While consistently delivering quality content in a trend-dominated world often does wonders for one’s social currency, compromising preferences and identity isn’t worth the splurge for some, and Underworra’s new mixtape and overall journey is an adequate depiction of just that.

Underworra is a collective of four singers in their 20s that have taken on the hip hop scene in Rwanda and broadened its horizons since their humble beginnings as highschool seniors in 2017, and their evolution through the years could not be more progressive.

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The group released their first 15 track collaborative project "Midnight” in 2020, and have since been spotted at a variety of creative events across the Kigali, thus making a name for themselves with seamlessly stellar performances and new music, especially collaborations with new generation artists such as Nikita Heaven, ET Ndahigwa, Kenny K-Shot and Sema Sole, to mention but a few.

Dynamic team

One of the most outstanding things about Underworra is the fact that they singlehandedly create and produce their own music from beginning to end while maintaining day jobs and education, which is something that isn’t common in the Rwandan music scene, and here’s how it all began.

Having started as mere high school seniors, they couldn’t afford all the fancy equipment ideally needed to produce and make music, thus every member had an excessive role to play to ensure that they deliver their craft with standard quality. Baano (Brian Kazintwari) is a cinematography graduate and his passion for photography and videography came in handy, serving as the group’s creative director in terms of visuals, which often entails exquisite filmmaking and photographs depicted in Underworra’s music videos and social media posts.

"I’m not a producer or an engineer but I write music and film our music videos. We’ve been listening to music since we were born and it’s not a hustle. We love it so we just keep doing it,” Baano says.

The group also features the likes of Hakim Abdul Hussein (Kimzer), Ian Masozera (Mazo,) as well as Chakratang (Hugo) that have made innumerable contributions for the progression of the team not only with their roles as recording artists but also as sound engineers, producers and graphic designers.

"Kimzer and I can do graphic design which we use for our artwork. We also produce and regulate our music to sound the best it can be, and we all write music together,” says Mazo.

Also Read: Support the new wave of artists: Underworra

When asked about their team dynamic, Kimzer and Mazo pointed out that while they each play a role in bringing out the music, Kimzer has been holding the fort down in the sense that he does most of the modification work and sound curation to ensure that the quality of production is consistent, and that has helped them progress not only as a group but also individually and professionally.

"I would like to give credit to Kimzer, he’s the main sound engineer of the group and although we all record very often, he takes the extra step to finalize the songs and complete them, and sometimes that means sleepless nights,” says Mazo.

New mixtape 'Oni'

Despite the various performances and music tracks they graced their presence with, be it collaborative or solo projects, Underworra had not made music as a group since their first mixtape together in 2020, and they yearned to get back to creating such projects which is how the idea for their sophomore mixtape came to be.

To test the waters and evaluate what their audiences resonate with most, Underworraa released two tracks accompanied with videos and separate themes two months apart, namely 'Let It Out' and 'Money on my Mind.'

Given that they hadn’t created music as a group for a while and had not been certain what sound they wanted to emulate, the release of these two songs was two sides of the same coin and when their peers and audiences were leaning more towards the darker mildly seductive themes of 'Let It Out' than the chill, vibrant lighter themes of 'Money on my Mind' the Underworra team decided to make a mixtape themed more along the lines of 'Let It Out' however they intend to release music that emulates the chill vibrance of 'Money on my Mind' later this year.

"We had not made music as a group since 2020 and we wanted to try again. We had each learnt how to make better music with writing, editing, and production. We released 'Let It Out' and 'Money on my Mind' to get back in the mix and also see what people enjoyed more. The former performed better and the songs on the mixtape are very similar to it. We also made songs similar to the latter that will be released alongside Chakratang when he returns,” said Kimzer.

Future projects, solo and otherwise

While the team’s different styles and voices come together to create something great, they each bring different perspectives to the table and indulge solo projects to maintain their sense of self and individuality. To complement the 'Oni' mixtape, Underworra intends to release a mixtape based off 'Money on my Mind,' ideally sometime in August, and they each plan to release their solo projects shortly after.

"The four of us have different sounds and when we get together we mesh them but when we’re not together, we get personal,” says Baano.

Kimzer released two solo albums in June and December 2022, and Mazo released two albums in 2021 and 2022 respectively, whereas Chakratang’s latest project titled '25' will be unveiled in the next few days. While Baano is yet to release a solo project, he has actively collaborated on multiple tracks within Underworra, and his first ever solo project is set to debut towards the end of the year.

The 12 track mixtape featuring three quarters of the Underworra collective alongside rising artist thedicekid and Nikita Heaven is now available on all major streaming platforms.