0:05

You might

0:28

wonder where we are now. What

0:31

is this place? Crickets, puppies,

0:33

kitties, people talking and

0:35

above all these layers of

0:38

electronic sounds coming from everywhere.

0:41

Well dear listeners, you are

0:43

simply now tuning into one

0:46

of the hottest artistic hubs

0:48

in East Africa, the Nege

0:50

Nege Villa. Hello,

1:08

I'm Georges Coliné with you

1:10

on Afropol Worldwide from PRX.

1:12

Today our journey takes us

1:14

to Uganda, a country

1:17

that became in the past six

1:19

years a bursting center for electronic

1:21

music production thanks to the vibrant

1:24

work of Nege Nege.

1:26

Like a frenetic power station

1:28

nurtured by the river Nile

1:30

that flows through Uganda, this

1:33

collective power is the global underground

1:35

with two boiling music

1:38

labels and a

1:40

yearly event hailed as the

1:42

world's best electronic music festival.

1:46

Not surprisingly for Nege

1:48

Nege means the uncontrollable

1:50

urge to dance in

1:52

Luganda, Uganda's main

1:55

language. But in Kiswali,

1:57

Nege Nege also means horny horny.

2:01

Whatever you choose, let me

2:03

tell you that this artist

2:05

collective lives up with reputation.

2:34

In the heart of this

2:36

explosive universe, there is an

2:38

artistic residence known as the

2:41

Villa. It constantly

2:43

vibrates with musicians from the

2:45

region and beyond. It tirelessly

2:48

produces, exchanges skills

2:50

and parties until dawn. Yeah!

3:04

Well as you can imagine,

3:06

Covid-19 has been particularly rough

3:08

on artists. But Villa has

3:10

kept on nurturing its artistic

3:12

community. And some of which

3:14

is actually shaking up European stages, I'll

3:16

speak. In this episode,

3:19

we hear from Basil Kekla,

3:21

a music scholar and producer

3:23

who's been tuned into the

3:25

Niege Niege galaxy since 2017.

3:29

He went to the Villa in

3:31

summer 2021 to meet known and

3:33

new members of the Niege Niege

3:35

Collective. And among them, one

3:38

of their first international

3:40

ambassadors, hearing from Uganda,

3:42

DJ Kampire. Mm-hmm.

4:02

We have a new place here, baby. It's pretty,

4:04

and it's cute.

4:07

It's a nice little job. Mm-hmm. Based

4:27

on your international experience, where

4:29

would you place the villa and

4:31

the space? Yeah, I

4:34

think the villa came

4:36

about partially, organically, maybe

4:38

because of previous experiences

4:41

around collaborations

4:43

between Western

4:45

producers or artists

4:47

and East African ones.

4:51

You know, there's still this kind of stereotype

4:53

of Western, like a

4:55

European DJ or producer coming

4:57

and sampling, you know,

4:59

someone playing a local instrument in

5:01

a dungu or something like that. And

5:04

then taking that home, taking

5:07

some quote-unquote upper house text, which, you

5:09

know, the person who played the instrument

5:12

had no kind of impact,

5:14

really. And even the

5:16

sound is sampled in decontextricized and

5:19

used in somebody else's art. So

5:21

I think that there was definitely

5:23

a learning from those

5:26

ideas, and people always want to do better and

5:28

have more equitable exchanges. And

5:31

I think the villa sort of comes out of

5:33

that because, you know, artists come here and they

5:35

live here. You really understand

5:37

the context in which the artists that

5:39

you're collaborating with come from and

5:41

what life is like here in

5:44

Uganda. You know, all the tensions

5:46

of, like, roommates and the realities

5:49

of living with people, I'm

5:52

sure adds a lot to

5:54

artists' collaborations here. So,

5:56

like, now you have Nyloxica, which, like, now

5:58

you have Nyloxica, which is... to UK artists

6:01

and for Ugandan

6:04

dramas, and they

6:06

make up that live act and

6:08

tour together, which is another very

6:10

close encounter experience. And

6:12

just really, like

6:15

all the parts make the whole, rather

6:17

than it just being some Western artist

6:20

EP, which is great, but you know, I

6:23

think that there was definitely a feeling and

6:25

a need to kind of deepen those connections.

6:27

And I think it, you know, reflects in

6:29

the growth of the music, and the

6:32

growth of the sounds that

6:34

come out of this African dance. Sigilaga

6:52

from Nailok Shigar, I love that name,

6:55

one of the most successful

6:57

collaborations emerging from the Niege

6:59

Niege incubator. They even

7:01

opened for Tony Allen and

7:04

Jeff Mills, two legendary musicians

7:06

who joined strengths of combined

7:08

Afrobeat and Techno. And as

7:10

you can hear, Nailok Shigar's

7:12

future is going strong.

