GNL Zamba disputes the myth that hip hop music in Uganda lacks financial success

Popular Luga Flow rapper, GNL Zamba, one of the genre’s pioneers in Uganda, has spoken out against the belief that hip-hop music yields low returns on investment.

In an interview, the US-based rapper who has been active since the early 2000s shared his insights and experiences, openly challenging the notion that hip hop does not pay.

The Baboon Forest Entertainment founder argued that there are very few artists in our local industry that can deliver the same return on investment that he has in the genre because they limit themselves by catering only to the uptown audience, neglecting the vast potential of the downtown crowd.

The advantage I have is that I can sing at introductions, step on high school and college stages, I can perform at the UN or any NGO. Basically, I can cut across all the classes and age groups of Uganda, do songs for the ladies, and perform battle songs as well. That is what Cassper Nyovest, Khaligraph, Octopizzo, and anybody good at hip hop can deliver, Zamba emphasized.

GNL Zamba also highlighted the unique advantage that hip-hop artists have in product endorsements, citing Kanye West’s billion-dollar sneaker empire as an example. He encouraged Ugandans to dismiss the misconception that the genre doesn’t generate significant revenue, revealing that his last album earned him a whopping sum of 1 billion Ugsh, the result of three and a half years of dedication and hard work.

The return on investment for a rapper is really high but there is a bias that when people are speaking about rap, there is a template they have in their heads that the genre doesn’t make money. They just crammed this but can’t look at it on paper. How much did Zamba make off his last concert or last album? A billion is not easy money to make.

I plotted for three and a half years to get to that so you can’t tell me who is sitting in this position that the return on investment on hip hop is little. There is a little bit of self-hatred and not believing in the culture that we possess, he said.

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GNL Zamba further encouraged big companies and labels to prioritize rappers in marketing their products as they are assured of a huge rise in stock sales.