{"id":128524,"date":"2024-04-18T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?post_type=pamlongform&#038;p=128524"},"modified":"2024-04-18T14:21:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T12:21:05","slug":"off-the-map-dj-decimal-ug","status":"publish","type":"pamlongform","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/stories\/off-the-map-dj-decimal-ug\/","title":{"rendered":"DJ Decimal Point, one man rave in Kampala"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section data-title=\"\" data-scoll-target=\"longform-section-block_f7c36cc1e7a5ac55cdef3e7a77980755\" id=\"longform-section-block_f7c36cc1e7a5ac55cdef3e7a77980755\" class=\"section w-full relative grid  longform-section has-black-background-color \" style=\"\">\n    <!-- Pinned wrapper here -->\n        <div class=\"pinned-wrapper pointer-events-none\">\n        <div class=\"pinned h-screen w-full \">\n            <div class=\"h-screen w-full longform-section has-black-background-color\" style=\"\">\n                <div class=\"w-full h-full h-screen w-screen left-0\"><\/div>                <div class=\"desktop fadedImagesWrapper \"><\/div>\n                <div class=\"mobile fadedImagesWrapper\"><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <!-- Content wrapper here -->\n    <div class=\"relative z-10 single-column max-w-pam mx-auto\">\n        <div class=\"innercontent \">\n            \n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignfull is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Decimal Point UG, one-man rave \u00e0 Kampala\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q7kXwseq4hk?feature=oembed&#038;autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color has-x-large-font-size wp-elements-58bb4eec6a0676d89b1d89f5f53b88a2\">DJ Decimal Point, one-man rave in Kampala<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-72fdfe77e4aa541e52646d93c272c550\">Director Marion Desmaret shares the story of Uganda&#8217;s DJ Decimal in the latest episode of our Off the Map documentary series that explores this captivating street performer&#8217;s early hardship, industrious creativity, and superstar persona.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n\n<section data-title=\"\" data-scoll-target=\"longform-section-block_f7c36cc1e7a5ac55cdef3e7a77980755\" id=\"longform-section-block_f7c36cc1e7a5ac55cdef3e7a77980755\" class=\"section w-full relative grid  longform-section has-black-background-color \" style=\"\">\n    <!-- Pinned wrapper here -->\n        <div class=\"pinned-wrapper pointer-events-none\">\n        <div class=\"pinned h-screen w-full \">\n            <div class=\"h-screen w-full longform-section has-black-background-color\" style=\"\">\n                <div class=\"w-full h-full h-screen w-screen left-0\"><\/div>                <div class=\"desktop fadedImagesWrapper \"><\/div>\n                <div class=\"mobile fadedImagesWrapper\"><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n    <!-- Content wrapper here -->\n    <div class=\"relative z-10 single-column max-w-pam mx-auto\">\n        <div class=\"innercontent \">\n            \n<div class=\"has-link-color has-text-color has-white-color wp-block-post-author-name wp-elements-0afed41d702f51668f17d14dbade251f\">Pan African Music<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"has-text-align-left has-link-color has-text-color has-white-color wp-block-post-date wp-elements-ce12f2492db037ec27f40fb74cd394ee\"><time datetime=\"2024-04-18T11:00:00+02:00\">18 April 2024<\/time><\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-991cdc5069af40fa4d1c49e98bdc1d3a\">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\u2019s \u201calways on point,\u201d 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\u2019t 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.&#8221;<em>Before I wanted to be a lawyer,<\/em>&#8221; Decimal says in the short film, &#8220;<em>now I want to be a superstar.<\/em>&#8221; In Kampala and online, Decimal has already reached a form of superstardom. Those in the street adore this &#8220;one-man rave&#8221;, and followers online bombard Decimal with calls and messages of love and support. But life still isn&#8217;t easy. \u201cBefore I wanted to be a lawyer,\u201d Decimal says in the short film, \u201cnow I want to be a superstar.\u201d In Kampala and online, Decimal has already reached a form of superstardom. Those in the street adore this \u201cone-man rave\u201d, and followers online bombard Decimal with calls and messages of love and support. But life still isn\u2019t easy. Even with millions of fans, it\u2019s 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/gofund.me\/cc7438ed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">donate here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-01239671e5f3f4450c8020db572b78cb\">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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f9680ab52b0abac33ef187a57df66e04\"><strong>How do people react when Decimal plays in the street?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-29eea2fb6651a4d16ea746f200c4dace\">When he plays in the streets of Kampala, it&#8217;s always a big event. It\u2019s like time stands still. People can\u2019t 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-4af68ad78de0b050dc7671ebb3d2b4e9\"><strong>How did you discover DJ Decimal?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-32893dacbd3ffe988d4250395c273c50\">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&#8217;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&#8217;t an easy task for him at all. For weeks, Decimal wouldn&#8217;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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-abbe48f64004d1f80683796e04025555\"><strong>What kind of music is he playing?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-fabc08f01752016f35a1b61e2358ff04\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-4a6c13ec9870d5e188d0d03d0aef14e4\"><strong>What&#8217;s DJ Decimeal&#8217;s personality like?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-e53a0dcc0f5fbf97184f317f02266b72\">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&#8217;s also a joker, and his humor and kindness make everyone fall in love with him. Wherever he goes, DJ Decimal is everyone&#8217;s darling.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-039672ca19f999683fa08c0b2a742913\"><strong>What&#8217;s the energy of Kampala like?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-af59f7fb136f0d7a42ff9afdc00b239c\">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&#8230; When I\u2019m there, I have the feeling that anything can happen, everything is possible and you can be surprised at every corner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-1e746fca7c9226790f687167fe9f90d7\">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 \u201cThe Tin Can Man\u201d, with performers Meme and Kingsley. We filmed all around Ggaba Fish Market by the Lake Victoria. It was magical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Director Marion Desmaret shares the story of Uganda&#8217;s DJ Decimal in the latest episode of our Off the Map documentary series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":128545,"template":"","categories":[9402,9403],"tags":[23843],"yst_prominent_words":[8447,8543],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pamlongform\/128524"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pamlongform"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/pamlongform"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128524"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=128524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}