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Elijah Kitaka’s second visit to Vibez Nzuri greatly pays off
Camaraderie. There was more to the shows, but nothing got the audience worked up like the dance routines which were usually interactive and had audience members joining in. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- One movement that has influenced the direction of Uganda’s music industry for the past five years, is the electronic dance music movement. From amapiano, Afro-house to gabber, there is a growing scene, independent of the local mainstream
Since he was announced as a Swangz Avenue artiste, Elijah has been on a trajectory. Though, even with all his bangers over the past two years, it's hard imagining a year Elijah Kitaka has had in 2024. He had one of the biggest songs of the year and dominated the Swangz All-star album with an appearance on at least ten songs.
On Saturday, Elijah Kitaka was one of the artistes crowning the annual Vibez Nzuri rave party at Gazebo Gardens in Najeera.
Vibez Nzuri was also celebrating five years of organising some of the best experiential music gatherings and championing an urban sound.
For many of their shows over the years, they have been part of the movement of Uganda's new sound which brings together dancehall, electronic and Afrobeat influences. It's the kind that has given us artistes such as Zagazillion, Joshua Baraka, Kohen Jaycee, Tungi and Rulz among others.
On Saturday however, the group seemed to switch things up as they celebrated five years, joining forces with Sabula, a production house that has organised events for Ugandans in the diaspora.
Thus, unlike the past Vibez Nzuri where the sound has always been electronic and Afrofuturistic, this was a mixed bag, there was Tungi at one point and at the other you had Winnie wa Mummy delivering a shock value.
These are shows that are usually dominated by strong DJ line ups and they usually deliver as promised. From Bugy, Alza, Slaughter Elly and Heydez, most of the DJs understood the assignment, they knew the crowd and thus blended the music so well. You got a good mix of Afrobeats and amapiano, it had the audience on its toes.
Performances of Tungi and Rulz were energetic, but it's Rulz that had many people's attention. That's because before he came on stage, they reminded us that he's a Grammy Awards nominee.
He's indeed a nominee, by affiliation; Rulz and another Ugandan Zigi Nana, contributed to Matt B’s album Alkebulan as songwriters. The album of course features artistes Eddy Kenzo, UgaBoys and Rulz among others.
Matt B’s Alkebulan was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Global Album, thus making most of the contributors nominees by affiliation.
So, Rulz reminded us of his status technically every chance he got.With raves, the DJs and the performers share the stage, if it could be an hour of a performer and two hours of a DJ and that's without caring about time.
This was not so different, artistes such as Kapeke came to stage had their time thanks to songs such as Akasanyalaze, Shuu and Swiririri, which the audience seemed to understand. Kapeke is one of the voices of what many describe as ghetto and dancehall hip hop.
A movement birthed out of freestyling over vintage dancehall beats. But the big deal was Elijah Kitaka who was performing at Vibez Nzuri for the second time after he had a brilliant one last year. This time, his catalogue is bigger and the crowd that crammed the stage to see him was bigger.
Elijah Kitaka is now aware of his star status and he lives the moments, from the way he teases the audience, giving acapellas of some songs they may not know and generally keeping them on their toes.
And of course, he also understands that everything he wears is a fashion statement thus will never disappoint, it is a fashion sense out of the books and will always get many people uncomfortable, but at the moment, it is the Kitaka way. From the shorts many had christened the Kitakas, to now, whatever he throws on, he seems to be the only person that can throw that on and look cool.
His performance was mainly made up of songs from Bedroom Essentials, his first EP, it had songs such as Nothing, Control, Tutu Mama and Ndi Wuwo among others. He sang and made them sing. Through the famous songs, he had the audience to himself and had to sing Dawa twice before leaving the stage to Rik Man.
Vibez Nzuri is an annual event that celebrates different kinds of music but key at promoting urban African sounds such as Amapiano, house and afro electronic music.
CONTEXT
The time for alternative artists Events such as Vibez Nzuri have over the years championed a different Ugandan sound and cultivated their own audience. These audiences neither consume Uganda’s pop culture or sing along to popular songs, they however dance and scream to artists such as Kohen Jaycee, Joshua Baraka, Denesi, Rulz, and Tungi among others. The audience built by these artists and their appetite to cross the Ugandan borders has landed them on bigger platforms outside East Africa and the continent.
