Yego night is back

Sitenda in TPF

Ten years back, when the likes of Klear Kut, Lyrical G and Babaluku were struggling to out a rap song, the hip hop genre was more or less dead.

Years later, with the efforts of artistes such as Navio, GNL and Mun-G, hip hop is officially one of Uganda’s fast-growing pop cultures. You will easily find an urban station opting for a local rap song than a Kanye or Jay-Z one. The same can be said of events like End of the weak, One Mic and the pumped-up Yego night.

There have been three Yego nights so far. It is billed as a night for celebrating local hip hop and the concept is simple: there is a stage, a few lights, a DJ and a string of underground and more popular local rappers perform.

That’s Yego night. The last time I attended one, the lineup had acts like Jay Effekt, Flex da Paper, Big Tril, Code, Ken Mubiru, T-Bro, Ruyonga and Navio. The best performer of the night was easily T-Bro, whose energy on stage was highly infectious.

But as you watch the various rappers and singers perform, you are struck by the reality that it is small nights like these that nurture a music culture, and not the big concerts.

Yego night will be back on March 12 at Cityville lounge and Car wash. The cast features artistes such as TPF’s Sitenda, Petrobas, Sylvester and Abramz, Moze the Beatboxer, Lyllboc, DJ Twonjex and Rabadaba. The event, which rarely overflows with revellers, starts at 8pm.