Hip hop music has been popular in Africa since the early 1980s due to widespread African American influence. In 1985, hip hop reached Senegal, a French-speaking country in West Africa. Some of the first Senegalese rappers were Munyaradzi Nhidza Lida, M.C. Solaar, and Positive Black Soul.
Uganda, is now ranked number three in Africa as far as music and entertainment is concerned. Uganda is home to over 65 different ethnic groups and tribes, and they form the basis of all indigenous music. The Baganda, being the most musically vibrant nationality in the country, has defined what constitutes culture and music of Uganda over the last two centuries.
Das EFX is an American hip hop duo. It consists of emcees Dray and Skoob. They named themselves "DAS" standing for "Dray and Skoob" and "EFX" meaning "effects". They rose to popularity in the early 1990s due to the duo's stream of consciousness lyrical delivery, which became one of the most influential lyrical styles in rap music at the time; as well as their affiliation with EPMD's Hit Squad. Their style combined intricate rhymes, sometimes mixed with made up words, delivered with a fast-paced flow and numerous pop culture and hip hop culture references.
Dirty rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that contains lyrical content revolving mainly around sexually explicit subjects.
Bataka Squad is a Ugandan hip hop group. The group was formed by Babaluku, Saba Saba aka Krazy Native and Big Poppa Momo MC. Founded in the mid-1990s, it is one of the earliest hip hop groups in Uganda.
Tshila is a Ugandan singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer.
Dora Mwima, also Dorah Mwima is a beauty pageant contestant who was crowned Miss Uganda 2008 at the age of 18. She represented Uganda in Miss World 2008 in South Africa.
George Lubega Timothy is a Ugandan singer known by his stage name Exodus. He made his musical debut in 2008 with his hit single "Ganja Man".
GNL Zamba, born Ernest Nsimbi, is a Ugandan hip hop artist who is credited with bringing rap and Lugaflow style of music to mainstream radio and other media in Uganda.
Nicholas Tatambuka, better known by his stage names Nick Nola and Nicky Nola, is a Ugandan R&B singer-songwriter and dancer who came to prominence as a member of the musical group Hip Hop Canvas. Signed to Platinum Records, the group first arrived on the music scene in 2005 with their single "Mother Africa", which won Best Hip Hop Single. In 2010, Nola was included in Ladybrille's list of the "15 African Breakout Artists of The Year". In 2013, HiPipo 5Star rated him the 34th most popular artist in the whole of East Africa.
Edwin Ruyonga, Mononymously known as Ruyonga is a Ugandan US-based musical artist of the hip-hop and spoken word genres. He was one of the pioneering hip-hop acts in Uganda, with his first group winning a nationwide music competition in 2000.
Jeff Kintu, better known by his stage name Lyrical G, is a Ugandan rapper, songwriter, record producer, and vocalist. In 2016, he was named among MTV Base's best hip hop artistes from Uganda.
Babaluku, born Silas Babaluku Balabyekkubo, is a Ugandan rapper, musician, producer, community youth activist and social entrepreneur who raps in Luganda. He is a member of the Bataka Squad. He is the founder of "the Bavubuka Foundation which equips the youth with leadership skills". He is one of the pioneers of "Lugaflow" which is rap music in Luganda. He was featured in a 2008 documentary "Diamonds in the Rough: A Ugandan Hip-hop Revolution" that covered his journey from his crew’s early days of performing in Uganda to performing in at festivals in the United States of America.
Maurice Kirya born in Jinja and raised in Najjanakumbi to Tonny Munobbi and Sophie Baguma.
I-Am Enygma, better known by his stage name Enygma, is a Ugandan rapper, record producer, executive producer and entrepreneur known for his wordplay laced rhymes and always wearing a mask on his face so as to conceal his identity. He rose to fame in December 2010 following the runaway success of his single, Hustler's Night featuring The mith, Keko and Navio. This was followed up by even more celebrated hits in 2011, namely F.U.M.E.M.E. and Ten Reasons. He also represents one third of occasional rap group Klarity alongside The Mith and Lyrikal Proof. Also frequently collaborates with other artists such as Ruyonga, Maurice Kirya and Lyrical G. As an entrepreneur, Enygma conducts private business, mostly outside of the entertainment industry.
Alex Julius Kwesigabo, better known by his stage name Flex D'Paper, is a Ugandan rapper and songwriter born and raised in Kampala. Starting off his music career, Flex D'Paper was part of the high school rap group, The Rapaholix, which he started with friends, Dasper Cosine and later joined by Apass as an affiliate with whom the trio put out a mix tape, The Eviction Notice that included chart topping singles like "Burning", "Party Life" and "Follow Me" which topped countdowns in Uganda such as NTV and Sanyu FM. Flex D'Paper was part of the 2014 UG Cypher including the finest Ugandan rappers: Navio, Keko, Big Tril, Don MC, AirporTaxi rappers St. Nelly Sade, GNL Zamba, DJ Global, JB, The Mith, Ruyonga, and Atlas.
Undercover Brothers Ug also simply known as Undercover Brothers are a Ugandan music duo composed of guitarist and vocalist Jay K Mulungi and vocalist Timothy Kirya, whose music career sparked off when they won the auditions and represented Uganda in the sixth season of East Africa's biggest singing competition Tusker Project Fame. The duo released their first album titled At Dawn in December 2014. In December 2016, their song Nsikatila was nominated in the Best R&B Song category at HiPipo Music Awards (#HMA) 2017.
Nsikatila, sometimes spelt Nsikatira, is a world-pop love song by Ugandan music duo Undercover Brothers Ug. It was released as the second single from their first EP album and first major release, At Dawn in December (2014) and re-released in January as the first single from their 2016 album, Hitlist. Co-written by the duo's Timothy Kirya and Jay K Mulungi and produced by Jude Mugerwa, the lyrics portray a lover who stammers whenever he talks to his lover.
Nsikatila was in December 2016 nominated for Best R&B Song at the HiPipo Music Awards (HMA) 2017
Patrick Lumumba, known professionally as Lumix Da Don, was a Ugandan rapper, record producer, founder and CEO of Valley Curve Recordz based in Ntinda, Kampala.
Jim Siizer is a Ugandan recording artist, songwriter, record producer and actor from Lot Fire Records, a record label based in Uganda, East Africa. He is one of the members of the Ugandan music group More Tyme collaborating with Bx On Da Beat. He sings in Luganda, English and sometimes mixes with Kiswahili. His professional realm of music genre is afrobeats, hip hop, dancehall, reggae, and RnB. His musical journey started back in 2018 when he started out at MS management, a musical management owned by a businessman from Mubende.