7:26

I would say that the music coming out of the villa

7:33

is on par with any of the music coming out

7:35

anywhere and if

7:38

there is any, now, I

7:40

would just say we can shouldn't let them talk to

7:42

a Siks visual. So

7:44

yeah, it's gonna be spectrum led, even if we can see it quickly,

7:47

but there's also that value of the

7:49

feeling that Originally the company would

7:51

be really in this early stage of

7:53

the nutotle, the people are

7:55

really in that. I think a

7:57

lot of this year anywhere.

8:00

in the world. And I think

8:02

that a lot of the exciting collectives

8:05

that people are excited about these days

8:07

are from China and Mexico and the

8:10

Philippines and Indonesia and Uganda. And

8:12

it's nice to see, you know,

8:15

a shift in focus from the usual centers

8:18

of electronic music

8:20

to people paying attention to what's coming

8:23

out of other

8:25

countries in

8:27

the global South. There's

8:31

really no good words

8:34

these days for the rest

8:36

of us. I

8:39

wouldn't say that, you

8:41

know, we're in the developing world. What we're

8:43

doing is developing like we're all part of

8:45

the same conversation around events,

8:48

nightlife, music,

8:51

cross-cultural collaborations and, you

8:53

know, people in the West,

8:56

in particular institutions in the West,

9:00

groups in the West have as much to learn from us

9:02

as we. And I

9:05

hope that people will continue to pay

9:08

attention to what's coming out of

9:10

the East African underground, that it's not

9:12

like a trend or just

9:15

a flash in the pan of what's exciting right now.

9:17

Yeah, this just

9:19

sounds like a wish list of... a

9:22

wish list of like, I don't even

9:24

know, but

9:27

yeah, I hope that we'll still be

9:29

able to travel and tour and connect

9:31

and go to each other's residencies and

9:33

that it will become easier for African

9:35

artists to like come here and travel

9:37

and make money with their music.

9:44

Thank you, Camp Birei, for

9:46

raising such important issues for

9:49

more open world. We

9:51

share the same wishes. And now,

9:53

here's a case study. A

11:12

Berlin-based Japanese producer and

11:14

Kenyan rapper living in

11:16

Kampala, Scotch Rolex and

11:18

MC Yara, pieces hard

11:20

with their Nige Nige

11:22

collaboration. Released in

11:24

May 2021, Omuzira is a

11:26

conscious song. MC

11:29

Yara praises the strength of

11:31

mothers. I love it. So

11:33

let's hear more from her. So

11:35

first question, how would you

11:38

introduce yourself to the people who are

11:40

going to listen to this podcast? Who

11:42

is MC Yara? Yes,

11:45

MC Yara is

11:47

a Ugandan, Kenyan

11:50

rapper. And I'm

11:53

a female hip-hop artist, I was

11:55

way back in

11:58

the late, late nineties. It

12:00

was so little. In fact,

12:03

like my first song,

12:05

I think that I first clammed in my head

12:07

was Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla

12:09

Ice. Yes. Okay, when I

12:11

was in school and whenever students would

12:14

go for break, there

12:16

are some who would stay in class, like

12:18

10. They take their break

12:21

in class and I

12:23

was like, okay, this is

12:25

an audience. So I

12:27

could climb on the table and I'm

12:29

like, Ice Ice Baby.

12:34

I was like, oh stop, the

12:36

Vanilla Ice is back with it. You

12:38

know those lyrics, eh? And the

12:40

students are like, yeah! And

12:43

they were happy, you know? They liked

12:45

it. So I used to

12:47

do it almost every day because I

12:50

saw that this audience, my classmates, they

12:52

are loving this thing. They

12:54

are loving, you know, and they know that every

12:57

break, your life is going to

12:59

entertain us. Okay. Yes.

13:01

So, I was like, okay, people like this.

13:04

I think it is a good thing. It's inspired

13:06

me. I was like, I can't do this. I think I

13:08

can. As

13:14

you can probably hear, Jela has been

13:16

at the microphone for decades.

13:38

Now, back in the early 2000s,

13:40

she recorded Abbaciella, another

13:42

song empowering women. It's

13:45

a classic example of rapping

13:47

in Luganda, the style known

13:49

as Lugaflow. to

14:00

a new level merging her

14:02

Lugaflow with new beats coming

14:04

out of Niege Niege and

14:07

notably those of Debmaster. Remember

14:09

I've never met this

14:11

Debmaster guy but

14:13

this Debmaster guy is like a

14:16

machine. I call him machine gun.

14:18

You know? The man

14:20

sent, I'm telling you the truth, he

14:22

sent Alan over 1000 beats. He's

14:26

a machine but how are we working?

14:29

Deb sends beats to Alan, sends

14:31

beats to me. Sometimes

14:35

Alan is like, come, come, come to my

14:37

place, we listen to these beats. We

14:39

listen, we listen. We choose. We

14:42

choose, we are like this one is nice. No,

14:44

no, no, we go with this one. Alan

14:48

is an ingenious, you know? He

14:51

knows what is going to be a hit. Like

14:53

he's a guy you can record like 10 songs

14:57

and you as an artist you feel like,

14:59

oh, oh these songs are nice. They

15:01

are mine, I need them, you know? He

15:04

tells you I'm taking five. Doesn't

15:15

he see that these songs are nice? Eh?

