Navio (rapper)

Navio was born to engineer Daniel Serwano Kigozi and physician Dr. Maggie Kigozi (née Blick). He is the youngest of three children; with an elder brother and sister.[10] He went to Entebbe Church Nursery for infant school and St. Andrews in Kenya for his primary school. The recording artist then joined Aga Khan Secondary school and ISSA (International school of South Africa) for secondary education. Navio was enrolled at Monash University where he studied International Relations and Media Studies.[11]

While growing up, Navio listened to a lot of music including his elder brother's huge collection of rap music from artists such as Run–D.M.C., MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, and the Beastie boys and would try to mimic them.[11] When he was about 10 years old, his mother heard him rapping in the living room, and came over and asked whether it was Vanilla Ice rapping. She was so excited that she took him to Baava studio, owned by Hope Mukasa, to record a song.[12]

Aged 16, Navio formed the hip hop group, Klear Kut with his four closest friends: Tom "Tha Mith" Mayanja, Jonathan "J-Baller" Leslie, Abba "Langman" Lang, and Habib Abdul Hussein aka Papito. The group's debut album, "Mind, Body and Soul" (2000), was a huge success and generated the several hit singles including "All I Wanna Know" (with Juliana), "Remember", and "Let’s Get It on".

The group helped stir the popularity of the Hip hop genre in Uganda.[13]

In 2002, Klear Kut became the first group to receive a Kora award nomination where they were nominated for "Most Promising Newcomer" and 'Revelation of the Year". The following year, the group released K2, their second album. Although it was not as big as its predecessor, it produced the major hits "Mon Coeur 'Murder of Crows'", featuring Rania, and the fan favorite remix "Superstar" featuring Bebe Cool.

They later received the PAM Award for Best Hip hop Group in 2004.[14]

Music critics have described Navio's sound and style as unique. "He strikes the balance between an African sound and a contemporary and international flavor that means he appeals to a wide demographic locally and internationally".[16]