South Sudanese rapper Lual, known for his deep baritone voice and powerful lyrics – has spoken out about why he took a four-year break from the music industry.
The rap legend whose real name is Lual Maker Dawol vanished from the music scene in 2019 due to personal issues and what he terms as exploitation from promoters.
According to him, another major reason that frustrated his pursuit of music is the lack of right to intellectual property – which allows artistes to make money from their music.
“If we have copyright. It is the only way to protect South Sudanese music,” he said on Eye Radio’s Soundtrack Show.
“Also, everything has gone digital now and we don’t have access to it like PayPal and a lot of banks who’s swift code with neighboring countries like in Uganda or Nairobi.”
“So, it becomes hard to make music lucrative for them in South Sudan so those are the things that need to be establish so we can get something from our efforts.
Lual said when he visited Mozambique – a southern African nation, he was disappointed to see the gap in standard of living between musicians in that country and those back home.
“I was discouraged when I went to Mozambique and saw how the artists in Mozambique are living in mansions and here in South Sudan the artist is rent tukul,” he said.
“It’s really discouraging because these artists we can actually compete with them continently and to see the way they live compared to us its really discouraging according to me.”
The rapper also opened about having passed through personal difficulties after losing his father and grandmother in the same year.
Lual also said the South Sudan music industry is divided and poor payment from music promoters who are the main source of musicians’ income.
“People should not exploit artistes the way they are doing now. Promoters only come around when you have a hit song and the management, and they try to restrict you, and only wants to manage you when you are already established.”
However, Lual said he is back to the music industry with the release of “A Million” which he did in collaboration with Kenya Ambasa Mandela and two other songs.
Lual started music in 1996 and erupted to stardom when he collaborated with legendary musician Emmanuel kembe in the popular hit “comrade” in 2001.
Raised in the United States, Lual is one of South Sudan’s most popular rappers. He returned to South Sudan in 2009 in hopes of helping the country grow.
In 2016, VOA reported that Lual’s most popular songs, “Dowla Jadit,” was banned from playing on local radio stations by the government.
In the song, Lual criticizes local officials who he says always reply, “We are a new nation,” as an excuse for the lack of public services like water and electricity.
