Daniel Lubwama Kigozi (popularly known as Navio, born 18 October 1983) is a

Ugandan Demographic features of the population of Uganda include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and others. Population According to the total population was in , comp ...

rapper and record producer. Starting off his career, he was part of the award-winning hip hop group Klear Kut, along with fellow rappers The Mith & JB, that introduced the term "Ugaflow" to describe Uganda's hip hop scene. Navio is best known for his successful solo career with hits such as "Ngalo", "Bugumu", "One & Only", and "On and On" (with American R&B singer

Keith Sweat Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961) is an American singer, producer and songwriter. An early figure in the new jack swing musical movement, he is known for his collection of hits including "I Want Her," "Make It Last Forever (song), Make It Last For ...

). Since 2010, Navio has been a part of the African supergroup One8. Other members include 2Face (Nigeria), Fally Ipupa (Democratic Republic of the Congo), 4x4 (Ghana), Movaizhaleine (Gabon), JK (Zambia), and fellow East Africans Amani (Kenya) and

Ali Kiba Ali Saleh Kiba (born 29 November 1986), best known as Ali Kiba or occasionally as King Kiba, is a Tanzanian musician and songwriter. He is one of the most talented musicians in East Africa and mostly considered the King of Bongo Flava music Ge ...

(Tanzania). The first release from the group was "Hands Across the World", written and produced by R. Kelly. In 2014, he was one of the featured artists in the second season of "Coke Studio Africa".

Early life and career beginnings

Childhood

Navio was born to engineer Daniel Serwano Kigozi and physician Dr. Maggie Kigozi (née Blick). He is the youngest of three children; with an elder brother and sister. He went to Entebbe Church Nursery for infant school and St. Andrews in Kenya for his primary school. The recording artist then joined Aga Khan Secondary school and ISSA (International school of South Africa) for secondary education. Navio was enrolled at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

where he studied International Relations and Media Studies.

Career beginnings

While growing up, Navio listened to a lot of music including his elder brother's huge collection of

rap music Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

from artists such as Run–D.M.C.,

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Pumps and a Bump", flashy dance movements, e ...

Vanilla Ice Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in Dallas, raised in Miami, he was the first solo white rapper to achieve commercial success foll ...

, and the

Beastie boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

and would try to mimic them. When he was about 10 years old, his mother heard him rapping in the living room, and came over and asked whether it was Vanilla Ice rapping. She was so excited that she took him to Baava studio, owned by Hope Mukasa, to record a song.

Klear kut

Aged 16, Navio formed the hip hop group, Klear Kut with his four closest friends: Tom "Tha Mith" Mayanja, Jonathan "J-Baller" Leslie, Abba "Langman" Lang, and Habib Abdul Hussein aka Papito. The group's debut album, "Mind, Body and Soul" (2000), was a huge success and generated the several hit singles including "All I Wanna Know" (with

Juliana Juliana (variants Julianna, Giuliana, Iuliana, Yuliana, etc) is a feminine given name which is the feminine version of the Roman name Julianus. Juliana or Giuliana was the name of a number of early saints, notably Saint Julian the Hospitaller, whi ...

), "Remember", and "Let's Get It on". The group helped stir the popularity of the

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

genre in Uganda. In 2002, Klear Kut became the first group to receive a

Kora award The KORA All Africa Music Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. The awards were founded in 1994 by Benin born businessman, Ernest Adjovi, after a discussion in Namibia with the country's President H ...

nomination where they were nominated for "Most Promising Newcomer" and 'Revelation of the Year". The following year, the group released ''K2'', their second album. Although it was not as big as its predecessor, it produced the major hits "Mon Coeur 'Murder of Crows'", featuring Rania, and the fan favorite remix "Superstar" featuring Bebe Cool. They later received the PAM Award for Best Hip hop Group in 2004.

Later career

Before leaving for South Africa, Navio wrote and recorded a song, "Rukus" with Ugandan recording artiste Peter Miles. The song went on become one of the most popular records of his career. It was featured in the season finale of Big Brother Africa 3 in 2008, four years after its release. During his hiatus, he was occasionally featured on other artistes' recordings such as the all-girl group, Blu*3's single "Burn" in 2007, Jemimah Sanyu's "Amaaso go googera" in 2011 and many more Navio officially returned to the music scene in 2008 after graduating with a degree in communications from

's South African branch. His debut solo album, ''Half the Legend'' was released in 2009 and generated positive reviews from critics and the audience and generated the singles "Bugumu", "Salooni" featuring GNL Zamba, "Ngalo", and "Respect" with the Kenyan artiste Jua Kali. He was also featured on

Bobi Wine Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (born 12 February 1982), also popularly known by his stage name Bobi Wine, is a Ugandan activist, politician, singer, lawyer and actor. He is a former Member of Parliament for Kyadondo County East constituency in Wak ...

's "Badman from Kamwokya". The album earned him the Best Hip hop Artist award at the Pearl of Africa Music Awards and nominations at Kenya's Kisima Music Awards for Best Male Artist, Best Music Video, and Best Hip hop Artist.

Musical style

Music critics have described Navio's sound and style as unique:

Awards and nominations

Discography

*''Half A Legend'' (2009) *''AFRICAN Hustler Music'' (2010) *''Pride'' (2014) *''The Chosen'' (2015) *''Strength In Numbers'' (2020)

Videography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navio 1983 births Living people Musicians from Kampala Hip-hop singers Ugandan rappers