East Cape music group Ugie Mob dares to dream with release of single
A GROUP of five young rappers from a small town in the Eastern Cape finally got their big break with the release of their single called Sangena.
Ugie Mob, as the group call themselves, released the single under a Johannesburg-based record label called Stickstainment to mainstream radio last month.
The hip-hop group is made up of Sivuyile “SVG” Makhwelo, Abongile “Magqalo” Mjuleni, Siviwe “Preacher” Mdlokovana, Sinethemba “Decomposer” Mgaqanga and Lucky “Gigabyte” Mjobo.
Mgaqanga said Sangena was a track that spoke about their entry onto the music scene.
“We’re telling people we’re here now and we’re not going anywhere. It’s been an uphill battle getting to where we are and we are introducing South Africa to our music and our unique sound, which we call Lali Style,” Mgaqanga said.
Speaking to The Herald during their recent promotional tour, Makhwelo said the band was all about positivity. “We were actually two groups, who came together after competing at the Elundini Municipality talent search called Dare To Dream,” Makhwelo said.
Mdlokovana said what led to the two groups joining up was that they noticed they each had a fan base and, being the forward thinkers they were, they decided to merge and create one big collective following for Ugie Mob. Even though they have released under a Joburg label, Mjuleni said they did not plan on moving to the City of Gold any time soon.
“Our passion for music started in high school and since we’ve become Ugie Mob, a lot of the younger generation tell us they look up to us. We’d like to make them proud and hopefully create some kind of buzz around Ugie and uplift our little town,” Mjuleni said.
The band members said they were grateful they had a musical outlet and were able to earn a living through their passion, since there were not many job opportunities where they came from.
Sangena is available for download on digital platforms such as Deezer and iTunes.