ONE ON ONE WITH NAVIO

BUZZ: How have you managed to stay relevant and fresh as an artiste for this long?

Staying relevant is a state of mind for the most part. You have to be excited about the way the industry changes or you end up falling behind. Artistes who hate on change must realise they too were part of a change once upon a time.

Tell us a bit about your new song ‘Something About You’. What is the story behind it?

Something About You is one that was born out of my producer disagreeing with me and Sauti Sol. I’ll explain. We did a song with Sauti Sol, Head to Toe, that was supposed to be in my album but we were not to shoot any video. But the producer Aethan thought that those lyrics had to be on more than an album song so he basically took my lyrics, created a beat and my new song was born.

Your album ‘Pride’ did very well, is it too soon to expect another one?

In truth, I’m the opposite of a lot of artistes. Whereas an average artiste, for example, will take a couple of years to do a project, it takes me two weeks. My battle background means that anything I want to say on a track is usually at the top of my mind so to speak. Always expect a project at a moment’s notice.

Are there any projects that you are working on now?

Definitely. The writer and the Rebel is a new concept born out of the rebel struggles up North (in Uganda).

It is renditions and additions to my lesser known conscious songs that kept some of the victims going in those dark days. I also have a huge project coming out with Dr Sid from Nigeria in a few months and we’re putting together an entirely new Klear Kut album. I further started OTG (Off The Ground) which seeks to raise money for those with disabilities.

Who are your music influences?

Locally it’s everyone from MC Afrique, K-shaka and Ptech. Internationally,  would have to say Pusha T, Jay Z and Common as well.

Do you think you work best as a solo artiste or as part of Klear Kut?

Hmm... Klear Kut surely keeps one  focused on his game though. I’m at my realest with the crew, the brotherhood of compe (competition)

As an artiste, what are the major challenges that you have had to deal with?

Stalkers, negative press and piracy. As for stalkers, if you’re at a show thats cool, that’s a fan but away from the stage it gets scary. I’ve had people go to my mums house, my house, harass friends and managers to get close to me etc.

Negative press is just tabloids. According to them every club night must end in some sort of controversy to make it interesting to the reader. I’ve had my name in the papers for things I couldn’t have been around for. Three stories went up about me doing different things in Uganda,when I was in the UK for a month after Twende Kazi. But in the end, it comes with the territory.

Compared to Kenya, music in Uganda sells and musicians are able to live off it without side hustles, what would you attribute that to?

I think it’s harder to break out here, but once you do, it’s a wrap. Uganda takes a certain pride in their artistes. Once you have a fan, it takes a while for them to let go. Corporates, however, are slowly starting to shift out of music which is a bad idea for them and will be a huge blow on the artiste.

As one of East Africa’s hip hop artistes of repute, do you think African rappers are at a competing level with other international rappers?

Most definitely. You can put any rapper from the US against one of our best in the same studio, same beat and see what happens. It’ll be a massacre. We have so much stuff to talk about that they’ve never heard of. We have crazy content and talent.

If you could compare yourself to any established hip hop artiste, who would that be and why?

Many fans here would say Jay Z. But I don’t agree. From my position, I’m more like Pusha T. He is not the biggest artiste but has one of the most loyal fan bases and steady income compared to rappers with all the hype but no cash.

At the same time, people who are given more hype, promotion and getting backed by their economies will only make as much as I have in twice the time it took me.

I see these big artistes all day attempting to pick bottles off my table when I’m in their own country. In South Africa one artiste tried to talk negatively about Diamond when his show had just 500 people.

He doesn’t know Diamond will sell out a stadium back home. Ignorance.

In your music videos you appear to be a cool and smooth guy with a suave demeanour about you. Is that your personality or is it for showbiz?

I’m definitely calm. But I know that I can have a temper. I think being in the industry for nine years really showed me when to fight though. In this industry words are just that. I can never scrap with someone who isn’t in my weight class over just words. Also remember I am 110kg. When someone gets physical though, we can take it there.

Starting out did you ever dream that you would be this big a star?

Never, I just wanted to battle and support my friends who were much better than me.

Do you think hip hop is as hardcore as it used to be, or has it gone soft with some rappers focusing on money and forgetting about content?

It’s definitely become lighter! I think there are some people who can disassociate themselves from their roots and get the money.

I always ask a hardcore artiste, would you ever release a commercial album if you could raise money for a sick daughter?

I just make sure I throw in more metaphors and clever lines than I would on a hardcore track to let MCs know I’m still the same Nav. Check out the first four lines of my new track Something About You to see what I mean.

How was it growing up in Kenya, did it make you love the country more and understand the market?

I can say that being born and doing some of my schooling in Kenya really added to my style. If I was just in Uganda, I ‘m sure I would’ve been a less well rounded MC. There is something potent about the way Kenyans use words that can’t be duplicated anywhere else in the world.

The ease of delivery from Jua Cali, the aggression of Khaligraph, the thought from Nonini and the bravado in Octopizzo is something you can’t teach.