An interview with Rulz, a Grammy winning song writer, singer and Producer from Uganda. He is one of the leading players in the movement of that taking Ugandan Afro fusion to the world.
Who’s Rulz?
Rulz is an artist from Uganda, Kampala.
What defines Uganda basically?
Weather.
Rules… Can we say rulies, rules, rallies? Rulies, you know, some people have difficulty in pronouncing our names or as creatives. Come on.
The name is Rulz, the normal rules and regulations.
So, you are stretching us out to your roots. You’re growing. Tell us about your family.
I grew up with my grandmother most of my childhood.
I lived with my grandmother. Then I transitioned to my mum. When she finally settled, I was with my mum.
Until I left home, I stayed with my mum. So, my childhood was music as usual. So, it was no surprise at all.
Because I saw the love I had for music from childhood. I could sing complicated songs. It was a journey that didn’t him them by surprise.
And as I wasn’t, “the rebellious kind of child that wants to become an artist, who gets dreads, goes out of the house, comes back home.” I used to do my music low-key actually my first song was released when I was still at university.
I performed at big stages without my parents knowing. So, they got to find out, of course, when they see me on TV. But they didn’t see me sneak out of home.
No one of them saw me sneak out of home but they could see my music videos and also see me on stage. They could see me in reality. So that’s how I grew up.
Being so unique, maybe in your family, are you the first musician?
I’m not the first musician really maybe. So, I think it’s me who just considered it as a career.
Okay. Why not dancehall? Why not reggae? Why are you jamming up with Afro beats?
I think it’s the influence of the music we listen to right now. If I grew up at Bobi Wine’s era or if I was in his age, I would have probably been doing dancehall or the kind of music he does or he did at some point.
I feel like the way we grew up and the influences around us. And we grew up at a time when Afro beats were becoming something. So that’s why what we call the early urban generation, used to do R’n’B most of the time. Because they grew up with R’n’B.
Now, for us, we grew up with the African influence of Afro beats and the dancehall influence of the Ugandan artists we used to listen to at the time. So, we had a lot of Caribbean and African influence. So, we just combined them.
Now, how does this Grammy grill come through?
I wrote songs on a Grammy winning album called Alkebulah II.
How did this carry on as a creative?
It was a rewarding moment where I felt like, okay, I’ve been up to something, and it has finally paid off. So, it was more of like a wake-up call at some point where you’re like, okay, yeah, let me take this stuff seriously. I was taking it seriously, but this told me, okay, you’re capable.
What was the reaction from way here at home, you know, to the media, to the friends, the fans, people, when we did receive this news of you and the team being a part of this contribution that was really awesome.
I’ll call it mild.
Since most of us are, now you see, you think it’s only me, but it’s a team of many. But since all those guys were not in the mainstream, so we didn’t receive as much excitement as it would have been a mainstream act. So, it was more of like a personal achievement.
So, we didn’t really bother. Yes, the country responded very well, but we ended up doing something we personally wanted to achieve. So, we didn’t care about the rest.
Yeah, 2025 is here. So, what’s the next step for Rulz? We see that you’re really doing well on TikTok, having this wonderful sound coming in through, and Grammy right there. So, what’s next up for you in 2025?
I think more music. Since we’re in the middle of the year, I think we should just intensify our efforts to put out more music. More good music.
That is right now the sole aim at the moment.
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