Daniel Kigozi under the moniker Navio is one of the pioneers of Hip-hop here in Uganda. His journey in music through the years has been a struggle! From the days of Klear Kut rap group made of The Mith, JB, Papito and Lang man to them taking a break from Hip-hop because of some personal matters they had to attend eventually. Despite all of that the rapper never threw in the towel until Hip Hop here in Uganda witnessed a brighter dawn for a change in the genre. Why he’s ranked among the best is all for the following reasons.
Quality Videos
His first remarkable high budget video to be shot in South Africa is for the song ‘Raw’ ft Fidempa. The video was compared by critics to Jay Z’s ‘Run this town’ because of the all black everything theme with masks, flames and black outfits in the night mode. Then there was, tell me- ft Micheal Ross, Dream -ft Jose Chameleone, Miliki-ft late Godie from Niger, Trouble, Something About you, One and only, No holding back-ft model and actress Stephan Ming, Kigozi, Ayaya ,Ndi Mukodo- ft Cindy and Now Work it ft- Sid. Most of these videos got him nominated for continental awards at Channel O, something no other Ugandan rapper has achieved by far. The videos are all of quality enough to be played on satellite Tv like Mtv Base, the then channel O, just to mention but a few.
Hard Work and Consistency
Navio works his ass off to stay relevant. He has put out two critically acclaimed albums, Pride and African Hustler Music. Speaking to one of the aspiring producers Dj OutKast of Sanyu …said the rapper is often in studio working on something at Talent Africa. Navio’s music tells it all at the end of the day.
Branding
He has marketed himself well for the most part. The gig at Coke studio for now two seasons straight, Charity endorsements and he’s less of a feud kind of rapper. The only feud he has been involved is the one with Klear Kut vs Atlas Da African that was resolved. The 2010 promotional project ‘one eight’ Airtel Africa was a stepping stone for the rapper--The theme song ‘Hands Across the world’ featured Navio from Uganda, Amani from Kenya,2face-Nigeria,Fally Ipupa – DR .Congo, R.kelly, Jk- Zambia ,Alikiba – Tanzania , Movaizhaleine – Gabon and 4x4 -Ghana produced by Kelly Robert in Chicago. All the above have given him a good name in the game!
Collaborations
Most of his collabos cut across the globe and he’s worked with some of the best ‘cats’ in the game. Keith sweet -Americas RnB legend, Mr.Blue- Tanzania ,R.kelly –Pied piper ,Nonini , just to mention a few. These collabos are more than enough to sell an artist at the end of the day.
