Mun-G believes he is good at what he does, and claims only Eminem is better. PHOTO by Isaac Ssejjombwe
The rap genius: Isma Bwete thinks rapper Mun-G is the best hip hop artiste and clearly he wouldn’t have wasted a chance to hang out. The two met and talked Mun-G’s journey to music and what inspires him.
Hi Mun G. Please tell me about yourself.
My real name is Mungi Matovu. I am the first born of Maria Namirembe Mungi and the late Mungi Matovu. We are two boys and two girls. I attended Bright Grammar Boarding Primary School and Aga Khan Senior Secondary School, Masaka. I have a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Makerere University.
Why Mun G for a stage name?
I just got rid of the ‘i’ in my name, Mungi to swag it up. And besides, I believe I’m Mungi (too much) in the music industry.
When did you join the music industry?
Professionally, I started in 2009 with Ebintu as my first song but I used to be GNL’s hype man before breaking out.
Why hip hop?
I grew up at a time hip hop had taken over the world. Artistes such as Nas and Jay-Z were the in-thing then and they influenced my music following. There is also this guy I went to school with called Hudson Ssentumbwe who would return to school with magazines, CDs, tapes, and told us he had travelled to the US, yet he never went there. He told us stories of how he saw performances from those great artistes. This changed my music mindset. As the school term commenced, we formed a group called Ghetto Hip Hop, miming Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Eminem and Nas songs, which made us household names at school.
What have you been up to lately?
I’m still pushing my latest track, Sala Pulesa. It is doing well, although it hasn’t reached where I want it to be.
By the way, what inspired that song?
There is a lot of pressure and heat from people. So, I basically came up with the song to calm them down.
You are one of the artistes in Tubonga Naawe project. How did you end up being part of the project?
I’m not willing to talk about that right now.
Okay. I heard that you are building. How far has the house reached?
Mun G is staying in that house. Thank God I no longer get phone calls from the landlord.
Your songs are so comical. Is there any reason for this?
There is no story about that. I just release songs that make people happy because there are a lot of problems out there, so I decided that my music should be a stress-reliever for them.
Are you planning a concert this year?
Most definitely, but we haven’t established the venue yet.
Is Kunta Kinte still in existence?
Yes it is, and we have a new artiste called TIK and he is about to blow up, I am telling you.
You are the best hip hop artiste in my opinion. Do you believe it as well?
Yes, I’m better than most hip hop artistes because I’m a rap artiste and the rest are also rap artistes. One thing though about us rap artistes, is that we all believe we are number one. The only artiste I think is better than me is Eminem, but I believe I can beat him when it comes to rhyming in Luganda.
What should we expect from you this year?
More music definitely.
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