
Rap Ups have for the past nine or more years been the reason hip hop music has been the number one trend at the beginning of every year in Uganda. PHOTO/ COURTESY
Do you remember the first end of year w-rap up you listened to? Well, end of year wrap or rap ups have been around for years, but the most vivid one is rapper Donnie Shaquan alias Mad Skillz in 2003.
His first rap up came out at the beginning of 2003, wrapping up 2002 on a Chad Hugo and Pharell William beat they produced for Common and Mary J Blige for the song Come Close.
Listening to Mad Skillz wrap up 2002 all these years later is a history class which also reminds you that many things have not changed over the years.
His wrap of events talks about rappers faking it in videos and goes on to talk about Jennifer Lopez dating many people, the most interesting line is when he says that JLO and Ben Affleck would have broken up by the time people listened to his rap-up.
He also talked about P-Diddy being all over the place, R-Kelly selling more sex tapes than albums, Christina Aguilera’s changing image that saw her wear less clothes after releasing her fourth album, Stripped.
The rapper says that Aguilera turned herself into a sex symbol to sell a record; he ends the mention of Aguilera saying that female rappers better take a lesson from that.
Today, 23 years since that first Rap Up came out, both R-Kelly and Diddy are in jail. Christina is not as active as a recording artist but female rappers did indeed take Skillz’s task seriously. Most female rappers today don’t really dress as much, in fact it has been a talking point whenever people review hip hop at the moment.
But outside the American rap scene, over the past years, Rap Ups have become a big deal on the Ugandan scene. Every January, a slew of rappers take to the mic to summarise what the previous year offered, however, unlike the US where most of the Rap-Up content is about music and entertainment, Ugandan rap ups delve into politics, social life and online trends.
Rap Ups have for the past nine or more years been the reason hip hop music has been the number one trend at the beginning of every year in Uganda. The beauty is that many times, rappers have been present to cop on the energy that comes from the Rap Up.
In 2018, after rapper Nsubuga Nelson alias St Nellysade released his rap up, the energy was picked up by Fefe Bussi when he released Who is Who, a diss song that attacked every rapper on sight, on a Nas beat of Hate Me Now.
He would immediately start a series of events with more rappers jumping onto the beat and sending shots at each other.
But that wasn’t the first time a Ugandan wrap up or rap up was being released, and neither was this his first as well.
Moses Nsubuga alias Viboyo recorded his first rap-up in 2012 talking about Walk to Work, Stephen Kiprotich’s triumph at London 2012, Ingrid Turinawe’s arrest, Uganda at 50 and Sisqo’s failed concert among others.
Viboyo has consistently released those rap ups for 14 years at the moment.
In 2017, St Nellysade released the 2016 rap up and has since created a culture around it as well. Just like Viboyo talks about the main events of the year, though he does it with a comical touch, it is hard not laughing at some of the things he raps about.
Today, rap ups have since become a traditional seasonal recap of the past year and are something to look forward to. People have bonded over these songs and for hip hop in Uganda, it is one of the few times a rap song is anticipated.
Before St Nellysade or Viboyo drop a rap up, there’s a fanbase asking them to drop as soon. The fanbase has grown that in 2019, the two had to join forces for the 2018 rap up.
Last week, both Nellysade and Viboyo released their rap ups; the two songs have since become a reference, a documentation and secretly, a point of comparison. That’s both in style and delivery.
The comparison too is not just unique to Uganda. In the US, Mad Skillz too inspired other rappers such as Uncle Murda and Justina Valentina who have been presenting rap ups with every year that goes by.
A rap song anticipated
Rap ups have since become a traditional seasonal recap of the past year and are something to look forward to. People have bonded over these songs and for hip hop, it is one of the few times a rap song is anticipated. ’’