“Leo leo” my young self hummed these Swahili words when “Utake Anthem” was released. Channel 5 / East Africa TV (EATV) made it a point we understood what an East African community is and this song made it even more clearer for me.
I saw Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya working together sonically, artistically with an iniatitive from a Ugandan with Hip Hop dreams.
Shadrack Kuteesa assembled Jajja Babaluku (Uganda), AY (Tanzania) and Juacali (Kenya) for the only Hip Hop “Utake Anthem”. Utake is simply Uganda Tanzania Kenya. It was what East African Bashement did with “Fire Anthem” in 2006.
My aim was to make hip-hop fun.
AyDee Dumba reveals.
The mid 2000s to the late 2010’s were described by Hip Hop waves. Shadrack Kuteesa (pictured left) of the Platinum Entertainment was ideally the closes to a record Label in Hip Hop and a functional one at it’s best. With iniatives like Hip Hop Canvas which gave us artists like Keko and Don MC – as many of us got to know them through Shadrack’s push.
Ugandan Hip Hop History is not complete without a mention of Shadracks’s influence in the mid and late 2000s. Think GNL? Think Keko? Mr. Kuteesa who is now a born again christian is still in the business of music through Vine Entertainment Group.
How the song came about as told by AyDee Dumba
I spoke to one half of NGONi and producer for the imprint Good Enuff, Dumba ‘ AYDee ‘ Mpagi who was instrumental on the production of the song. Interview has been edited for clarity.
How did the Utake Anthem come about?
Shadrack Kuteesa asked me for a track and sold me the idea, coming off the success of ‘Kampala City’ he said we can cut across E.A.[East Africa]. He is the one who reached out to the artistes, flew AY in and I think I sent Juacali the instrumental and they sent back his vocals raw. Nothing complex on my end really,[It] was a vibe. I think we recorded Babaluku and AY on the same night and video [likely] was shot the next day on a demo.
When it came out, it was such an impressive moment. Do you feel like the Utake energy for hip hop specifically has shiffted from how it used to be?
My aim was to make hiphop fun. Commercial. Radio friendly. I’m glad other players like GNL eventually did. We achieved a bit of success with Lyrical G, Bonsatule, etc.
So, GoodEnuff production was actually AyDee? (pictured right)
Primarily, yes. But under my wings I was training a number of kids. For the hiphop side of Good Enuff I was nurturing Lyrical Proof and a producer that now mixes and masters for Swangz. [Levy]
On pushing Ugandan Hip Hop Further
I set up GE Urban, but it was a bit of a struggle and I had divided attention too. But we got a big catalog of unfinished and unreleased songs with various hiphop artistes. They never made the cut.
[I and Enigma] We have almost 15 songs done. I should actually reach out to him.
This is interesting. about 15 years ago your influence on the industry is still here. I salute you!
Thank you. My musical taste was actually leaning towards the commercial hiphop of the 90s. Naughty by nature, Jermaine Dupri, Badboy. I’m sure you can hear a bit of Dre in my synths too.
The question is shall we ever have a revival or a Utake Anthem 2? AyDee is still active as a music producer and a performer.
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