I have always said GNL Zamba is the best lyricist in Uganda. Yes, there, there, I have said it, and if you have a problem with it, form a tribunal and take it to Hague and call Ocampo out of retirement. GNL Zamba, much as he has veered off the path, has always been up there, for me. He is talented. He is effortless. And he reinvigorated the Luga-flow rap genre in this country; he breathed life to the ailing genre and when he announced himself on the market, he was up to the races. He was unstoppable. But, even the gods don’t know what happened, he sunk in oblivion. Poof, just like that! Without leaving a trace behind. However, he would stagger out of his hiding abyss and drop a single, or two. We saw the birth of Ceasar, Namagwatala, We Cry et al. And, surely, he seems struggling with the craft, with the garb he was once rich with. Though writing him off might reveal how lesser of a man one might be. He is as legendary as they come and here, he comes with Tebangatika.
He sounded like a troubled man on the track. And troubled is a word you can use on GNL now. He sounded like an irritated man, like a sad man struggling with people, maybe rappers, who compare him with other rappers. He says he is Caesar and, surely, Caesar should be incomparable. He delivers his punch lines as effortless as typical of the Kikankane extraordinaire. And GNL should thrive on Tebangatika as his resurrection platform. Even though the track is out to bark down at his naysayers who compare him with pretentious whack emcees who roam our city, it is a good song, really.
But I have a problem with Kemishan on the track. Much as he sounded like a distant, struggling, cousin to Raba Daba, his part was as unnecessary as his patois. He sounded off key and at some point I thought I was listening to another track before GNL comes with another verse. The beat on the song is what the folks with their street lingua would call “sick” It is a smart beat which aids the song and delivers it to the Promised Land.
Is this the rebirth of GNL? Maybe, yes. Maybe.
Reviewed by BigEye Team
“Vote BigEye Ug in the Kadanke Youth Awards in the Social Media category.
Simply dial *255#.
Press 3 – Kadanke.
Type 20 and press yes.
Then select option 1 – BigEye Ug.
Thank you.”
