From the streets of Kampala you can find a charismatic figure pushing a makeshift cart loaded down with speakers, scratchers, a solar panel, computer keyboards, and electronics. Pushing this party on wheels is a man with a fancy haircut, sporty sunglasses, and a microphone. Meet DJ Decimal, real name Kyagwa Ronald, a 26 year old self-taught DJ and producer. Taking the name Decimal because he’s “always on point,” Kyagwa is an artist who has learned resilience in music and in life. Born with a serious medical handicap to both his arms and legs, it wasn’t until the age of 7 that Decimal began walking on his own. During this time, thanks to the love and care of his family in the Banda district of Kampala, Decimal was able to grow at his own pace, take the time to learn to walk without crutches, and use his fortitude to pursue a life in music.”Before I wanted to be a lawyer,” Decimal says in the short film, “now I want to be a superstar.” In Kampala and online, Decimal has already reached a form of superstardom. Those in the street adore this “one-man rave”, and followers online bombard Decimal with calls and messages of love and support. But life still isn’t easy. “Before I wanted to be a lawyer,” Decimal says in the short film, “now I want to be a superstar.” In Kampala and online, Decimal has already reached a form of superstardom. Those in the street adore this “one-man rave”, and followers online bombard Decimal with calls and messages of love and support. But life still isn’t easy. Even with millions of fans, it’s tough to make a living pushing speakers and playing rough edits of dancehall cuts and animal sound effects. Still, Decimal continues on his path, full of energy and optimism. Decimal is currently raising money to replace essential broken equipment, a project to which you can donate here.
We asked director Marion Desmaret a few questions about Decimal and his environment to get a better sense of the off-camera life of this budding superstar.
When he plays in the streets of Kampala, it’s always a big event. It’s like time stands still. People can’t believe their eyes at first, then they burst out laughing and the smiles never disappear. This is where Decimal proves that he is a real performer, teasing his audience and joking, mesmerising kids, charming the police and disrupting everyone’s routine with a moment of sheer joy. His performances are also his livelihood, he roams through entire neighborhoods with his machine so people are used to seeing him work some areas for some periods of time, until he changes to a new one to gather new fans. People adore him and when we came back to Kampala after his 3 day performance at Nyege Nyege festival where he became the mascot, people were shouting his name everywhere we went in town. A real local legend.
I discovered him on Instagram where a media had reposted one of his videos and it had gone viral. It just blew my mind so I looked him up and found him tagged in the comments. His Instagram wasn’t much updated but I found out that on TikTok, he had millions of followers. I then sent his videos to Derek of Nyege Nyege, who asked Ugandan artist and radio host Jokwiz Klean to track Decimal Point down, as it turned out that he lived in Kampala. Jokwiz is well connected and speaks Luganda, but it wasn’t an easy task for him at all. For weeks, Decimal wouldn’t pick up the phone or answer any message, until ultimately one day, it worked. Jokwiz told him about my idea for the film and coordinated our shoot. He also linked him up with the Nyege Nyege team to organize his performance at the festival. We later found out why DJ Decimal was so hard to reach. He very often has his phone switched off because of the overwhelming flow of calls and messages he receives from fans all over the world. It never stops.
His mixes are mostly Kidandali, a Ugandan music genre and dancehall, on which he goes full on experimental, editing the tracks, adding insane animal sounds and breaks. He mentioned to me his admiration for Chameleon, Bobi Wine and Bebe Cool. Since last December, he has been learning production in order to push his dj-set up to the next level. soon he will be roaming the streets with a new upgraded machine ready to mix his own tracks live. His productions are proper outsider music classics. Honest and beautiful. Be prepared to be surprised.
He is one of the hardest working people I know. He is constantly working towards the next thing and nothing can slow him down. Since he bought a laptop and started his own productions, he has been working relentlessly, day and night. A few weeks ago he sent me a batch of 40 + tracks. He constantly challenges himself. He has been a warrior since birth but he’s also a joker, and his humor and kindness make everyone fall in love with him. Wherever he goes, DJ Decimal is everyone’s darling.
Kampala never stops. The city is full of life, exhilarating. Loud music blasting in the streets, the bodas dancing their mesmerizing, dangerous ballet, the street food vendors everywhere… When I’m there, I have the feeling that anything can happen, everything is possible and you can be surprised at every corner.
We shot in 7 different locations, from his home in Banda, district of Kampala to Jinja where the Nyege festival took place, and everywhere we went the atmosphere was incredibly positive. Decimal really knows how to hype an entire street, so I only had to keep my eyes peeled and camera ready to capture the excitement and interactions with the crowd. For the last sequence of the film, Rey Sapienz, Nyege resident artist organized a joint-performance between Decimal and Congolese art collective KinAct, led by Eddy Ekete “The Tin Can Man”, with performers Meme and Kingsley. We filmed all around Ggaba Fish Market by the Lake Victoria. It was magical.