Hip Hop Music Artist Edwin Ruyonga has revealed that God purposefully let him do commercial music despite his religious sentiments.
Having led a group that won a countrywide music competition in 2000, Ruyonga got signed to a US label Rawkus and East Africa's Kinetic Management, becoming one of Uganda’s most loved rappers todate.
In an interview with RX Radio’s Crystal Newman, the gospel rapper now with Josh SB 360, a 360 entertainment live production company and talent management firm, says he is naturally a commercial artist in as much as he loves to do gospel music.
“I am a born-again Christian, but I transitioned from a Christian artist to holding my values and convictions while performing in the commercial space. When I switched to gospel music, I kept getting invitations of collaborations that weren’t necessarily in the gospel realm, something that turned out to be a conflicting situation for me.” Ruyonga asserted
He added, “Though some of my church community members tried to curtail me from being in the commercial space, I feel that God has been intentionally keeping me this way because if there are Christian lawyers and engineers, then why not a Christian, commercial rapper because my sound has always been very commercial.”
While commenting on the effect of Covid-19 on the music industry, Ruyonga said that though the situation has been challenging, it has made him reflect on the activities the government hasn’t restricted thus making him venture into entertainment shows and acting.
“During last year’s lockdown, I did a series called ‘Ruyonga Live’ and it drew a lot of attention because of the resources we had injected into it. We were the first people to make an online show here that really pulled it off.”
“Similarly, Josh SB360 and I also did a series with Pesa about a criminal family and it was a very interesting realm. We were very inspired by Loukman and we also put out a date, posters, a trailer of our 'Dance With The Bride’ movie and got some interesting phone calls. I can't really announce but some big news is coming up.” he affirmed
With his music already available globally on all digital platforms, Ruyonga is currently working on his fourth studio album ‘Kabalega,’ set to drop in the later half of 2021.
The grove cafe with Crystal Newman airs every Weekday from 4-5pm on RX Radio.