15:18

That's not the energy I put in. Now

15:20

he's choosing only five. And

15:23

I can't quarrel, get angry. But

15:26

at the end of the day, the

15:28

songs Alan chooses. B

15:35

That's how I respect him. He has them here. So

15:38

out of those 1000 beats that Deb sent,

15:40

we chose like 11 tracks, they went on

15:42

to Bali and Bali was a

15:45

hit, you know? We believe that it would

15:47

even hit more and more but because we

15:49

were cut down by the pandemic. Because

15:52

Kubele album is an album that got

15:54

us. Should

16:00

Burke even look for an

16:03

egg? The

16:30

villa means accept in Kiswili,

16:32

and here MC Yaraal confronts

16:35

people who still don't recognize

16:37

her talent, despite her international

16:40

career. Throwing

16:42

uncharted territories is no

16:44

easy path, but the

16:47

villa is more than just

16:49

a musical hub. It's a

16:51

caring community that always supports

16:53

innovation. This

16:55

place is never empty. There

16:57

are always people at the villa.

16:59

There are always artists, digests, who

17:02

come for residency. And I work

17:04

with them because, you know, I know I

17:06

have something different, they have something different. And when

17:08

we combine energies, we shall come out with something

17:10

good. So when they bring

17:12

a producer from Japan, I'm like, oh, I

17:15

run very fast because... I

17:19

run very fast because

17:22

I know Japanese man. And

17:25

you know me, I love watching Japanese

17:27

anime and movies. So

17:32

I'm like Japanese, I let me go. I

17:34

think this guy is going to put traditional

17:36

drums. We

17:38

combine, yeah. I hear Brazil, Brazil.

17:41

I run very fast. So the villa

17:44

is a place, you know, home,

17:47

family, and a developer.

17:51

Like since 2020, we've been in

17:53

hard times, you know, I call

17:56

it Colona, not Corona. it

18:00

colon. It's because colon

18:04

came to colonize us. Colonna

18:07

colonize the whole world.

18:10

That's why I don't call

18:12

it corona. Colona colonize as the whole

18:14

world and it is still putting us,

18:17

you know, it's still giving us

18:19

that dream. So

18:21

in this colon, when

18:24

you're stressed, depressing yourself, you

18:27

can come by the villa, meet

18:30

your brothers and

18:32

sisters, you talk, you

18:36

record, you eat at the

18:38

tentacles, you know. It's really

18:40

a special place. Yeah.

18:43

Yeah, that's why you call it family. All

19:08

right. Now let's meet another member

19:11

of the Niegeniegen. Ugandan

19:13

producer Don Filler is a

19:15

longstanding filler of the villa. Hearing

19:19

the track Full Moon, inspired

19:21

by moonlight, hattering his room

19:24

at night. I

19:26

don't know why I always think about

19:28

the space and I never dreamed of

19:30

being an astronaut but I think I

19:33

am born a natural spiritual astronaut, you

19:35

know, and that's what

19:37

I'm looking at. I'm trying to connect humanity

19:41

and the other species

19:43

or the other creation

19:46

in and outside of our world

19:49

because what we are dealing with,

19:51

we are dealing with frequencies and

19:54

everything under the

19:57

sun and outside this planet

19:59

is... This is my theory.

20:01

I don't know about others, but I

20:03

believe it's tuned. Whatever is

20:06

going on is controlled by

20:08

some energy. It's

20:10

positive and negative, fighting,

20:12

you know, somewhere. And

20:15

when I see war, when I

20:18

see suppleagations, when I see racism,

20:20

when I see colonialism, when I

20:23

see all this ekizukizam of angular

20:25

darkness and space, you know, this

20:28

is a space

20:30

where we are living in. I

20:32

got possessed and I started

20:34

seeing and feeling these

20:37

energies. And now what

20:40

I did is to transform

20:42

these energies into something that

20:44

at least someone can listen

20:46

to and

20:48

then have a thought. What

20:51

was he saying? What is

20:53

he trying to mean? This is so brutal.

20:56

This is so why, you

20:58

know. I do this intentionally

21:00

because I just don't want people

21:02

to listen to music, but I also

21:05

want people to have questions. I

21:07

want people to analyze this

21:10

type of sound by themselves. And

21:12

anyone is free to analyze it

21:14

the way they want, whether negative

21:17

or positive. Anyone has

21:19

a free mind. So, it's

21:21

more an interruption from

21:26

the other dimension and this dimension.

21:30

OK. Like this dimension who

21:32

is trying to enter in

21:35

contact with us. You understand? Now, so

21:37

we are dealing with frequency and

21:41

now there is this frequency that is

21:43

trying to interfere. Yes,

21:46

Ben. Thank

21:48

you. Yes, how are you? Yes,

21:51

how are you? Not

22:30

only the moon that inspires

22:32

Don Vila, darkness also energizes

22:34

his world. This

22:37

track Moving Space is

22:39

from his latest album,

22:41

Ekihikiza Mumbwenwula, which means

22:43

darkness in space in

22:45

Lugandha. What a damage!

