Saba Saba

Pretty Woman, M1 (Dead Prez), Saba Saba
Saba Saba aka Krazy Native Ugandan hip hop artist & cultural activistContact:[email protected]
Saba Saba, Ugandan hip hop/Lugaflow artist & cultural activist, has been performing since 1994. Performing as Krazy Native he was a founding member of the Bataka Squad, a Ugandan hip hop group that originated the use of the Luganda language in hip hop music (Lugaflow). Saba Saba established himself as a solo artist with 2005 release of Tujja-Babya, a song on his album by the same name. Tujja-babya, meaning to breakthrough in Luganda, earned him a nomination for best hip hop artist and song in the 2006 Pearl of Africa Music Awards. His music addresses daily struggles and triumphs of African life, while honoring his African culture through the use of his native language and musical references to traditional music and drumming. He co-founded the Ugandan Hip Hop Foundation and since 2003 has organized a yearly hip hop summit in Kampala Uganda.
He has been a guest artist and speaker at numerous events in Africa and the United States representing Uganda through his music and lectures on African culture and music. Highlights include his 2005 participation as a representative of Uganda at the UN’s first African Global Hip Hop Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, his 2007 performance alongside Michael Franti and a crowd of 70,000 at the Power to the Peaceful festival in San Francisco and most recently in March 2008 he performed and served as a panelist for Harvard University’s Conference “African Youth Development through Art and Technology – The Role of African Hip Hop.”
His current music projects include a solo album titled “Cup of Coffee” and a collaboration with the internationally recognized artist DJ Spooky.
Chronology
1994 Founding member of the Bataka Squad
1996 Bataka releases the single, classic Lugaflow song, "Atooba"
2003 Started hip hop night at Sabrina’s Pub in Kampala to showcase local talent; co-founded the Uganda Hip Hop Foundation
Performed with world famous West African rap group, Positive Black Soul; started the annual Hip Hop Summit in Kampala;
2004 delegate of the Uganda Hip Hop Foundation at the ‘Rock against Aids’ concert in Nairobi, Kenya; and part of the Uganda Hip Hop Foundation delegation to the Tanzania Hip hop Summit
2005 Nominated for the Pearl of Africa Music Awards best hip hop artist & best hip hop song. Filmed his first music video Tujja-Babya in the slums of Kisenyi, the first video of its kind to show the reality of life on the streets in Kampala’s poorest neighborhood. Ugandan representative at the UN’s first African Global Hip Hop Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.
2006 Featured in the documentary Diamonds in the Rough: A Ugandan Hip Hop Revolution. Ugandan representative to the Trinity College First Annual International Hip Hop Festival, Hartford, CT. Performed and lectured at Syracuse University’s Amnesty International Benefit Concert for Sudan. Performed at the Nomadic Wax Showcase in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and at shows in Boston, Arizona, San Francisco and Hollywood.
2007 July - Met with former President Bill Clinton, at a Clinton Foundation event in New York City, representing the Bavubuka Foundation , a Ugandan youth organization.
September performed with Michael Franti at the Power to the Peaceful festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
December 2007 - Organized and peformed at the Hip Hop Summit in Kampala, UG, and performed with traditional African music group Ndere Troup at the Ndere Center.
2008 February - guest speaker for premiere of “Diamonds in the Rough” premiered at the Pan African Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA ; performed at an international hip hop show at On the Rox at the Roxy in Hollywood.
March – Panelist and performer at for Harvard University’s Conference “African Youth Development through Art and Technology – The Role of African Hip Hop.”

LINKS

General Info
Uganda Hip Hop Foundation
Subterranean Network
Modiba
Flight 808
Media
UG Pulse Article 1
UG Pulse Article 2
New Vision
XXL
Tara Henley Article
Annansi Chronicles

Music Videos

Tujja-Babya
Wansi Wagalu
Bataka Squad – Amawulile
Trinity College First Annual Hip Hop Festival, Hartford, CT (2006)
Trinity Video 2
Nomadic Wax Show, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY (2006)
Films
Saba Saba and his music are featured in the following documentaries:
Diamonds in the Rough: A Ugandan Hip Hop Revolution
Wild Sounds: Expressions in Raw
The Film was shot mostly in Uganda. Taking the urban and the remote together. Culture, art and tradition all mixed with music as an expression of the African way of life.
WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?
A documentary about aid and development. A search for what Africans think the role of the ‘Westerner’ should be.