Viboyo returns with mature body of work in Handmade Triumph

For the past 12 years, Viboyo has been known for his annual wrap up but 2024 has come with something different. The veteran artiste has spent a year preparing what he regards as a ‘mature body of work that is going to provoke everyone’s emotions’. 

The Handmade Triumph is the name of the album that Viboyo voiced in between 2am to 7am for the past one year. 

Asked what inspired the title, Viboyo said it comes from his everyday life. 
“My values are to work for anything I want and most of my work has been technical. It is also the way this album was made. The hard way,” he said. 

Viboyo will release this album on February 2, a date he says was the best given the time needed to pitch songs to playlist curators.

“This album has a warm and responsive sound with a line-up of exceptionally talented musicians and producers who saw this through. The Handmade Triumph is a personalised masterpiece that showcases lyricism with meticulous attention to detail. The album delivers a perfect blend of raw bars and powerful production. It offers music lovers a much-needed respite from today’s music scene. The serial lyricist in me comes to the fore as I subtly infuse lyrical power with gritty flows fuelled with emotions and experience. This album sums up my creative vision with several moments of brilliance, providing the listener with a refreshing listening experience,” he emphasises. 

The Swangz Avenue gaffer adds that this is his trailblazer studio album, a masterful blend of old and new school joints, including Afro Beats, R&B, Luga Flow and Reggae. Deliberately, Handmade Triumph is a lyrical embodiment of the challenges that have decorated our chase of the music dream and the people that have walked this journey with him. 

It is a tale of heartbreak, inner peace, vulnerability, love and a compelling mix of some traditional samples from the ‘60s with a handful of hard-hitting bangers, crafted with catchy hooks, melodies, beats and stories that have something for all age groups. 

“The essence of my context is the thread with which Handmade Triumph is woven. Of an era gone by, where I grew up in a society that put respect at the forefront of everything, long before the current era where social values have turned upside down. This sets the canvas upon which the album paints a relatable image of society. Of the intricacies of our traditional home settings. Of differences at the heart of relationships and marriage. Of children’s upbringing. Of disappointments. Of broken dreams.”

Some of the people who put this 16-track album together include Producer Banga Boy, Eliakis, Emmy Wonder, Josh SB, Pius Kiddu, Fidel on the guitars, Joewi on the keyboards, Ernest on the Bass guitar, Michael Saxs on the saxophone, Dlux Ibraw on The Pain Game and Anel Lukwago on the mixing and mastering of this project. 

Viboyo is not the only singer on this album. It has an ensemble of diverse talents such as Azawi, A Pass, Elijah Kitaka, Spyda MC and fresh talents such as Tushi the Rapper, Whisper and Julius Sese. 

Explaining his choice of collaborations, Viboyo whose real name is Moses Nsubuga, said he did not set out to have anyone on the album as he was beginning but along the way, felt it would be nice to spice it up. 

However, some artistes he approached turned him down or their handlers did. 
“After Midnight featuring A Pass is a song about my journey from music to film and back to music. Tugende Yo ft Azawi was a vibe, Dear Bestie ft Julius Sese needed a mature sweet chorus and Sese came through. On Chop Life ft Whisper, I originally wanted Cindy, but her husband asked me to pay and I did not have the money, I tried Winnie Nwagi and her manager but they dilly-dallied me so I talked to Ernest of Double Black band and he brought through the talented Whisper. On Bother Me, I wanted to feature Recho Ray but her manager said they were not doing collabos anymore, so I talked to St Nellysade and he got me Tush, a song which also features Spyda MC. Malaika is a song on which The Mith advised me to use a choir on the chorus so I just put together some great voices.” 

Viboyo wants this album to exceed the classics before it, for example those of Philly Lutaaya, Maddox, among others and also get people looking out for this album to teach or reteach each one of us about forgetting broken dreams.