22:48

But how did this dark

22:50

energy emerge from the Nyegen-Yegen

22:52

villa? 2015,

22:54

I remember going to a club or something

22:56

like a party. I never played it before.

23:00

Now those parties is where the

23:02

Nyegen-Yegen is born from now. They

23:05

had this certain kind of vibe that

23:07

was not anywhere else. You know why?

23:10

Because the music that

23:12

was played in these

23:14

parties, you could not find them in

23:18

mainstream clubs where

23:20

everyone goes. But when

23:23

you came to this other world, there

23:25

was something else, like a variety of music,

23:28

variety of expression to tradition. Listen

23:31

to this, listen to this, listen

23:33

to Afro, listen to who works,

23:35

and dance, and you listen to

23:37

experimental kind of sound, you know,

23:39

like stuff you've never heard. And

23:42

then what made them

23:44

so interesting that these different

23:46

flavors, they served people, also

23:49

brought in different people.

23:52

You see? How like my

23:54

now understanding of the world

23:57

or things changes because I

23:59

realized. It's

24:01

not one world, there are

24:03

so many worlds, but

24:05

those many worlds can be in

24:07

one space, can share one

24:10

space. So, the beginning

24:12

of 2018, now things

24:14

have gotten to a whole new

24:16

level. I've handed the event,

24:19

and I can make something, and

24:23

all of these guys are now making like, we

24:26

are having sleepless nights. I

24:28

don't know if that is going to happen again,

24:30

but there is a period

24:33

at the villa, when we were not

24:35

all sleeping. I am telling

24:37

you, it was more like a possession or something.

24:40

At some point, I felt sorry for

24:42

our neighbours, because we

24:44

were surrounded by prominent people, and

24:46

we are making like, noise that was

24:48

coming out of the villa musically, and

24:51

it's not like one kind of music

24:53

that is playing. Imagine

24:55

that different types of music

24:57

coming out from

24:59

different windows, you understand? So, you

25:02

can imagine the mixture and

25:04

the energy. For the people who are

25:06

doing that, it's alright, but for the

25:08

people out there, it's not alright, because

25:11

there is a lot of distortion, you

25:13

know? We distort

25:15

a lot of their affectances. It

25:18

was madness, but you know like,

25:20

not this weird madness,

25:22

but positive kind of madness.

25:25

My goodness, my goodness, my

25:27

goodness. Thank

25:48

you. From

26:00

the cave, a track from

26:02

Donsila's debut EP released in

26:05

2019 on Kuna

26:07

Koolala and that's the second

26:09

Nege Nege label Donsila held

26:11

to launch. On

26:14

Kuna Koolala by the way means

26:16

no sleep in Kiswali

26:18

and after hearing the

26:20

frenetic all-night sound exploration is going

26:22

on at the villa, well it's

26:25

safe to say that these producers

26:27

know exactly what it means no

26:29

sleep. The journey

26:32

goes on, the villa expands,

26:34

more people come in now,

26:37

there's collaborations, there

26:39

is artists coming

26:42

in from some

26:44

parts of Africa globally come

26:46

in, there's workshops now you

26:48

see along the journey there

26:51

was some time when I

26:53

could not have people who

26:55

have a certain kind of knowledge that

26:58

I'm looking for coming in and

27:00

share and have at least a workshop for

27:02

like a week you know. All

27:04

these things started coming in, workshops

27:07

for Ebertown, workshop for this,

27:09

workshops for feed recordings,

27:11

workshops for that, this and that.

27:14

The villa is

27:16

more of like an incubator and

27:19

also school at some point

27:21

because it's not all the

27:24

music that I learnt, I

27:26

learnt about how to

27:28

live in a community, a

27:31

community of different people

27:34

and in this place there's one

27:36

thing I saw as one of

27:39

the first person in the villa

27:42

I look at as something

27:44

as a core foundation

27:48

of this whole thing is

27:50

the mutual respect and

27:52

I'm very glad that this

27:55

period is still continuous that even when you

27:57

go to the villa today you

27:59

will see. the wideness or the openness

28:02

of the space. So

28:07

everyone is free to create their

28:09

own world or their own identity.

28:13

Donzilla from the Nyege Nyege

28:15

Collective in Kampala, Uganda. Visit

28:18

afropop.org for photos, interviews,

28:21

and videos from this

28:23

bubbling creative center. I'm

28:25

Georges Colinet and you're listening to

28:28

Afropop Worldwide from PRX. Man,

29:00

this place is alive and exciting. Now,

29:05

here's another groundbreaking artist, Mako

29:08

Siri. She arrived from

29:11

Nairobi performing acoustic sets and

29:13

singing and playing guitar as

29:15

well as the eight-string Nyatiti

29:18

lute. But the Nyege

29:20

Nyege Festival introduced her to a

29:22

whole new sonic world. That's when

29:24

she moved to the villa and

29:27

you might say she went electronic.

