He talked me into a silly game

Sylvester Kabombo and Tekya Abraham. Photo by Kibazi Pius

What you need to know:

  • TWO OF KIND. Sylvester Kabombo and Tekya Abraham are siblings whose names always come up when you talk about Uganda’s hip hop scene. They are the faces behind the early 2000s rap duo Sylvester and Abramz.

Sylvester

How would you describe Abramz?
Abramz is caring, inspirational and uplifts others.

Why hip hop?
The early exposure to hip hop (music and dance), informed our love for this art. Music always played in our home not just on parties. So from singing along to songs we started writing our own lyrics. There were different genres we listened to, but rap music stood out.

Who is older than the other?
I am older than him (Abramz).

What does he like the most?
It surely can’t be one thing. They are many but I can list a few. He likes music, dance, social work, and travelling.

What does he distaste the most?
He doesn’t like people who talk more than they act.

How often do you meet with him?
We meet often, almost every week. This is because that is apart from being family, we have very many other things we run and plan together besides the music.

Were you always friends during your childhood?
We have always been friends but life is not a straight line. Sometimes we have disagreements as normal humans, on how we think some things should be done.

What is the craziest thing you ever did together?
I don’t think we have done what I can call a crazy thing. But maybe I can say that; moving out late at night on our own, several times to go for performances in areas that were quite a distance away from home. The passion to put ourselves out there, and also improve our skill.

What nickname did you have for him?
None really. We’ve always called him by either his real name, or stage name.

Did you ever team up to fight someone?
We developed our careers in some of the most dangerous places at the time, such as Katwe, Nsambya, Kasubi and Kyebando - Kisalosalo, etc. So at times we had to put up resistance to survive, but they were never fights. I can call it an exchange of words sometimes. And some of the people who could have caused these fights knew us because we were celebrated.

Abramz
How would you describe Sylvester?
Sylvester is a loving, passionate and talented person. He’s principled and takes his work and art seriously.

What is your earliest memory of him?
My earliest memory of him was our brother Ian and I playing in the village, making toy cars out of some wild plants.

What does he like the most?
Well, apart from his family and true friends, Sylvester loves life, Hip-hop, entrepreneurship and supporting other artists.

What does he distaste the most?
He hates being cheated and being taken advantage of in business.

How often do you meet with him?
We get to meet once a week on average, since we moved to the same side of town.

Were you always friends during childhood?
Yes, as far as I remember. We’ve had some disagreements as brothers, friends and music partners. Sometimes we took a while without speaking but it was never hate.

What is the craziest thing you ever did together?
When we were about four and five years old, we went to the village a bit out of Masaka District, and Sylvester talked me into uprooting potato plants to prove if potatoes really grew on them. Hahaha…
We realised that it was true right after uprooting the first plant, but went ahead to uproot a lot of them for fun. That was probably the first Sylvester and Abramz collabo.

What nickname did you have for him?
I’ve never had a nickname for him. I thought his real and rap names were just enough. Perhaps I should reconsider.

How often did you fight?
I remember we fought a number of times until I was about nine or 10, then I retired from trying to fight the guy because I never won a single fight. It was due to minor disagreements as kids.

Did you ever team up to fight someone?
A few times while we still lived and hanged in the slums. It was always out of self-defence though, and for the most part, we were protected by some gangs of skilled fighters. These loved us and believed in what we were doing, although still I got involved in a number of fights that Sylvester wasn’t a part of.

Titbits
• They come from a family of six, three brothers and a sister. Sylvester is the third born, followed by Abramz.
• Apart from being a rapper, Abramz is also an educator, dancer majoring in B-boy and an inspirational speaker. He’s also the founder of Breakdance Project Uganda, an organisation using hip hop, dance and arts for education, empowerment and social change.
• Sylvester is a social entrepreneur, educator, event organiser, coordinator of youth hip hop programmes, he’s the founder of clothing line Ziva Muntuyo.
• Besides entertainment, they both continue to use their talents, skills and passion to uplift individuals and communities.
• They also love watching movies, documentaries and sharing funny memes.