Power to the poets

With his 30th birthday landing on the same day as the 2021 election, the poet eloquently links his thoughts on political persuasion and governance with the story of Uganda’s bitter electoral battle. 

British born, of Ugandan descent, the rapper and podcast host reflects on his past political aspirations and the realisation that his Cambridge University degree wasn’t going to help him reach the young black kids he'd wanted to represent as an MP; “If I can take an idea I’ve learnt at uni, and rap it to these kids they can learn it through me.”

He is eloquent about the power of rap; “making music is like dreaming aloud, you influence feelings when you’re dealing with sound.” 

As it moves into musing on the election, the film skilfully employs a range of storytelling modes – subtitles, telephone calls, news footage and a zoom call between himself and director Alabi, that plays like two Shakespearean commentators telling the tale in rhyming couplets. 

Titled Black Yellow Red, the colours of the Ugandan flag, the film then explores Ugandan history and the battle between the the 76-year-old leader President Museveni and the main opposition candidate – charismatic 38-year-old singer turned politician Bobi Wine.