Using poetry, spoken word and music, Rap Poet is an exciting artist coming out of Kampala, Uganda. We caught up with him to discuss his work, artistry and process.
Beatfreeks: Rap Poet, you combine different art forms and instruments in order to find your sound – what inspires your work?
Rap Poet: As a creative Artist the Political, Social, and Economic way of Life in my Country Inspires a lot of my work.
BF: What is your process of creating? When and where do you work?
RP: I mostly create my work from my home studio which is just near my home place in the centre of the city of Kampala in Uganda. I create during day, mostly in morning hours when am awake early and sometimes late at night when everyone is sleeping, mostly when its silent, my moods to create a high that time.
BF: Part of your work is performance and being on stage, how does that feel?
RP: Every time I perform, I feel a lot of energy when I step on stage and grab that mic and start reciting Poetry, I feel happy, but mostly I feel happy when the audience listens to me because audience energy brings me more vibes and strength to perform more and more.
BF: What motivates you?
RP: My moments in life motivate me a lot to create work, write poetry, paint on canvas, like when am going through sad moments, happy moments and mostly things I go through personally as a human is what motivates me to create.
BF: As We Speak is a global project, what are your ambitions for your work, and what impact do you want it to have?
RP: I want my work to be heard globally, I think my work inspires a lot of artists to not give up on themselves and to continue to creating no matter the challenges they face while creating politically in my country, Uganda. I want my work to stay relevant by sticking to sending a message from each work I create to the people. I want my work to help discover unheard poets mostly in my country Uganda through my poetry platform Tontoma Poetry Jazz Session so that they get that chance to be heard.
BF: You’re committed to developing and supporting new poetry talent, alongside your own personal development, where do you see yourself in the next 5 years and what are your hopes for the future?
RP: I hope to rebrand my poetry platform Tontoma Poetry Jazz Session into the first poetry art centre in my country, to help discover, inspire and mentor new unheard poetry creatives in Uganda, East Africa and collaborate globally. I see my self continuing creating more works, collaborating & working with different artists and as well as starting up a campaign to construct a poetry art centre in my community and country, Uganda.
BF: Thanks Rap Poet! We’re looking forward to what you achieve over the next few months!
Click here to learn more about Rap Poet and explore his creative work.