29:31

So, examples of the electronic sound that

29:34

got into your heart or

29:36

into your ear. Into my... Into

29:38

my ears and into my heart.

29:42

I love hardcore. I love hardcore so

29:44

much, hardcore techno, you know? I

29:47

love psytrance. I love noise.

29:51

Yeah, this is the electronic sounds I want

29:53

to kind of work with in the

29:56

meantime, you know? Yeah, and

29:58

trying to use that with. Maybe

30:00

like a, you know, a traditional

30:03

instrument like the nati tea or

30:05

the dungo, even drums, you

30:07

know, traditional drums, that's quite

30:09

a, yeah, big interest for

30:11

me also, you know, like maybe just playing

30:13

with this. A real

30:16

incubator. Yeah, an incubator. Bubbling.

30:21

Bubbling, yeah. About

30:23

to explode. Oh,

30:42

I like that. Makosiri with the

30:45

Eka of her boiling debut

30:47

EP released in October 2021 on Hakuna

30:49

Koolala Niege

30:52

Niege's offshoot label. Now

30:55

let's hear more about her experience at

30:57

the villa. Oh, I can just

30:59

hear sounds in my head, like different,

31:01

different sounds. You can

31:03

imagine someone making like kombu tekon on

31:05

this other side and

31:07

then someone making some hard

31:09

kometo on this other side

31:11

in this next room. Yeah.

31:15

You can imagine those sounds happening all

31:17

at the same time. Doo doo doo,

31:19

kreee, ha, someone screaming, you know. Strange.

31:25

Yeah, and also just like an

31:27

open community and a very helpful

31:29

community. So in terms of like,

31:31

for me, when I moved in, I wasn't that

31:33

good at production. I was just like trying to

31:35

learn and it was easier because

31:38

the people are really quite open, the residents

31:40

who are there. So, you

31:43

know, you can go and just ask someone a

31:45

question about what you don't know. And it's

31:47

like really fast. Yeah, I

31:49

mean, just being in my room, trying to

31:51

figure out every turn and making a sound

31:53

and then just being like, I

31:55

can't figure this thing out. Let me just

31:57

go out and take some air.

32:00

And then I'm just like passing through the corridor

32:02

and I see something and I'm like, oh actually

32:04

I had a question about it But all you're

32:06

such a skinny tell me this and this and

32:08

then he's just like Immediately explain

32:11

it to me and then I go back to my

32:13

room and figure it out make a

32:15

mini YouTube inside your house in

32:18

real time It's

32:20

like a room or house full

32:22

of living tutorials. Yeah

32:27

Yeah helpful tutorials and It's

32:31

not like a force kind of thing. I

32:34

feel like it happens like really naturally because

32:37

from experience from Maybe

32:39

working in different studios or

32:42

working also in different communities

32:44

or producers I

32:46

feel like at the villa the

32:49

energy is also not really patriarchal

32:51

it's easy and There

32:53

are no boundaries like for

32:55

me all through I didn't have the

32:58

feeling like anyone is undermining me because

33:00

I'm a woman I never

33:02

had that feeling, you know but

33:04

it was something that I had experienced a

33:07

couple of times to even be able

33:09

to make the decision that I want

33:11

to Make my own

33:13

music like produce be a good

33:15

decent this Did

33:17

with my music by myself, you

33:19

know also came from like really

33:22

dealing with patriarchal people You know

33:24

being in patriarchal spaces where as

33:27

a female you're not even like maybe given

33:29

access to the studio Cause the males just

33:31

want to be the ones using it. They

33:33

feel like I know no, you don't know

33:36

anything Just chill chill out who

33:38

make for you the music, you know Yeah,

33:40

but at the villa I feel like

33:42

that's also what kind of accelerated my

33:44

process as a producer Cause I

33:46

had space to just be able to be

33:49

myself as a female, you know

33:51

creative And even if I

33:53

have a question, I can just like ask someone

33:56

and it's fine Someone can just leave me and

33:58

ask her without thinking that oh you

34:01

don't know or you know don't ask me I'm not

34:03

going to tell you subscribe

35:01

0 eggs Right?

35:17

Will you check your sl yard with

35:20

yourword? You are indeed

35:23

Fine Otter

35:37

Alright, more from Makosiri with

35:40

the song Juicy Juicy, an

35:42

electronic appeal for gender equality.

35:45

Well, now, the villa is not

35:47

only about electronic music. Acoustic

35:50

musicians also find a home

35:52

and support there. Titi

35:55

Bakota, how would you present

35:57

yourself? I'm

36:00

from Congo. Yeah. So

36:09

what do you do in life, Titi?

36:11

I do music. What instruments do you

36:13

play? I play guitar. I

36:16

play all the guitar, guitar follow, listen,

36:18

bass guitar. I'm

36:21

also a singer. And how did

36:23

you came to be involved with Niega

36:25

Niega? Niega

36:27

Niega is a

36:29

thin long story. Niega

36:38

Niega is a very long story.

