Whether it’s her inherent talent or her skillful use of razor-sharp wordplay and voice to deliver compelling tracks, Tai Dai isn’t rushing to stardom. Instead, she’s allowing her songs to move and build momentum organically—a decision that has since started paying off.
The Ugandan-Jamaican genre-bending rapper, singer, and songwriter is actively rewriting the rules of East African music. Following the success of her chart-topping hit ‘Thursday’, she has solidified her place as one of the region’s most exciting talents. Her fearless creativity knows no bounds.
Thursday’s virality all begun with Tai Dai linking up with Kaboo in January 2024. Even at the instrumental stage, the track already excited fans, who praised it for sounding so promising, even without vocals.
Collaborating with Soundlyk BB, this track expertly blends alternate music elements with rap, creating the bona fide hit that is ‘Thursday’. Its pleasing sound easily sets the tone for the weekend. Kaboo’s employment of bouncy synths, coupled with Tai Dai’s reference to Nile Special (commonly referred to as Nilo) in the song, significantly enabled song’s virability and success.
As her biggest work to date, Thursday’s success didn’t make Tai Dai miss the train or waste the opportunity to capture her audience. Declining to stay in her comfort zone, she went on to collaborate extensively with peers like Lagum the Rapper, GrG, Ninja C, mwami, and most recently with Sente, creating highly acclaimed tracks.
As she establishes herself into the music industry, Tai is consistently playing the long game, performing on stage, her biggest being the Nyege Nyege Festival mainstage last year, d the song and finally released it in December. She has also performed at platforms including Sofar Kampala, Livescape, and Xpressions UG, to mention but a few.
The richly sonic sounding singer opened May with a number titled ‘Outside Shoes’. On it, Tai Dai brings her unique flow to an already exciting beat. Backed by her signature laid-back cadence, she invites us into her world, offering a glimpse of her life in Kampala City. Additionally, the track’s artwork was created to showcase Tai Dai’s sonic brushstrokes with a surrealist twist thereby solidifying his status as a rising star with a distinctive sound, eye to detail and message, many should look out for.
Stream ‘Outside Shoes’, out now on all music listening and downloading platforms here:
