Who would have thought that Krazy Native would make it to PulseLive’s Top 30 Ugandan videos? Well we have no choice in awarding Krazy Native not only a place on this list but THE place as the second best Ugandan video ever produced by a Ugandan artist by April 2009.
The Wansi Wagulu video is the product of a young Brett Mazurek’s first visit to Uganda a few years back when Pulse Live Uganda interviewed him as he began working with Uganda’s upcoming Hip Hop talent. On this visit with Ugandan Canadian artist Babaluku, Brett also worked with the likes of Sylvester and Abramz and Rah P and helped many Ugandans around the world recognize the talent that existed in Uganda’s Hip Hop movement. Although Hip Hop had already existed in Uganda long before Brett aka 3rdi, Brett’s videos played a large role in putting a positive spin on the movement and making it main stream and commercial in Uganda.
One is left to wonder what the video would have been like if the timing had been a little bit different. On Brett’s visit to Uganda, just before the 2006 Presidential Elections, Kampala was frighteningly in chaos over Byesigye’s arrest and as Kampala fell apart, 3rdi kept rolling his film at the epicenter of it all. What resulted was brilliant footage for him to use in Krazy Native’s Wansi Wagulu video.
Krazy Native’s delivery in Wansi Wagulu is impeccable. Lugaflow is the most authentic hip hop product to come out of Uganda and no one delivered it more credibly and creatively than Krazy Native. Perhaps Babaluk, Sylvester and Abramz are probably in the same league. You see hip hop is not about what language you use or how much money you put into a song… its about authenticity and being real to the urban culture and being a tool for social change. You can feel the urgency in the songs of Krazy Native, Rah P and Sylvester Abrams and that’s what makes them authentic.
What happened to Krazy Native since? Not so sure… Perhaps the money did not come soon enough to keep him in Uganda? Priorities changed? A couple of videos came out from his stay in the United States but the music and delivery were not the same… It no longer connected with a Ugandan audience… not as much. He did make several appearances at radio stations and colleges here in the US and even met up with former President Bill Clinton though.
As Hip Hop grew and grows in Uganda many of the artists that helped give it a leg up were never supported. Rah P also vanished in the United States for more “honorable” reasons as she pursues her college degree. True to their most successful hit Lemerako(Don’t give Up), Sylvester and Abramz remain in Kampala undertaking several projects aimed at improving the lives of Kampala’s “real” urban youth through Hip Hop… clearly still underfunded as Uganda’s industries pay more attention to today’s flashier artists. They have recently released a new video Kyendi Kyendi with DJ Glue who is also the music producer behind Wansi Wagulu, and since the last UGPulse.com interview, has dedicated a lot of his time in Uganda’s Hip Hop industry. We are hoping this time around Sylvester and Abramz will get the attention they deserve and keep Uganda’s short lived ole school-style conscious authentic hip hop alive.
