Music Review - Wansigalamu (Byansi) - Crysto Panda & Lutty Neika & Pawaboy AB

Crysto Panda is one of those artistes that seems to somehow stay off my radar.

He only gets my attention when the algorithm shoves the content from the radio station he works at onto my timeline or when he has a viral moment (he seems to be prone to those, often accidentally). I last really paid attention when he released Bino Byebiluma Abayaye and had the nation in the palm of his hand, but that really was a while back. Crysto Panda is proof that you can milk a viral hit into a career successfully.

He teams up with Lutty Neika, a fellow with an equally colourful profile. Lutty is a Ugandan dancehall, R&B, and Afropop artist, songwriter, and tattoo artist (seriously) that had a potential future as an imam until he decided on a career in music, against the vehement objections of his family. Born Hamza Mwanje and raised in Kabowa, Kampala, in a strict Muslim family, you can probably imagine how vehement that objection was.

And Pawaboy AB? (Who gives these people these names?) Oh, his profile gives the usual generalisations for emerging artistes… ‘Pawaboy AB, real name Kasule Abdulrashid, is a recording artist from Kampala with several styles like Afro pop, R&B, and hip hop.' His bio also makes the somewhat bold claim that he has dropped a couple of ‘chart-topping hits’ like Yoono, Yandalula, and Nalokinga, without pointing out which charts these were that happened to get anonymously topped.

Wansigalamu (Byansi) appears to be the sort of collaboration where everyone pools their resources together and then tries to ride the somewhat higher profile of Crysto Panda. Lutty Neika and Pawaboy provide most of the vocalising, while Crysto Panda ad-libs his way through the verses before dropping what someone might refer to as an interlude rap.

The way this track is marketed, you would think it is Crysto Panda featuring the other two lads, but truth be told, it is actually structured as Lutty and Pawaboy (this name is painful to type), giving Crysto Panda a cameo of sorts.

Panda is very much a dominant personality and comes to the fore of this track. His ad-libs and ‘rap’ cameo give the track personality and some much-needed oomph. Pawaboy is possibly the person that might be the weakest link in this particular chain. He is something of a background character.

It is Lutty Neika whose plaintive vocals genuinely standout. It is going to be interesting to watch this particular career pan out. The lad has some distinctive pipes on him, but his is the sort of voice that works best in tandem with another, which is possibly why he teamed up with Panda’s guttural delivery on this.

The next steps for Lutty will be important in deciding where he takes those syrupy vocals of his, but you cannot ignore the potential of his talent. More importantly, he needs to stop marketing this as a Crysto Panda joint. And it is a decent joint, with the production from NEISSIM Productions delivering a mellow Afro-beat track that works as comfy, bop-your-head music.