Kohen Jaycee

Born Mwesigwa Cohen Jaycee and raised the eldest of four children across Kamwokya, Ntinda, and Namugongo, Kohen Jaycee grew up in a house where music already lived — his mother sang, and by his own account she's the reason he chased it professionally: "Music has been a part of my life for the longest time. My mom inspired me to do it." In school he did poetry and acoustic sets under the mentorship of Ugandan poet Kagayi Peter, then built his first real following the unglamorous way — posting acoustic covers on social media before he had a single original out.

Kohen Jaycee works in contemporary urban R&B built around acoustic guitar, layering it with the rhythms of Ugandan and wider African pop to get what he calls an Afro-Urban sound. It's a register built for intimacy over spectacle — mid-tempo, vocal-forward, closer to a stripped studio session than a club record. That approach carried him through three independent EPs before he'd signed to anyone.

In November 2019 he self-released his debut EP Wena on his own label, Ninyowe Music Africa — and it went to No. 1 on Spotify Uganda's Top Albums chart, the first time an independent Ugandan release had done it. He followed with Wena Chapter 2 (2021), pulling in Baru, Ridym, and Axon, then Heartstrings (2022), built around a full collaborative run with producer Axon, and his most recent full body of work, Rwebembera: The Raising Echoes (August 30, 2024), still under Ninyowe Music Africa. His actual most current release is the single "Bo Wange," out May 1, 2026 through Villaggio Media — a move into Afrobeat/Amapiano rhythm that's a genuine stylistic step outside his R&B base.

"Not Letting Go" remains his best-known record, alongside "Siganye," "Eva," and "Ndi Naawe." In 2023 he crossed into hip-hop circles too, winning Best Rap Fusion Song at the UG Hip Hop Awards for "Ebyange," a feature on Lukas Blacc's debut album Birth of Blacc Vibes. Five years and four projects into a career he started with cover songs, Kohen Jaycee is still releasing — most recently stepping outside Ninyowe Music Africa to put "Bo Wange" out through Villaggio Media in 2026.