This Hiphop Boot Camp is one of the activities under Youth & Hiphop Project, a youth initiative run by Bayimba Foundation and supported by the Royal Danish Embassy in Kampala and Center for Culture & Development. The youth project has been running since 2011, organizing workshops across Uganda.
The Hiphop Boot Camp is a multilingual intensive two week residential training aimed at conveying music industry skills to talented musicians who have the potential to break through and become successful in the music sector. They were selected through our regional workshops database and others through online submission that was conducted on the project’s Facebook page.
The camp annually hosts male and female Rappers from various districts of Uganda to record music, acquire various skills, network and share knowledge about the hip hop culture and different cultures across Uganda. Each year the project takes on a challenging task of bringing in new faces in the camp. The participants were taken through various lectures about the music business and performance artistry in and out of studio booth and most importantly come up with this album.
“Hip hop boot camp Vol. 3” is a multilingual 10 track album that brought together 13 rappers selected from various parts of the country. The album boasts of youthful rappers ebbing with unprecedented ambition, raw energy, street bravado as they made music along socially conscious themes.
Each song is a collaborative effort as two or three rappers wove their lyrics in and out which painted the album as a platform of youthful ideas and dreams.
The album starts off with “My culture” feauturing Corp Zak, Black MC and Rappa Blutit. The rappers put on their traditional attire as the producers effortlessly fused traditional elements into the songs. The rappers wove their lyrics in out hoisting their cultures with pride.
“Twijya” (Come), the second song follows along a similar string of thought. It blares off with whistling and pounding drumbeats as the rappers call the listeners to join the dance.
“Jing Cwinyi” loosely translates to “Be courageous” tackles the pressing problem of youth unemployment in the country estimated at over 85%! Against a gritty beat, Totem MC, Jay O and Black MC performed a self heart surgery as they effortlessly brought the simmering agonized screams of the youth in the country. Black MC called upon the youth to work unceasingly like the clockwork. “Etic”, “Work harder”, “Aparaka” too echoed the same message.
“Mama” by Joj Bayce and Kristien came off as a sweet ode to all mothers.
My favorite off the album is “Ekyaalo Kyo” meaning “Your village/hometown”. The song starts off with soothing melody of a keyboard piano then condensed beats of a drum enveloped it in the background which gave the song its slow pace. This formed a soft textured background onto which the rappers brought out their narrative skills. Corp Zak and Fenrico Lugga hilariously castigated the youth for abandoning their village for urban centres where they change their names and only return home for burial ceremonies! This resonates with the prevailing time whereby some youth are engulfed by identity crisis, low esteem and gross lack of respect for cultural values.
The album made room for play and fun. “Catch me if you can” catered for that. Overall, the album is a balanced view of youths and therefore it is not by coincidence that work related theme dominated.
What next after for the artists after the album?
Sylvester Kabombo, the executive producer and Bayimba hip hop coordinator states, “Breakthrough is a gradual process. It’s a challenge that some artists don’t use opportunities like this one. Very few even take time to share their music online. They sit and wait for things to be done. It takes more than the voice on the CD to get their music up there. We invite them for opportunities like Bayimba International Festival and other partner events like Laba! Arts Festival, Pearl Rhythm Festival by Susan Kerunen, World Music Day by Alliance Francaise among others”
The album was produced by Skinnie, Charlie Pro (Infinit3 records), Kaz Kasozi for Little Room Studio, and Patrick Ashby of Sawa Records. The album titled “Hiphop Boot Camp Music Vol.3” was released this year on Monday 1st February 2016 and available on CDs and online – Soundcloud and Youtube.
Staff Writer