Money Can’t Rap: Navio Defends His Rise to Fame Against Family Influence Claims

Ugandan rapper Navio, real name Daniel Lubwama Kigozi, has addressed allegations that he became a famous rapper due to his family background.

During a TV interview, Navio put an end to the notion that his achievements were linked to his family’s influence. The NarvCop boss emphasized that he had been a celebrated rapper for ten years before anyone asked him about his family.

Navio started his music career as a teenager and later joined his friends The Mith, Papito, J-Baller and Langman to form the famous Klear Kut rap group that went on to win international awards and perform at big stages outside the country. He maintained that he had achieved all this because he was talented, not because his family had a hand in it.

“This is weird because I was famous for ten years before anyone asked me about my mother or what she does. I was a celebrity at 14. We were already in the Kora awards as the Best African Act

Best Video and all that. I flew first class at 14/15 years old. We were stars, and what we did in Kenya after that, Tanzania, and the East African tour, our first launch. We did a lot with ourselves and with the help of our sponsors,” he said.

According to Navio, the people who claim that he is riding on his family fame and wealth are blind to talent. He compared himself to other rich artists who have failed to have a successful music career despite having a lot of money to spend.

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“They have a chip on their own shoulder because you cannot say any rich 14-year-old can do that. There are people who get handed USD300K but they do not even release one hit. I ended up doing an African tour at 15; I think people need to stop that. It’s only at the age of 27 that they realized I was rich,” he said.

Despite being a rich kid, Navio insists that talent is crucial for one to survive in the industry.

“At the end of the day, we have to settle and rap; go bar for bar and lyric for lyric. Your money cannot help you when you are alone on stage. With Chameleone, Bobi WIne in front of you in the lineup, your money cannot help you. You have to give something to the people,” he said.

@galaxytvug I was a celebrity for 10 years before people knew about my family – Navio #JikonkoneRewind ♬ original sound – Galaxy TV Jikonkone