, they keep me updated on the latest trends I could be missing, especially with this generation. But as a father, I have never recommended them to do anything. If they have an interest in music, that's a different case because it’s not something that I will willingly force on them just because it's a discipline I have an understanding of. I know my first-born and third-born sons are interested in music, but my daughter is into sports. Although she loves old school music, she isn't into it. But they see how serious I am about it and the struggles I keep up with. If they want to do music, it's up to them, but I would not recommend it.”

'There's commercial music; then there is mine'

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