East African Records (EAR), a fresh recording and music distribution label operating across East Africa and based in Uganda, on 9th November, hosted UK reggae and dancehall unit Mungo’s Hi Fi and their lead artist Eva Lazarus, who were on an East African tour to Uganda and Kenya.

The group put up a reggae concert on 9th November at The Square in Kampala and another at Pit Stop in Jinja on the following day,10th November. The Kampala concert was headlined by the Mungo’s Hi Fi and Eva Lazarus from the UK, alongside Nazizi from Kenya and Ziggy Dee, C Wayne Nalukalala, Blessed San among other Ugandan reggae sensations.

DeeJays SkaFace and KrissKross played music in intervals exciting revelers and premiered new music from East African Records, including a remake of Mic ya Ziggy Dee and Nazizi’s Love Automatic, all recreated by Mungo’s Hi Fi producers.

The Jinja concert at Pit Stop had an even longer lineup of fans to see the headliners joined by DJ Shiru and hip-hop newbies K Van and Recho Ray.

Both concerts kicked off at 7pm with a ‘cocktail’ crowd, a mix of rastafari, corporates, and visitors to Uganda. In the crowd were some prominent artists like dancehall king Cindy, and hip hop stars like Navio and Flex d Paper, among others.

Ziggy D, whose Mic ya Ziggy D hit from the early 2000s and still a club banger, performed the new version of the song and everyone was on their feet. The party went on till late.

Commenting about the concerts, East African Records director David Cecil said: “The concert was highly entertaining for those people who either knew Mungo’s Hi Fi before or those who are seriously into reggae dancehall music and not just local reggae or dancehall. This was a concert for dedicated reggae dancehall fans. We got very strong feedback; people came from as far as Rwanda, a Scottish crowd excited to see their local heroes performing in Kampala, plus Ugandan reggae lovers. We were happy to host a crowd that was diverse. The crowd was energetic, Eva’s performance was massive, and there were also outstanding performances from C Wayne Nalukalala who is super professional and set for good things. He is set for a release with Mungo’s Hi Fi next year, Blessed San did his usual freestyles and we had cameos from Navio and Flex d Paper, and Ziggy D shut down the show. It was all great energy”

On the concerts and making music with Ugandan artists, lead producer for Mungo’s Hi Fi, Tom said “We are glad that we came. It was a great party and we loved the energy and meeting the reggae scene in Kampala, including Cindy Sanyu who was wowed by the music and later came to the studio with us, so expect new great music soon! She is professional, fun to work with and takes her music very seriously. We recorded some good stuff with her and we may soon have a Cindy hit that crosses over Scotland and Uganda. We have also recorded with Ziggy D and are excited to share the music.”

The tour continued to Kenya from where two shows took place, first one at K1 Clubhouse on Friday 16th in Nairobi and in Kilifi at Distant Relatives on the 17th.

See photos from the concert here;

Naziz and Eva Lazarus

Ziggy D during his performance

Navio and Eva Lazarus

The King herself Cindy Sanyu was also in attendance