Klear Kut is a five-member

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

n ensemble consisting of Navio, Papito, Abba Lang, JB, and The mith.

History

Klear Kut was formed in August 2000. The group started by performing at

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

s around

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

and quickly gained a reputation for their original performances. They soon started performing at bigger events and caught the eye of local producer Steve Jean, with whom they recorded their first single, "Nothin’ Wrong Wit’ A Lil’ Doe." The group became the first Ugandan hip hop group to be accepted among mainstream artists.

Music

Klear Kut then teamed up with Dawoo & Damz (D&D) Productions to record the full-length album ''Mind, Body & Soul''. The album proved to be a success for the group, spawning the hits "All I Wanna Know" featuring

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, wh ...

and "Superstar" featuring

Bebe Cool Bebe Cool (real name Moses Ssali; born 1 September 1977) is an African reggae and ragga musician from Uganda. He started his career around 1997 in Nairobi, Kenya, but moved back to his native country a few years later. Bebe Cool was one of the ...

. The singles topped the charts in

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, and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. The video for "All I Wanna Know" pioneered modern video production in Uganda. It earned the group two nominations at the prestigious 2002

Kora All Africa Music Awards 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 ...

in the "Most Promising African Group" and "Revelation of the Year" categories. This also made them the first Ugandan group to be nominated at the KORAs. Klear Kut was also nominated at the 2003

Pearl of Africa Music Awards The Pearl of Africa Music Awards (also known as the PAM Awards) was an annual national music award event held in Uganda. The inaugural event was held in 2003. In 2006, categories for musicians from other East Africa East Africa, Eastern Afr ...

and won the award for "Best Hip Hop Group." The group also released another album, ''K2'', which featured the hit single "Mon Coeur/Murder of Crows." The video was on heavy rotation on WBS as well as TV Africa before the station's demise. The video topped the EATV Top 10 music video charts. The video would further create new records by being the first Ugandan music video to be featured on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

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The album features

, TID (musician), TID, Benon, Rania, E-Von & Poetic. Klear Kut has built a solid reputation as live performers and has performed at a number of live outdoor events including the Shaggy Boombastic Concert, Miss Uganda, Tevin Campbell New Year Concert, Sanyu Carnival in Uganda,

Miss Kenya The Miss Kenya is a national beauty pageant in Kenya which promotes Environmental Conservation, Culture, Tourism and Goodwill. This pageant is unrelated to Miss Universe Kenya or Miss World Kenya. History The Miss Kenya founded in 1960 and inte ...

and Coca-Cola Race Day in Kenya, Bongo All-Stars in Tanzania, Sauti Za Busara in

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

. They have also performed at the

Harare International Festival of the Arts The Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA) is one of Africa's largest international arts festivals. Established in 1999 by Manuel Bagorro the festival takes place each year in late April or early May in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. ...

(HIFA) alongside African greats such as

Femi Kuti Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti (born 16 June 1962), popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician born in London and raised in Lagos. He is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and a grandchild of political campaigner, women's ri ...

(Nigeria) and

Habib Koite Habib ( ar, حبيب, ''ḥabīb''; ), sometimes written as Habeeb, is an Arabic masculine given name, occasional surname, and honorific, with the meaning "beloved" or "my love", or "darling". It also forms the famous Arabic word ‘''Habibi’'' ...

(Mali). The group has been featured in the production of both audio and video commercials for companies such as Coca-Cola, MTN, PSI Protector, BB Soda, Allied Bank, Celtel, Guinness, and Pepsi. Klear Kut has also been involved in AIDS awareness and anti-smoking campaigns, performing and speaking to youth about those issues. At the 2008

Kisima Music Awards The Kisima Music Awards is an annual awards program that recognises musical talent in East Africa. Despite being Kenyan-based the scheme awards artists from a variety of countries, predominantly Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and incorporates a ran ...

Klear Kut was nominated for the Ugandan Video of the Year category for their video "Klear discussion" Kisima Awards
Nominees 2008

Awards and recognition

*Nominated in

for the Ugandan Video of the Year category for their video "Klear discussion", 2008 *Won the award for Best Hip Hop Groupin

, 2003. *Nominated in

in Most Promising African Group, 2002 *Nominated in

in the Revelation of the Year category, 2002

Discography

*''Mind, Body & Soul'' *''K2'' *''Klear discussion''

References

External links

MTV Base Africa profile: Klear KutUGPulse.com: Klear Kut interview + music
{{Authority control Ugandan musical groups 21st-century Ugandan singers Musical groups established in 2000 2000 establishments in Uganda