The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | East African Records (EAR), a fresh recording and music distribution label operating across East Africa and based in Uganda, hosted UK reggae and dancehall unit Mungo’s Hi Fi and their lead artist Eva Lazarus, who are on an East African tour to Uganda and later Kenya.
The group put up a reggae concert on 9th November at The Square in Kampala and another at Pit Stop in Jinja on 10th November.
The Kampala concert was headlined by the Mungo’s Hi Fi and Eva Lazarus from the UK, alongside Nazizi from Kenya and Ziggy Dee, C Wayne Nalukalala, Blessed San and other Ugandan reggae sensations.
DJs SkaFace and KrissKross played music in intervals and premiered new music from East African Records, including a remake of Mic ya Ziggy Dee and Nazizi’s Love Automatic, all recreated by Mungo’s Hi Fi producers.
The Jinja concert at Pit Stop had an even longer lineup of fans to see the headliners joined by DJ Shiru and hip-hop newbies K Van and Recho Ray. Both concerts kicked off at 7pm with a ‘cocktail’ crowd, a mix of rastafari, corporates, and visitors to Uganda.
In the crowd were some prominent artists like dancehall king Cindy, and hip hop stars Navio and Flex d Paper, among others.
Ziggy D, whose Mic ya Ziggy D hit from the early 2000s is still a club banger, performed the new version of the song and everyone was on their feet.
The party went on till late. East African Records director David Cecil says: “The concert was highly entertaining for those people who either knew Mungo’s Hi Fi before or those who are seriously into reggae dancehall music and not just local reggae or dancehall.
This was a concert for dedicated reggae dancehall fans. We got very strong feedback; people came from as far as Rwanda, a Scottish crowd excited to see their local heroes performing in Kampala, plus Ugandan reggae lovers.
We were happy to host a crowd that was diverse. The crowd was energetic, Eva’s performance was massive, and there were also outstanding performances from C Wayne Nalukalala who is super professional and set for good things.
He is set for a release with Mungo’s Hi Fi next year, Blessed San did his usual freestyles and we had cameos from Navio and Flex d Paper, and Ziggy D shut down the show.
It was all great energy” On the concerts and making music with Ugandan artists, lead producer for Mungo’s Hi Fi, Tom says: “We are glad that we came. It was a great party and we loved the energy and meeting the reggae scene in Kampala, including Cindy Sanyu who was wowed by the music and later came to the studio with us, so expect new great music soon!
She is professional, fun to work with and takes her music very seriously. We recorded some good stuff with her and we may soon have a Cindy hit that crosses over Scotland and Uganda.
We have also recorded with Ziggy D and are excited to share the music.” 2 The tour continues to Kenya this weekend where two shows are scheduled to happen: at K1 Clubhouse on Friday 16th in Nairobi and in Kilifi at Distant Relatives on the 17th.
Following the Ugandan concerts, East African Records brought Mungo’s Hi Fi into their Muyenga-based studio, and is planning to release new music made in collaboration with the Ugandan artists as soon as it is ready.
Eva Lazarus also shot her Babylon Raid music video in Kampala, and all updates will be on their Facebook page: @eastafricanrecords.
Check out the hashtag #MungosHiFiUganda for more updates from the Kampala-Jinja leg of the tour, and follow East African Records for updates on more events and new music/video releases.
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