36:40

Because I don't work with anyone

36:42

just like that because I need

36:44

to feel you first. I

36:46

need to feel what you have. I don't

36:49

want to run with someone who wants to pull

36:51

me down. So if your

36:53

work is not good, I can't work with

36:55

you. Here there is, everyone

36:57

is here is serious to what he's doing.

37:00

You know what he's doing and why he's

37:02

here. Everyone is focused in

37:05

his work. Which is different from

37:07

other places. Yeah, it's different from other

37:09

places because from other places people

37:11

are just coping. It's copier,

37:13

pasty, cop, past, contrast. But here

37:15

you find someone is struggling to

37:17

make his own music. That

37:20

is something very interesting and very

37:22

important. Because I

37:25

was waiting for this for long. I

37:28

was waiting for this for long since I started music.

37:31

All artists, all musicians,

37:34

the goal is to make your

37:36

own music. And I always

37:38

worked hard. But the villa pushed

37:40

me a little bit far. And

37:44

why? Why? Because they give you

37:47

the time to work. They

37:49

want you to work and to be the best.

37:52

Because if you're outside, you'll

37:54

be distracted and you can't focus.

37:57

But when you're here, you don't have

37:59

reason. to give. Oh, I didn't

38:01

do all this because of no, you have everything.

38:03

Everything is here. They give us

38:06

the machine, they give us a studio, they

38:09

give us where to stay. So, for

38:12

me, it's like, it's a school, is

38:15

where you come to become

38:17

better, and it's

38:19

English in life. I

39:05

make four, like, when

39:09

I was in Congo,

39:12

like, in 2010, is

39:29

when I composed the rhythm of four. On

39:32

the guitar? Yeah, on the guitar. So, how

39:35

did you develop from this rhythm

39:38

guitar? It's like magic. It's like

39:40

magic, I can't explain it. I

39:43

can't explain it. It's like magic for me, I

39:45

don't know. Things are just going...

39:47

Yeah, it just comes like that. When I

39:49

reach, I read, I say, this chord is

39:51

not finished, when this one doesn't make it.

39:53

And from that, you

39:56

made... Yeah, from... here.

40:04

I make this one. I

40:24

was already working with

40:26

my album. So when I found

40:28

Reza, the Nigerian rapper, Alan

40:30

told me she's a rapper, she's

40:32

good, and she's soon to be

40:34

big in Nigeria. So you

40:36

can connect with her and

40:38

work with her. Also when

40:40

I saw her, I listened to her work,

40:43

and I love her. So

40:45

I decided to give her my beats. The

40:48

beat which you listen to there, it was my

40:50

songs. You feel my

40:52

music just the first time you listen to the

40:54

song, you say, no, no, no, no, this one is so

40:56

good, I can sing on this one.

40:59

Let me sing, let me sing. You are like, what you sing?

41:02

I want to sing. And

41:04

we recorded that song when it was

41:06

raining. It was raining, and we didn't

41:08

use the professional microphone, we just used

41:10

the microphone, the

41:12

performance microphone. And

41:14

it was raining, it was a lot of noise

41:17

in Villa. It was the day I came back

41:19

in Kampala. So it was a lot

41:22

of noise, everyone was like patty, so

41:24

for us, me and her, we were there in the

41:26

room. We are composing that song.

41:29

I made like all the noise. Yeah,

41:32

with all the noise, even I wanted her to

41:34

sing again, but it didn't go time to sing

41:36

again, it traveled. So

41:38

I'm just fighting to be fixed,

41:40

that's how I am. That's

42:36

Titi Bacotta with Vol.

42:39

His full album comes out in

42:41

2022, delayed like so many things

42:44

by yes, of course, Covid. You

42:52

know, it's hard work to

42:54

be a professional musician in

42:56

Uganda, and even harder when

42:58

you're introducing unfamiliar sounds, the

43:01

artist Ekobas sings

43:03

in Luganda. But that's

43:05

where the familiarity ends. Ekobas

43:08

is all about exploring new

43:10

horizons. Electronic

43:12

music and grime is just

43:14

new style of music to

43:17

the audience of Uganda. You

43:19

understand? So we

43:22

are pushing this among

43:24

people who don't

43:26

understand, it's very real, you understand, you

43:29

know, it's something that's surprising to them,

43:31

you know, they just hear

43:35

cloths having

43:38

screams and then

43:40

Ekobas comes, so

43:49

you just wave it, you know, so

43:52

the beat will be complicated to them that

43:55

they're not just dancing, you know, or

43:57

it's trivial sometimes used to dance and think, but this one

43:59

is give attention to it,

44:01

listen, let it get into

44:03

your mind and see how it's

44:05

gonna make you feel, how

44:07

it's gonna drive you into another day,

44:09

another world, another world. People

44:12

are used to a different

44:14

type of flow of instrumentation

44:16

because of the mainstream music.

