The-Mith Discusses SMASH & UG Hip-Hop. [Interview]

By Byaruhanga Felix (@TheNinjaFelix)

Earlier this month SMASH premiered on Urban TV with The-Mith as it's new host and Dj Crim as it's on air DJ. The show was re-branded with major focus being on African content (hip-hop) and making more lively, which gave UG's hip-hop a much bigger platform. The show runs on Saturdays 8:30 PM and re-runs on Thursday 11:30 AM. So I decided to catch-up with The-Mith to discuss a number of things about the show and what it means for Uganda's hip-hop as a whole.

QN: First Things First how's the Destination: Africa Release aftermath treating you?! BTW Some Money?!
Hahaha, we'll talk about the money later on..... But the aftermath has been Great. I'm happy people liked the music. We put a lot of work in that project, and to see people connect with the songs, has been such a dope thing.

QN: Congratulations On Presenting Smash?! How's this show going to be different from the previous smash or any other Saturday musical show airing on TV?!

We took what Kyle had done, and made it bigger. We got a set location, got in Dj Crim and just made it bigger. And because it's 100% Hip-hop, It's totally different from other shows.

QN: Why didn't You & the whole team at the station make it 100% Ugandan Hip-hop?! 'cause that way the genre gets more exposure?!

Well, the show is 80% Ugandan HipHop. That is more than what most shows are doing. We'll eventually get to 100%, but for now, that 80% is pretty good.

QN: Real Quick walk us through a typical planning session for an episode of smash. what do you consider when coming up with the top 5 videos & the artist you host?!

We look at the songs that are making noise across the continent. We check out top radio countdowns and check which songs are trending and all. There's a lot of music that's out there, a lot of HipHop. But the whole team works at getting it right.

QN: Now you're doing TV, pushing singles off destination: Africa, pushing TMMG & in the process of recording a klear-kut album. Does it ever get hectic at any point for you doing all this?!

Not at all. The music I am working on, can only be helped by all the music I am listening to cause of the show. It's a great learning experience.

QN: Now That there's a UG Hip-Hop show on TV & some radio programs dedicated to UG hip-hop, what do you think are some of the loopholes that need to be filled in order for the genre far ahead of others?!

This show is a platform that I hope, all artists will jump on. We have to kill that old mentality, where we keep music to our circles. This is a moment where everyone can come through and push their music. That is the most important step. Get the music out there, the rest will fall in place after that

Connect With The-Mith

Facebook: TheMithMusic

Twitter: @TheMithMusic

Instagram: @TheMithMusic

YouTube: TheMithVideos

Contact Writer;

Facebook: Byaruhanga Felix

Twitter: @TheNinjaFelix

Email: theninjafelix@gmail.com

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BLACKness - Drew De’aloi and Keizy Zulu Shabazz [POEM]

By Drew De’aloi and Keizy Zulu Shabazz
A poetic collaboration between two masters of the pen, Drew De’aloi and Keizy Zulu Shabazz in celebration of the #BlackHistoryMonth

Drew De'Aloi

Please let me be CLEAR with my words to your ears...Better hear this message absorb into your psyche' like nanomites absorb into Cancer cells precisely...You see, I AM black......blacker than the ashes of the mountain's base… Blacker than the Moon's dark face I AM......starkly dark, I am the STARKness of the darkness... Got a big black heart for the cold and for the heartless... I AM Blackness... Blackness with exactness... Blackness with no accent... Blackness with NO practice...and certainly by NO accident...

I AM the Negro...the Negroid...the dark void that is devoid of colors artificial... I cannot be colored or highlighted with ANY drawing utensils... I AM the dark clouds, the storm clouds RAINING, nature's PAINTING, the beautiful earth-tone brown on its canvas...The smooth rhymes within the lines of poetic stanzas...

I AM knowledge and wisdom, an African Proverb...observe how wise words emerge from the hot sweltering depths of me, purposely freeing my sisters and brothers with PASSION from their mental entrapment...

