On The Rise: Ugandan American Hip Hop Icon & Luga-flow Pioneer GNL Zamba

by Raheem Karim
GNL Zamba

GNL Zamba

GNL Zamba launches African roots into the future with his new Afropunk ‘The Spear’ album

Inner city hip hop has expanded it global imprint since it’s inception in the late 1970s’. Luga-flow pioneer GNL Zamba has expanded the genre within the Ugandan culture. Luga-flow, is rapping in native tongues, is Uganda’s definition of hip-hop; a form of music used to advocate truth for the future of the youth and the people of Uganda.

GNL (Greatness with No Limits) Zamba is one of the pioneers of Ugandan hip hop sparking a youth movement from the underground to the mainstream. He has risen to fame a decade ago in Kampala when he captivated the country with his unique concepts of storytelling, by building bridges that married tradition and urban culture through a series of EP and album releases including: Riddles of life Koi Koi (2009), Speaking Vernacular (2011), Uganda Yaffe (2013), I Am Zamba / Ceasar (2014) and Dreaming in Colour (2016).

As a African American I can identify with the same struggles as the Ugandan people. GNL speaks on how their African culture has been erased and robbed by colonialism.

Zamba, now a US-based rapper who is a who is a hip hop industry icon in Uganda, has spent 3 years pouring his personal and spiritual journey of growth into latest album Spear. It is a album of inspiration, wisdom, and empowerment. Spear is a blend of hip hop and Afropunk with deep lyrical concepts tying in Ugandan traditional music.

GNL-Zamba---Spear-Album

The album was produced at L’Atelier Studios Los Angeles by Fly Tucker, includes 11 tracks riffing on
themes of African heritage, social change, personal and community empowerment.

“This is the soundtrack to a human revolution, coming back full circle after completing the first journey of physical evolution to now start the elevation to a spiritual one!”

“My Spear album is like a conversation between Fela Kuti, Malcolm X, Tupac, Jimmy Hendrix,Bob Marley, Mandela, Marcus Garvey, My grandmother, an ancient moor and Mansa Musa”.

“I want the whole world to sonically and spiritually travel back to their shared African origin,”GNL Zambasays of the album. “Here is where all the answers lie. Most new Africans have never been to this Africa. It is hidden in a dimension only open to those with the gift to look far back enough that they can see the future.”

The single Energy is futuristic love song and an ode to black women. GNL speaks his truth in poem throughout the record.

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GNL Zamba is artist to watch that brings infuse his African traditions into hip hop. Stream GNL Zamba The Spear below.

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