44:20

We are bringing something new, but with

44:22

what they know, which

44:24

is our languages, and

44:27

then they're wrapped, that they know because people know

44:29

wrap, they understand the

44:32

wrap is there. Now

45:27

that you're talking about this, I

45:29

think it's a good

45:31

transition to talk about the rehearsal

45:51

session you did yesterday on

45:53

the balcony. How would you describe it?

45:57

Yeah, the rehearsal was kind

45:59

of... Moments where

46:01

I was. Listening

46:04

to these new businesses are island

46:06

since me. And there was

46:08

sent to relate with him. Just like

46:10

you say you wanted interview me

46:13

and if a d the interview

46:15

yet the good to know how

46:17

dollars you know. Moved in

46:19

together in our applies to get on my

46:21

friends and and want to know each other

46:23

now even for like move into, give us

46:26

a death or. From

46:28

from since. So

46:34

for you to who are described

46:36

yesterday. If there was a moment

46:38

it has led him to busier than to

46:40

befriend him and since but at a time

46:42

to communicate to me. What? Can

46:44

i puts and of bestow nixon thing as

46:46

even came from me and genius on be

46:48

that i went to come and see ribs

46:51

you get downstairs but i was lost in

46:53

thought if thou and moved in and what

46:55

companies than once a month. And

46:58

does your was like no playing with

47:00

your was must be some demanding license.

47:02

And distances composing from my

47:05

mind. Might.

47:16

Have a sense. it amazes to

47:18

is. It.

47:21

And to dislike while know some more

47:24

mature. Yeah, nothing. I.

47:27

Can remember one of the things as

47:30

you make me happy about two and

47:32

a team. The

47:34

Last: writing a song. Our annual

47:36

pass on Cats. Are

47:39

still have a nice and even on

47:41

the so we have enjoyed comes from

47:43

still have ceased just like lox I

47:46

still there in some things my son

47:48

stop to me and on next to

47:50

the simplistic and i say didn't they

47:52

say did say this is wrong and

47:54

I'm doing it again. In

47:56

a stem. Cells. And

47:59

he's not only for. Also me because

48:01

I'm trying to the from within myself

48:03

and from reality. As

48:06

i miss times i tell my

48:08

promoter days as isn't news and.

48:12

Me I was want to have this to

48:14

the wind is it seems to be down

48:16

Voted for couples. Series.

48:19

Of his color Miller wonder whether you're

48:21

welcome out on not in into fist

48:23

album and old like your. There are

48:25

many films. I'm still thinking for the

48:27

special topics to talk of us. I

48:31

was want to put the Us. And

48:34

gonna make a difference as

48:36

aka aka like a wild

48:38

guess your your side as

48:40

serious. As a some of us to

48:43

make people have that which is also good

48:45

are sometimes yes I did fat kind of

48:47

issue that we have to talk about. Your

49:27

trash, Shaw And it's. Mass

49:32

went to a sign of

49:34

Times which recorded distract nightmare

49:36

song and we'd say says

49:38

his darkest fears hearing he

49:40

goes screams another see that

49:42

resident broke into the studio

49:44

to see if everyone was

49:46

all right for subsidies is

49:48

fake was finished. Life

49:51

As Niggers Niggers, You. He

50:02

them eyes get things into the mind.

50:06

Some time to metaphor understand. That's

50:08

just. Because

50:12

we could put in death. Is.

50:15

Your feet into we were supposed to

50:17

the past two months is it will

50:19

be. It's enough say the as if

50:22

it's failure with netted nice to

50:24

have any to happens analysts says you

50:26

have have have safe. And.

50:29

Focused on success comes to

50:31

be. Visited

50:33

One of the biggest reason why now

50:36

I'm doing music. To

50:38

try to let people. Understand.

50:40

What makes them nice? Lady.

50:43

Is there because it makes people come

50:45

together on? this did happen in job

50:47

I. Am

50:50

I complaining about life? I if I get a by

50:52

your politics feel as you have. Been.

50:54

Using Adidas in China Max.

50:57

Demanding his music and music as arrested

51:00

as together and and lox. That

51:05

in be some flaws. Know things, Moose We have

51:07

a common. Man and a

51:09

lot of people are there in a

51:12

lot of African countries that are. In

51:15

Love dawns in our diverse suffering on

51:17

not getting enough to buy why didn't

51:19

need You know? As

51:22

long as you have ways to in

51:24

on to sleep and you have food

51:26

and yeah just be happy you see

51:29

of fans again who get enough money

51:31

and game means are than disability. Benefit

51:35

from within yourself hunting so accountants

51:37

house. Oh,

52:00

my God. You are

52:02

the people. Oh,

52:05

my God. Oh, my

52:07

God. What the hell was

52:09

that? What is your

52:11

weakness? I am not

52:13

a leader. I am a leader.

52:17

I am a leader. I am a leader.

52:20

I am a leader. I

52:22

am a leader. I am a leader.

