In July this year, Swangz Avenue artistes and managers took a trip to Zanzibar. Not to just chill but on a creative trip to come up with the first-ever All-star album.
On their return, we learnt that the artistes had come up with 16 tracks, including collaborations with other artistes not signed to Swangz Avenue.
After four months of production, mastering and arranging the songs, the All-Star album is ready and to mark the celebrations, the Industrial-Area based label had a release party last Thursday at Noni Vie where celebrities, industry icons, media personalities, and fans gathered to appreciate the star-studded album.
The event boasted a guest list that featured Ugandan music giants, including Bebe Cool, Iryn Namubiru, The Mith, Maro and Karole Kasita, John Blaq, A Pass and Ava Peace, among others while the Swangz Avenue team was represented by Vinka, Azawi, Winnie Nwagi, Elijah Kitaka, Zafaran, Zagazillion and Double Black band. Producers Nessim, Steve Keys and Andrew Ahuurra were also present.
The night began with a black carpet experience, where DJs, including Swangz Avenue’s own Eyo Marcus took revellers through an expertly-curated soundtrack while NTV’s Sammy Wetala, who was the host engaged attendees with Swangz Avenue-themed trivia, awarding exclusive gift hampers and tickets to the Dexta Daps concert slated on December 14.
Just like at Azawi’s Sankofa album listening party, veteran producer and one of the directors at Swangz, Benon Mugumbya, led the official listening session at around 9:30pm with each track played in the album’s original order.
Guests immersed themselves in the rich, collaborative sound of the album with opportunities to engage directly with the artistes and producers.
“This album is just Volume 1. In a couple of months there will be a Deluxe because there are many songs that are not finished. This is something we want to do every two years, not for only Swangz artistes, but for every Ugandan artiste,” Mugumbya said.
Besides the already released God Ye Buddy that features Azawi, Vinka, Nwagi, Zafaran, Kitaka and Levixone, some other songs on the album that captivated the audience include Mary Jane by Nwagi, Azawi and Zagazilion, Wanika Bendela by Vinka, John Blaq and Kitaka as well as Red Flag, a collaboration between Vinka and Azawi.
Speaking about the birth of this idea, Julius Kyazze, the business development manager at Swangz Avenue, said it was going to be hard featuring all artistes on just one song.
“In the past we have done all-star songs. We have never done anything like this. We thought of doing another all-star because the fans have always asked us to do another Mr DJ, Whistle song but today there is so much talent so it would be hard to fit everyone on one song, so we decided to do a whole body of work,” Kyazze said.
The event concluded with an exclusive behind-the-scenes video that captured the journey from Zanzibar’s creative recording sessions back to the Swangz Avenue studios in Uganda.