Ugandan rap seems to move more quickly than virtually any other style of popular music; blink and you’ll miss a whole slew of promising new artists. We listen to as much as we can, and we’re always coming across new favorites, so we decided to put together a list of 10 newer rappers that really made their mark last year that we think any rap fan should be listening to in 2023 and in our previous article on this was us reviewing Zedmonk Ssabatontomi.
The definition of “newer” is always debatable, and some of these artists were more established prior to 2022 than others, but all of them really seem to have hit their stride last year, and we hope and expect that 2023 will be an even bigger year for everyone on this list.
The list ranges from more traditional ’90s/early 2000s style stuff to drill, trap, art-rap, and more, and the rappers featured here are from all over the country: East, West, North, Central, and in between. There are so many different types of exciting things happening within Ugandan rap right now, and we aimed to highlight as much as we could.
10 is a very small number and if your new favorite rapper isn’t on this list, it’s possible we haven’t heard them yet. So leave your faves in the comments and read on for our list, in no particular order…
Kalanzi
Nowadays, many rappers struggle to maintain a hometown connection with the initial audience that develops into a sizable fanbase, but Kalanzi has this one covered. Born Kalanzi Fabian Kizito, the 25-year-old rapper has succeeded in expanding outside his native Kyengera with his youthful version of hip-hop that includes American beat, occasionally British grime, and Afropop.
Kalanzi begun performing under this name last year in 2022 after completion of his studies. “Before i used to be a battle rapper on Kampala streets. I was born and raised in Kyengera, Wakiso District. I was inspired to rap in 2013 in school by the likes of Sylvester, Kafulu Xenson Ruyonga and Lugaflow army that used to blow airwaves back then”, Kalanzi says.
The buzzing rapper chose to perform under the name Kalanzi because of his too much beliefs of the Kiganda culture, tradition and norms where he subscribes to.
“I`m proud of my heritage and Kalanzi can only be found in Uganda, in Buganda and in Nseenene clan”.
Kalanzi currently has a new song out titled “Stingy Guy” that highlights about how people need to be stingy with their money and not give it out “anyhowly” since everyone is economically struggling.
Kalanzi strongly believe that he can be one of the new forces of rap music in Uganda with Gods Grace.
Kalanzi has established himself as a new school lyricist of the highest caliber and surely the sky is undoubtedly the beginning point for him and his movement because he absolutely never fails to make a statement with his songs, whether its the “Stingy Guy” single aforementioned or Ebeeyi, down to his personal style with an artistic swag or his replay-worthy music videos.
