He dances to change others

Ugandan hip-hop artiste, Abraham Tekya, commonly as Abramz’s career has never been any better. Last week, he featured on CNN African Voices; a weekly show that highlights Africa’s most engaging personalities.
On the show, Tekya highlighted how he uses hip-hop (rap and breakdance) as a tool for social change and youth empowerment.
He also talked about his Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU).

Going on TV
Abramz was first featured on CNN in 2012 on Breaking News. They sought him out again in 2015 for the half-hour documentary on African Voices, after being inspired by his work motivating tens of thousands of Ugandan youth toward education, responsibility and positive social change.
The CNN team travelled to Uganda in March and followed Abramz for a week as he performed at a Viva Con Agua benefit concert and taught dance at the Sharing Youth Centre, where BPU holds free sessions every Monday and Wednesday.

Who is Abramz
Abramz was born in 1982 and he started dancing in 1991, the breakdancing in 1992. He is a Ugandan hip-hop artiste (rapper and boy or break-dancer), educator, motivational speaker and creative facilitator. He uses his skills to entertain, educate, empower and inspire change among the youth especially those that live in the ghetto.
Abramz came from a challenging but familiar background. He was orphaned at an early age and struggled for school fees while growing up in Makindye and Kasubi. He empowered himself through Hiphop and formed a rap duo with his brother Sylvester in the 90’s, and then founded Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU) in 2006 to empower Ugandan youth.
Tekya is from the crop of artistes who do music more out of a hunger to tell real stories, particularly from corners of communities you might not easily get access to, rather than for commercial gain.
Featuring in a documentary
In 2010, he starred in Bouncing Cats a documentary film written and directed by Australian director and photographer Nabil Elderkin which follows his efforts to use BPU and dance to empower youth in war-torn Uganda. It featured Crazy Legs of Rock Steady Crew, narration by Common and additional interviews with Mos Def, Will.I.Am and K’Naan.

Starting BPU
BPU is a grass root non-profit organisation which uses breakdance, beat boxing, rap, visual arts, photography, videography and other art-forms and alternative ways of learning to promote positive social change and social responsibility.
It promotes the importance of formal and non-formal education and increases young people’s access to both forms of education.
The organisation believes in empowering and facilitating young people to be part of the solution to their own problems, that is why everyone is a student and teacher and they are given opportunities to lead.
So far, BPU has branches in four districts of Kampala, Masaka, Gulu and Kitgum and occasionally does outreaches in a number of other regions in the country.
The global response to Abramz’s story has been overwhelming. Ugandans both home and abroad expressed relief at seeing a good story about Uganda on global media.

Others memberships
He is a member of Ugandan veteran socially conscious hip-hop duo (Sylvester & Abramz) and a member of the legendary Rock Steady Crew (RSC). Director/founder of Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU), a non-profit organisation that uses breakdance, beat boxing, rap, visual arts plus other art-forms and alternative ways of learning to promote positive social change and social responsibility.
Where he has performed
Now a veteran hip-hop artiste, Abramz has performed, taught, facilitated workshops and spoken at seminars in several communities across Uganda. He has carried out similar work internationally in Zanzibar, Burkina Faso, Denmark, Senegal, Poland, Italy, Austria, South Africa, USA, Germany, Mozambique and Swaziland.