If you were lucky enough to be at Marvel Stadium last Thursday, then you would have enjoyed Ugandan artist Emmanuel Kusaasira Edwin cover of ‘See the Bombers Fly Up’ after Essendon’s sensational comeback victory over GWS.

Better known by his stage name Coopy Bly, Kusaasira Edwin has become well known in red and black circles for his unique version of the club song and he was a very special guest at the game on Thursday.

The famous artist said it was an honour to share his song and video – featuring some of the young beneficiaries of his NGO in Ugandan capital Kampala – in front of thousands of fans at one of the Bombers’ homes.

“I’m so excited, I can’t explain it. I’m feeling so honoured, it’s such a big opportunity for me,” Kusaasira Edwin said before the game.

“The (kids) are going to be so excited, that’s why I’m trying to get so many pictures and videos so I can go and show them.

“They may not believe it until they see the videos and the pictures.”

Coopy Bly was thrilled to be part of the entertainment at Marvel Stadium. 

Speaking after touring The Hangar earlier in the week, Kusaasira Edwin said he is now a “big fan” of the Bombers and fellow fans can thank Essendon diehard David Efron.

“We had a group of rotarians come over to check on the work that we do down in Uganda.

“We run a music mentorship, so (David) came by the studio and we were showing him around and how everything goes on, how we record the music and everything.

“I asked him to try out and sing something and the only thing that would come into his mind was the Essendon theme song.

“I didn’t know he was such a big fan, so I kept asking him to do another take and he kept singing the same song all the time.”

That was when Kusaasira Edwin decided to put his own spin on the song, a generous gift to thank Efron for his care and time.

“I made it as a joke and I told him, ‘You know what? I will try to do you a more youthful version’.

“Once he left, I did it just as a courtesy to him. He had flown a long way to come to Uganda, so I wanted to make him feel happy.

“I got the producers, got the instrumentalists - we used lots of African local instruments, which I think gave it another beautiful touch.

“I was very blown away when it went viral.”

Before he was Coopy Bly, Kusaasira Edwin had a humble upbringing in Kampala slum Katwe, pleased to have eaten once a day without knowing about life outside of the settlement.

He says music helped him fit in at school with those more fortunate than him, allowing him to engage with people he could have never related to.

And when his music career began to grow, Kusaasira Edwin and his Australian wife Anne-Marie decided to create Yimba Uganda, an organisation through which they could use their fortunate life to assist a number of young and disadvantaged communities.

“We focus mainly on the youth, because Uganda is a country that has over 45 million people and about 72 per cent are youth and they are unemployed.

“If you empower the youth, you are empowering the whole country.”

Coopy Bly had the chance to tour The Hangar with his wife and young daughter. 

They set up music mentorships, tailoring fashion and design courses, a goat loaning scheme and menstrual hygiene programs to arm the communities with education and a chance for some of the world’s most vulnerable people to succeed.

“If the youth are employed and they have the income, then you reduce a lot of crime. Growing up in the slums, I was introduced to crime at a very young age.

“You realise that if you get them at their prime, youth have a lot of energy and time to waste, so if they use their energy and time on the right things then the whole society is better off.”

Now proudly projecting his community on the big screen at Marvel Stadium, Kusaasira Edwin was thrilled to have the opportunity to share his stories and music.

“I wasn’t even able to sleep on my way here, so I’m so excited and so honoured.”