I AM the Sun's prodigal kinky hair follicle...I am the locks, the twists, the braids, and the dreads...The wave patterns and fades on countless black heads...I am the doo rags, sneaks, and baggy pants, I am the hip hop music that makes the world dance...I AM the master of ALL music, from jazz to funk to rock to blues...I am the showstopping pop-locker, the floor knocker with Tap shoes...

I am the Nubian, the Nuwabi, Moroccan man, the Somali...The Kushite, the Kemetan, A LUO-tribal warrior...protector.­..I am the... High Priest, Healer...Architect, the Mir builder...Scientist and Mathematician, Old World style Magician...The Military Tactician...the Inventor of inventions...I'm the Pharaoh on the throne making dyNASTIC decisions...

I am the OLDEST sculpture...the oldest ever molded...They tried to hold me and control me, but I can never be folded...The unbreakable creation, the SPEAR of the Zulu nation, sharper wits than obsidian, more ancient than Dravidians...I am the dawn of civilization, before timelines were listed...I am the first to ever develop a concept of the spirit...I am the melanin that's fueled by the gleaming sunlight...I am the Nephthys, that gives serenity to the night...I am the gods of Kemet...I am eternal...the future...I am STRONG...PROUD...BLA-CK...and BEAUTIFUL.

Keizy Zulu Shabazz I am Hominus Africanicus...an Al-Kebulan god, the Black Adonis... I dictate my own fate, so I am my own Dominus...My own ruler, my own Sultan... My volcanic passion for life burns HOT...so my emotion is molten… I was cultured in the loins of the Congo Chiga Dynasty, Melanated nativity, My Soul Glows

Black Matriarch, I was wrapped in scented Kente Clothes Clung to the back of the motherland, my humble abode My feet walked the plateaus of Nubia Ruled over vast lands like Nabongo Mumia Gliding ships of the Blue-Eyed Promethians

Bestowed Knowledge Ogun took strides to Forage Esoteric wisdom to cement the Afrikan Spiritual fiefdom That was tore down by Babylonian Kingdoms

Visions of my ancestors beam through these words I uplift my people with Faith and Works Talismans etched on my Makonde Mask Pouring Libation on great ancient Nations

I dance in the rain and break bread with the Dogon Hogons I am Marcus Garvey in his Prime The mental yoke on the Afrikan Mind Breaks every time I Rhyme

Craddle of the Kumi Rock painters I am reminded of Sundiata Keita By Egyptian hieroglyphys written in sand by the Saharan tempest To a real Naggah, Cleopatra was an evil temptress

I gnaw at Eurocentric thought with philosophies of Kihura Nkuba I am an original pyramid Builder Consecrated in Kement wearing bark cloth velvet Dashikis Dreaded Rasta, My Fist in the Air Peace to Afrika, Peace to the Gods and Peace to Nyabingyi

Connect with Drew:
Facebook:Drew De'aloi
Facebook Page:Drew De'aloi's-Poetic Notes

Twitter:@Drew4real256
Email:ayeni3000@gmail.com

Connect with Keizy:
Facebook: Keizy Zulu Shabazz 

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Restart - PL@Y (Free Download)

Download Restart - PL@Y (6.6MB)

By Byaruhanga Felix (@TheNinjaFelix)

2015 in Ugandan hip-hop keeps getting much better as the year moves on. Restart is the new single off Pl@y's upcoming EP "Mother Daughter Wife ". Restart is Pl@y's first song release since 2011 and as you listen to it you will realize that he has been always creating music for a while without releasing it for reasons (which we will find out in his interview about the EP). Like any other Pl@y you've listened to before, expect content & wordplay on this one too but yet also entertaining. Restart is also produced by Pl@y which shows us what to expect on the EP.

Contact PL@Y;
Twitter: @Pl@yofficial256
Facebook: PL@Y
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/playofficial256

Contact writer;
Facebook: Byaruhanga Felix FeliFed
Twitter: @TheNinjaFelix
Email: theninjafelix@gmail.com

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