With a following of more than 570,000 and 7.7 million likes on Tik Tok, Aziz Kayihura, who goes by the moniker Shirtless Boss, is a force to reckon with on the streets of Kampala.

He is a deejay and talent promoter from Uganda known for promoting music talents from the ghetto and is also associated with the “ghetto talent search”.

His niche is interviewing people from the ghettos, freestyling on different instrumentals under the name Eno Nkambwe on Tik Tok.

Joining Tik Tok

Kayihura used to work downtown and used to see many people watching videos. Thinking to himself how he could also be the one people are watching, he gathered his friends who he used as a case study. “In 2020, I gathered some of my friends, asked them if they would be okay if we filmed them expressing themselves and they accepted. We started it as a joke but it kept on growing and this surprised us. This marked the beginning of my life on Tik Tok.

Creating a brand

Kayihura wanted something unique. He wanted something that stood out and having come from the ghettos of Kampala, being shirtless was what came to his mind.

“People might see it as being abnormal but it represents something big. I represent the ghetto people. The people who are always ignored and if you notice, they are the people I am always hanging out with. So being shirtless shows that we don’t have anything,” Kayihura explained.

Asked whether this is the perfect representation of the ghetto people, he said besides being homeless, lacking basic needs and using drugs, not having clothes or poor dressing is the other aspect and that is how he chose to represent his people. It is with this brand that he has also been able get an endorsement deal with Premier Distilleries as their ambassador.

“Because my work involves dealing with local people, they found me as the perfect person to promote their Bikole Masavu promotion, which I have done for three months now. If it wasn’t for my shirtless brand, I doubt they would have approached me.”

Why the ghettos