By: Lattif
Part 1: Interview with JUSTICE (Dad Beats)
How did you first meet Black Dog?
It’s a long story, but briefly, this was back in 2020. I was living in Jinja at the time. My mamas had a small canteen that was selling bananas, pancakes, and so and so on. Black Dog used to pass by and buy bananas.
One day, he saw me sitting outside with my guitar. He asked me if I wanted to sell it. I told him it was the guitar I use in my band. A few weeks later, he saw me with another guitar and he was like, “You having another guitar?” Again, he asked me to sell it to him. I told him, “This is the one I have right now. Maybe I will be able to sell it when I get another one,” because by then, I used to survive on selling music instruments.
So the conversation went on. That’s when Black Dog talked about music and he told me that he was a singer and he was in a band called Glorious Din. He gave me some of his music to look up on YouTube. Since I’m a producer as well as a writer, he wanted to do a song for the Kadogo/Wabo movement. It’s a cultural organization for children in Mbiko, but he has many children in Jinja too. I said I can do it. He wrote the lyrics in English, and I translated the lyrics to Luganda. After we did the song, everyone liked it. All the children liked it so much.
Who sang the Kadogo/Wabo song?
I did the backing vocals, and a girl called Jennifer Johnson did the main voicing. Later, we did another version with a hip-hop artist from Kampala called Dapreacher MC. We even made a video. It’s on YouTube, called “Kadogo/Wabo.”
Didn’t Black Dog set up a studio for you near the Amber Court Market? What happened to the studio?
We tried something. Initially, we rented a house, and it was a very good place near Amber Court Market. We had plans to do a lot of music. A lot happened. We had problems with some other people who were using the studio, and we lost the place.
But we still had plans to set up a studio. It’s been almost 2 years now. We wanted to have a studio at Black Dog’s house, but as a person, I was like, this wouldn’t be good for Black Dog. A person needs privacy, just like any other person. Though he is a fan of music, I told him that we need to look for another place. Currently, the studio is in Bujowali, Njeru, Buikwe District.
Did Black Dog talk about getting a Hip-Hop group together? Fuse Hip-Hop and Afrobeat?
Black Dog brought me forty-nine tracks that he had made in America. We did more tracks from the music he did in Sri Lanka, but we didn’t use them. We kept them for the next phase, which is going to be a fusion: Afrobeats with Sri Lankan music.
Black Dog told you to find some people to put a Hip-Hop group together?
I reached out to many people from everywhere. Everyone who heard the tracks was just running away, because the tracks that Black Dog gave me were something new—like, they sounded very different from what they were used to.
Then I only ended up getting one group, and they said they can rap to his beats. I did one song with them. One of the rappers came by my studio—that was King 12—and he told me he has some other rappers that can sing and rap. King 12 wasn’t in my mind at first, then I remembered that he was very creative. I have been working with him before. So he came with the other 3 rappers at around 3:00 PM, and by 11:00 PM that night, we had seven songs done. They are very good, they are real talented, and always available to do songs.
How many albums are you putting out?
We are putting out two albums with twelve songs on each album. So far, we have done 24 songs.
- Album 1 is called Confession. I made all the beats for that one.
- Album 2 is called Visitations. Black Dog made all the tracks for that one.
Black Dog connected us to a distributor in the USA called Urbanlife Distribution, so they will be distributing our music.
Are you going to release videos for each song?
We shall try to make videos for all the songs—some cheap videos, and later we shall advance. Just as N.W.A. are “Niggas Wit Attitudes,” these boys too have attitude. We shall have lively videos and we shall do that at any cost because everyone has to enjoy.
Who is going to shoot the videos?
Black Dog will be shooting the videos.
The group is doing a lot of shows?
We have been doing a lot of street and club shows to introduce their sound to people, and so far the feedback has been really good. Everyone seems to like the group, and they are very good at performing.
How would you describe your production style?
I would describe my production style as a feeling, because I do beats depending on the mood I’m in.
Who influenced the group?
They were influenced by various singers and rappers like King Saha, GNL Zamba, and the late Mowzey Radio.
From the songs I heard, the 2 albums have very different sounds.
The albums are different because I made everything from scratch on one album, and the other album was from the beats Black Dog made while he was in America.
Are you still recording more songs?
We are always making songs. Our minds are mainly on music, and whatever we do is music.
It’s really good because the group is singing and rapping in Luganda.
Yeah, the music is in Luganda because you can’t have a dream in another language. This is a dream that we are giving life to.
What’s the name of the group?
The name of the group is called Ababi, and it consists of Took Man, King Ronald, Puff Rhymes, and 12. I’m the producer, Dad Beats. Our backbone is Black Dog.
Part 2: Interview with Ababi
(Puff Rhymes, King Ronald, Took Man, 12)
How did you meet up with Justice / Dad Beats?
Puff Rhymes: It was by our talent, because we had come to record some music at Nile Tonics and that is where we found Justice/Dad Beats. It’s his studio.
Why does Justice choose to work with you and not other groups?
Puff Rhymes: Justice played us the beats that Black Dog had made and asked us if we could rap to them. We said we could. We made 7 songs the first day. He realized that we are really talented and creative. Black Dog is the backbone of all this; it was his idea to put a hip-hop group together.
How did you connect with Black Dog? And why has he chosen to work with you?
Puff Rhymes: It was Justice that connected us to Black Dog, and he chose to work with us just because we were trustworthy to him. He really likes us. He likes the way we rapped and sang.
Who sings in the group?
Puff Rhymes: Took Man and Puff Rhymes sing. 12 and King Ronald rap, but all of us can sing and rap.
How is it that you have 24 tracks done in such a short time, and they are all good? Everyone seems to really like the songs.
Puff Rhymes: Just because we were able to access the studio at any time, we were able to make many songs in a short time. We live close to the studio.
Where is the studio located?
Puff Rhymes: The studio is located in Bujowali, Njeru, near the Nile River. It’s in a very quiet place.
How did you feel about being compared to N.W.A., a very international group of the best rappers?
Puff Rhymes: Of course we feel good, and we have the energy to take over.
Where do all of you live?
King 12: We live in Bujowali, close to the studio.
How did you get into music?
King Ronald: There is someone who inspired me, King Saha. But there are a lot of other Afrobeat artists that I like.
Puff Rhymes: Kendrick Lamar influenced me, and many Afrobeat artists.
Who connected you to Justice?
Took Man: King 12 connected us because he used to bring some projects to him.
King 12: I met Justice at a certain studio called Sound Box in town. I liked his music, so we ended up becoming friends. Our level of music changed just after we met with Black Dog, and we are looking forward to taking our music to an international level.
How did you get to know Black Dog?
King 12: It was through Justice. There was a neighbor who told us that there was a big project that Justice was doing with a producer called Black Dog, and that he was from America. He wanted to start a Hip-Hop group like N.W.A. and needed the best rappers that he could work with. He came to the studio when we were recording, and he really liked our songs. He really liked us.
How is it that you have more than 24 songs done just in six weeks? How do you really make it that fast?
King 12: Ever since Black Dog promised to give us a hand and also promised to push our music to an international level, we all put our minds and focused on this project.
How did you feel when Black Dog said he wanted a certain sound—a sound like N.W.A.?
King 12: Of course we feel good because we are looking forward to hitting the international level of music and entertaining not only the village people but the entire world.
The name Ababi, what does that mean?
King 12: It means Thieves. Black Dog wanted us to use the name Killers, but there was another group with that name. So we said, “What about Ababi / Thieves?” and he really liked that name.
Justice
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