WINE: "My name is his Excellency, Bobi Wine... Basically, in Uganda, I'm the president of the ghetto. I'm a poor peoples ambassador of the world. The reigning artist in Uganda."

Bobi Wine and producer Anna Sussman

Bobi wine and his small crew of musicians gather in a cramped courtyard in the Kamwokya slum of Kampala. It's a maze of crumbling concrete walls, sagging mud huts and open sewers.

It smells like marijuana and urine.

WINE: "We're in Kamwokya, it's one of the worst ghettos in Uganda, if not in east Africa. There's so much crime down here."

Bobi Wine grew up here in Kamwokya. He was one of 10 children raised by a single mother. He says his family struggled to eat. As a teenager, he would sneak out of his house to sing for money. Now Bobi Wine is Uganda's premier pop artist. But he still spends his days here in the slum. It's where he's based his recording company.

WINE: "I identify with my roots, with the ghetto people and where I come from.... I've tried to talk to them and show them that there's no crime that will take you where you want to be."

Bobi Wine has his roots in reggae and afro-beat, which dominate Kampala's dance halls. He says he's popular here because he sings about the daily struggles of living in slums, something he knows first hand.

WINE: "I realize I have to sing what people need, not what people want. Here in Africa, it's a different story altogether."

This song is called Ghetto. He says its about the government destruction of houses in Kamwokya in preparation for an upcoming visit by the British Queen.

WINE: "These were the lyrics: you come smiling to the ghetto. You ask for votes from us who live in the ghetto...then after voting, you disrespect the ghetto, you demolish the ghetto."

Bobi Wine songs drift out of market stalls and hair salons In Kamwokya. A crowd of kids gathers outside a shop to watch one of his videos on TV.

Wine and his Firebase Crew perform throughout Uganda. Next month he plans a brief tour in the US. Bobi Wine says he hopes his music crosses economic and cultural boundaries.

WINE: "I don't think I have a challenge. I think music comes to people. Those who will appreciate it, do. I would say god bless America, but god bless Africa more."