Okiror Emmanuel aka Foever is a 24 year old Ugandan Hip- hop Lugaflow artist signed to the Kinetic Management Group since the beginning of 2014. Foever is a passionate young man who is trying to use where he is to help his fellow youth in his communities under his new project, “Hey Young World!”
His project “Hey Young World” is one of the many featured projects on a website called Fezah.com, a Ugandan based startup founded by Elijah Kitaka and Ham Namakajjo that is a crowd funding platform focused on the creative arts in Africa. “Born out of our passion for music and the arts, Fezah is Africa’s talent launch pad. In a nutshell, we raise money, and through partnerships reduce costs for creative Africans to make their new projects happen. We then monetize the content that is created as a result of the projects to help increase earnings for these talented individuals.” says Ham Namakajjo.
Fezah.com is where a project owner will offer some rewards in exchange for getting a monetary contribution. An artist, for example wishing to raise money to produce an album, may offer a reward like a download of the album for the minimum level of funding, say $5, an autographed CD for the next level, say $20, and tickets to the performance of the album for say $50. That way he raises money to create the music and his supporters get something in return for supporting him.
Foever will be performing at the upcoming Kwivuga Finale this Thursday the 26th alongside Toniks and Santana at Gatto Matto Bar, Bugolobi. He spoke to us about his project on Fezah.com
What is your story Foever?
Born December 1989, I lived with my Mum, Dad and two sisters, but when I was 6 years old, Mum and Dad failed to get along so we ended up living with her alone. I was raised in the ghettos of Kamwokya and Naguru and like most ghetto kids I got exposed to drugs, alcohol and many bad groups, I became a victim to everything negative that the ghetto had to offer. I got in trouble a number of times and almost lost my life to it until around to 2006 when I saw most of my friends deeply lost into that life, some were in jail, future-less and some dead. That is when I started changing after God came into my life and I looked at what else I could do so I resorted to my talents, I deeply fell in love with rap music and street basketball. Basically, that is how it all started for me.
Wow, that was rough on you and I am sure it affected who you are now…
Of course it did affect the way I see the world now and my journey because I went from seeing and doing things negatively to doing and seeing things positively from bad to good and realized life is a lot more than what we take it to be, it’s not about being cool like we think. Life is about working on you, developing you and making sure that along the way you empower others too.
Who do you want to be remembered as?
I want to be remember as an “Edutainer.”
How did you come up with the idea for this project with Fezah.com?
When I was asked what project I would love to do if got supported, “Hey Young world” quickly came to my mind. I have always wanted to use my rap skills to talk to my fellow youth through my songs because it is the same story only that we all come from different places.
We are sure you have a whole lot to achieve with this project…
Yes, I definitely do; the most important thing is I want to talk to my fellow youth on the dangers of doing things just because they seem cool or because music videos and TV make them look that way and to those that are not yet caught up in that kind of life, encourage them to stick to School, God and their talents. Of course there are those that are already caught up, give them hope and show them that there is nothing good they will get out of that kind of life apart from jail, death, pregnancy, AIDS and dropping out of school, in general pass a message to all of them about that dreams do come true if you chase them with passion and hard work and there are better ways of having fun as a youth at the same time not getting involved with drugs, alcohol and everything that comes with it.
Will there be a time when you go offline into the real world to implement this project?
Definitely because it is going to get bigger than this but right now I need the media so that I can get their support to be able to do this.
Please visit Fezah.com on “Support Project” when you reach my page or watch this video on YouTube to hear more about the project https://www.youtube.com/
To check out my music on the Kinetic Management Group YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/