Leghacity hopes they will get more fans streaming to their real music which they will release soon. PHOTO/COURTESY/LEGHACITY
Makindye is a hub for many creatives. The area is mostly populated by musicians, producers, dancers and actors, and it is also where new kids on the block Leghacity and Nnubi come from.
Their story is not even two years old but they have managed to rise to the ranks of being among the top content creators with their free-style collaborations. From just being free-style artistes, the duo is working on several projects together.
How they linked up
Despite both hailing from Makindye, the duo only met last year, and it is music that brought them together. Leghacity was shooting his video skits, where he sometimes featured other upcoming artistes and that was when he came across Nnubi, who was recommended to him by someone.
“During my random shoots, a friend suggested that I freestyle with Munubi, and being someone who likes challenges, I acknowledged not knowing that he would later become a good friend and someone I would still be working with todate,” narrated Leghacity, real name Ivan Mugaalu.
Nnubi on the other hand says he was part of a group called Friction Force and in that group, Leghacity had some friends who linked them up.
“I was singing in that group and when we did the first video ‘Spell the word girl’, it went viral. Many people liked how we connected and how we played along with our lyrics. It was at that moment that we decided to work together, creating more clips,” Nnubi said.
Since that moment, they became good friends and close singing partners.
Projects together
From the first clip, the two have since recorded more works and they have taken it so seriously that they have recorded an EP together.
“We are going to release a Joint EP, Strictly Leghacity and Nnubi. This EP will have four songs only,” Leghacity revealed.
The two rappers have also chosen to diversify their creativity to see how far they can go by working with yet another social media sensation, Wonder JR. The duo have appeared in a video on social media freestyling with Wonder JR and when we asked whether it was for fun, Leghacity told us they have some projects with Wonder JR.
“Being creatives and rappers, the freestyles are a form of promotion videos for our upcoming projects. It is real vibrations that everyone should look out for,” confirmed Leghacity.
He also added that in their burgeoning career, they needed someone with a big impact and bigger audience such as Wonder JR and they are already seeing the beauty of collaborating with him already.
On whether they have other projects with other artistes, he said it is just Wonder JR for now.
Fanbase
Not everyone gets lucky on their first encounter but the duo have managed to build a huge fanbase with just their freestyles and hoping to get more fans streaming to real music which they are about to release.
“We are so fortunate because people like what we do. God has blessed us because the audience loves our content. We have fans in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia all the way to the UK. Our platforms are growing rapidly and this is a good sign that our music career might be smooth,” they said.
Their dream is to see that they transcend their limits, representing Ugandans globally with their hip hop vibes.
Successes
It might be too early to count their successes since it is just a year since the two started working together, but they are optimistic of what the future holds. So far, they have just been paid by a company that allowed them to endorse their drink and with this approach, they are positive that others will also come along the way.
“We have not started earning from this but with the way things are going, we hope for the best,” Leghacity said.
Challenges
Like most upcoming content creators, Leghacity and Nnubi face challenges such as resentment from fellow content creators who feel their space has been threatened. Then of course financial constraints that limit their creativity.
Asked how they have managed to overcome some of these challenges, the duo said their focus on the goal and keeping away from negative energy has played a huge role in their strength as a duo but hope and pray that they will get good management that will help them sort out some of the challenges.
What they like about each other
Leghacity says Nnubi’s greatest attribute is his humour and that every time he is around, there is good vibes, while for Nnubi, Leghacity is like a big brother, always putting him in check whenever he goes off track. He also commends his talent.
Godfrey Mubiru aka Munubi
About Munubi
Born to Peter Ssematimba and Juliet Namande, Nnubi’s real name is Godfrey Mubiru.
He got his name from the society he used to stay in at his home area in Entebbe.
“There is a place in Entebbe called Kituburu and it is where most Banubi hail from. I used to stay around them and people started identifying me as one,” he said.
His rap sessions have raised eyebrows with many wondering whether he concocts what he raps about or it is the actual language. When we asked him, he acknowledged that he sings real stuff.
“Yes. I sing in Nubian and I decided to do that so that I am different from other rappers who sing in Luganda and English mostly,” he said.
Mubiru studied up to Primary Six after his parents could no longer afford to pay his school fees but welcomes anyone who wished to further his studies.
With his education dream over, he says he is living his dream doing what he loves.
“I have always wanted to be an artiste. I am not doing anything else apart from music and recording freestyle sessions,” he says.
Speaking about his inspiration, Mubiru says Bobi Wine and Nubian Lee have been his role models.
“I want us to be like Nubian Li and Bobi Wine because Leghacity raps in Luganda and I sing in Lunubi.”
Ivan Mugaalu aka Leghacity
About Leghacity
Born to Ivan Mugaalu and Harriet Namubiru Nsubuga 22 years ago, Leghacity shares a name with his father. He is the last born out of five children and the only artiste in the family.
His parents have been supportive throughout his career, especially his mother.
“I brought my first demo recorded in studio, played it on the woofer at home and my mum was so happy and told me to release it but I told her it was not ready yet. She asked what it required and she gave me money to master the song.”
His father on the other hand was not okay with him being an artiste but after seeing the feedback he received on TikTok, he felt proud and started supporting him.
He studied upto Senior six and dropped out because of financial constraints and branched into music, a decision he never regretted.
Leghacity started his music career in 2022 with a single titled BadX4, followed by Kibanda, a collaboration with Peypah last year.
His style of hip hop is known as Drill Hip Hop and he says he opted for it because it is unique and not everyone can do it. Drill is a subgenre of hip-hop that originated in Chicago in the early 2010s. It is sonically similar to trap music and lyrically similar to gangsta rap as a subgenre.
“Drill Hip Hop makes me stand out from the rest,” he said.
His stage name Leghacity was derived from Legacy and City and he goes on to explain that he concocted the name to mean a group of people living a legacy of a particular person, giving an example of GNL Zamba who inspired him and left a huge legacy in Uganda’s hip hop.
Before releasing his music, Leghacity was writing music for other artistes since 2015 and the songs he wrote for himself never left the doors of those studios. Asked why, he said during that time, he was just improving his craft and wanted to have a motive and a goal before he tasted the music waters.