52:26

I am a leader. I

52:28

am a leader. I

52:30

am a leader. I

52:32

am a leader. I am a

52:34

leader. I am

52:36

a leader. I am a

52:39

leader. I am a leader. I

52:42

am a leader. My trace back

52:45

to Ekovaz, working here with

52:47

Ugandan rapper Bigger Youth and

52:49

UK beat master PQ. And

52:52

by the way, the remix of

52:54

this track was included in a

52:56

set by renowned electronic producer FX

52:58

Twin. The Niege Niege

53:01

effect is spreading. As

53:03

we reach the end of this journey,

53:05

we should mention that it takes more

53:07

than creative musicians to keep the villa

53:10

going. Two people, Simon

53:12

and Skovia, are crucial members

53:14

of the community in charge

53:16

of security and cleaning necessary

53:18

tasks in the Niege Niege

53:20

universe. What

53:23

was Simon? When

53:26

did you say? How would you introduce

53:28

yourself? Simply, I'm called

53:30

Simon Pita. I'm

53:32

working at the villa's security

53:35

manager. Now

53:37

I'm resting. This period of

53:39

COVID, I'm resting, real I'm

53:41

resting. But during the

53:43

normal days, I

53:48

work the night, you know. People

53:50

get in and out all the

53:52

time. Whether it's

53:54

during the whole night. You

53:57

see someone getting out. 10

54:01

p.m. is going out, come back

54:03

at midnight, 1. I've

54:05

been up to five people coming and going out. And

54:08

whenever somebody goes out, you have to wake up,

54:10

close the gates. When he's coming, he has to

54:13

ring the bell again. So,

54:15

in, out, in, out, minute

54:18

after minute, you know, like that.

54:22

No use can't stop. This is villa, you

54:24

know. No use can't stop, totally. This

54:27

is villa, and this is how they earn.

54:29

They earn through that music, all that noise.

54:31

But the noise I'm talking about is maybe,

54:34

for example, now guys come in

54:36

here for partying. You'll find them

54:39

seated at the balcony, shouting, you

54:41

know, like having fun. They cannot

54:43

just have fun while quiet. You

54:46

have to confess, laugh, to

54:49

watch. That is again

54:51

my role, again, my duty to come and

54:54

tell guys the noise

54:56

is too much. You see, even

54:58

if it's them, let's say, for example,

55:00

Dirk is involved in the noise, I

55:03

come and tell him, boss, they

55:06

just clean up. Sorry,

55:08

same, and they immediately stop.

55:10

Oh, if maybe there's, maybe on

55:12

the balcony, they leave the balcony

55:15

and that's got them there. That's

55:18

only is a respect. If that's all right,

55:20

you can talk to your boss, and

55:22

he listens to you, then

55:25

who am I? That's

55:27

one thing I'd like about them. But

55:29

villa is good. Good

55:33

memories, bad memories, which

55:36

I can't really recall which one I

55:38

should tell you now. But for

55:41

real, if it was a movie like

55:43

you're watching, it's a

55:45

long, long, long movie. He

55:47

says this. Wow,

55:57

the nigga nigga villa. A

56:00

creative community space inhabited by such

56:02

creative characters. Well, somebody needs to

56:05

make a film about this place.

56:07

I tell you, it's amazing. And

56:10

we need to go there ourselves.

56:12

That's even better. Hey, Sean, sign

56:14

us up. Who will

56:16

board the Nyege Nyege spaceship

56:19

for their four-day non-stop festival?

56:21

Friendly to families and party

56:23

monsters alike. Right? And

56:26

it's right there, at the source of

56:28

the Nile River. Beautiful.

56:32

Well, in any case, count on us

56:34

to keep you posted on developments

56:36

in this vibrant musical community. Meanwhile,

56:44

for more on the artists in

56:46

this program, visit apropop.org to

56:49

read longer versions of Basil

56:51

Keklin's interviews and see photos,

56:53

videos and discographies. You can

56:55

also find us on Facebook

56:57

and follow us on Twitter

56:59

at apropopww. Big

57:01

thanks to all the good folks at

57:03

Nyege Nyege for their help with this

57:06

program. Funding for

57:08

Apropop Worldwide comes from the National

57:10

Endowment for the Arts, which believes

57:12

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57:15

And from PRX affiliate stations around

57:17

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57:19

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57:22

And be sure to subscribe

57:25

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57:27

programs and our Planet Apropop

57:29

series. Set your

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sights on Camp Apropop.

57:34

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57:38

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57:40

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57:43

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57:45

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31st, 2024. Visit

58:05

campafropop.org for details. That's

58:10

campafropop.org. Hey

58:12

George, Fanning here. This just in.

58:14

If you sign up for Camp

58:16

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start planning now. My

58:22

Afropop partner is Shawn Valdo.

58:24

Shawn produces a program for

58:26

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58:29

production for this program by

58:31

Basil Ketlin. Our chief

58:33

audio engineer is Michael Jones.

58:36

Fanning here and Savion Biggs

58:38

edit our website, afropop.org. Our

58:42

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58:44

Mukwe Wabeisi-Yolwe. Our

58:46

director of new media is Savion

58:48

Biggs. And I'm George

58:50

Coulin. P-R-X