What songs made the hit list in 2007?
Jan 03, 2008
SHOCKED, depressed, saddened and empty are some of the feelings we had last year. In fact, they are reminiscent of those we felt back in 2005 when ‘Ever-green’ Elly Wamala and Jimmy Katumba died. Before the reverberations of their passing had completely died down, in May 2007, the Ugandan entert
THE curtain has fallen on 2007. As we brace ourselves for what it 2008 will offer, Joseph Batte casts a thoughtful look at the good, bad and ugly of the local entertainment industry.
SHOCKED, depressed, saddened and empty are some of the feelings we had last year. In fact, they are reminiscent of those we felt back in 2005 when ‘Ever-green’ Elly Wamala and Jimmy Katumba died. Before the reverberations of their passing had completely died down, in May 2007, the Ugandan entertainment industry was once again shaken to its very foundations by the death of Kadongo Kamu superstar, Prince Paul Job Kafeero.
Yes, history will judge Lord Fred Sebatta as the purveyor of a sleek, high-tech brand that blended everything from rumba to reggae with Kadongo kamu elements. But the title ‘King of Kadongo kamu’ certainly belongs to Kafeero.
While Sebatta and company were grappling with concepts of western pop with the help of top-notch producers like Steve Jean and Winston Mayanja, Kafeero remained strictly a Kadongo Kamu singer. He stuck to the insistent, rhythmic pulse of Bakisimba, which is the core of Kadongo kamu, a genre of music we can rightly claim to be our own.
We shall remember Kafeero for his lyrics. He was perceptive, clever and sharp with his words. You just have to listen to the word play in his songs like Kampala mu Kooti and the dark, brooding song about death, Walumbe Zaaya.
He will also be remembered for his insatiable love for the bottle, especially crude waragi. (Everybody has his own cross to carry and for Kafeero, it was enguli and women).
Think about Uganda’s top DJ and Bangi will always stay up there with the best in the country. ‘Oldies are goodies,’ so goes the saying. Veteran Congolese singer Papa Wemba made a hit out of it. DJ Bangi lived it. On radio, he spoke with a funny, delightful English accent. The intensity of his speech made him sound like he was having a shouting match with a crazy football fan.
But in a country where radio play lists are dominated by modern pop songs, Bangi was a welcome breather. His oldies music programmes always had my ears glued to radio or TV because we knew we were in for a rare treat.
He was not only the proud owner of one of the largest collections of LPs and singles in the country, but the data about each of the songs in his collections seemed to trip off his tongue in spades.
He knew who wrote the songs and the history of the recording.
He had so much information that often times he would interrupt the flow of the songs he was playing to the chagrin of many who accused him of being too elitist.
The legendary Afrigo’s saxaphonist, Mzee Bulegeya Mansur, who also passed away last year, belonged to the ‘endangered species’ of wind instrumentalists, especially the saxophonists. (Endangered because you can count them on your fingers).
In all honesty, Afrigo band leader Moses Matovu and Isaiah Katumwa owe a lot to Mansur. Like Mansur, Matovu can play almost the whole range of saxophones from, soprano alto, alto, tenor clarinet and flutes.
South African Lucky Phillip Dube, whose father Hlatshwayo was a womaniser and drunkard, started working as a shamba boy at the age of five, before he started going to school. He worked as a houseboy till 1981. He stole his teacher’s guitar to form his first band, the Skyway Band.
The news of his death on August 11, 2007 devastated his in Uganda which he was planning to visit this month.
Ok, so 2007 was a tough year.
On the upside, Ugandan musicians went full blast and dropped a lot of music in our laps. Some of the music was good, but a lot of it does not merit any mention. Below are the hits that brought sunshine into our lives.
Track: Kaaba Mpola
Artiste: Dr Tee
His real name is Travis Kazibwe. One of the best producers who, together with US-based Tim Kizito and Steve Jean, created a new brand of Afro pop that blends reggae, calypso and rumba.
For years, Kazibwe had been crafting hits for others until mid 2007, when he slammed the speakers with Kaaba Mpola. There is a lot that makes this track one of the best for the year — common sense lyrics about not ‘washing your dirty linen in public.’ The good grooves had our heads bobbing to the beat and the track’s sticky hook and sweet melody rang in our ears.
Track: Kiwani
Artiste: Bobi Wine
I have great respect for this young artiste. This was no doubt a massive hit and certainly, one of the best hits of the year. But his music antics were deeply depressing.
The squalid impression we got was that it was his composition, yet it was not. The original version was released in 2005 by a Kisenyi slum-based group called Street Voice.
Track: Abalungi Balumya
Artiste: Bobi Wine featuring Nubian Lee
The worst music crime committed by the self-proclaimed ghetto president and turned him into kiwani, was when he lifted Lord Laro’s World News which the Trinidad and Tobago singer released in 1981.
He had the guts to claim it was a creation of his rich imagination. But his producer Tony Hauls was humble enough to admit he borrowed ‘ideas’ from World News. Nonetheless, it does not take away the hit status of Abalungi Balumya.
Track: Nakatuude
Artiste: Maddox Sematimba
I wish Ugandan artistes would borrow a leaf from this former primary school teacher. He released his second album after seven years!
And it cemented his reputation as one of the most talented singers. He has been likened to the late Philly Lutaaya. His is a self-produced album. All the instrumentation on the album was played by Maddox.
Track: Africa
Artiste: Ronald Mayinja
2007 was his year, starting with the release of Tuli Ku Bukenke. The opposition lifted the song. It is a good listen and struck a chord with the masses. However, it is not a good song melodically.
Track: Sweet Baby
Artiste: Rebecca Jingo
This bubbly young lady with a wide toothy smile, foul temper and a tongue that fires off more words than a machine gun, first made waves with Weyise Ngabwoyagala two years ago.
Her star shone bright with this proto-soukous track. The video also showed us that she dances well. I have to wonder, though, why Kato Lubwama’s booted her out of the Diamonds Production band!
Track: Kiba Kibi
Artiste: Sweet Kid and Bebe Cool
Good catchy song which is packed and edgy. It will have you shaking your booty to it. Not surprising, when two talented singers team up. Their chemistry was good. The video clip of the same song made interesting viewing.
Track: Sanyu Lyange
Artiste: Sweet Kid
This reggae song was a catchy hit. I was wondering why he had chosen to call himself a dumb name like ‘Sweet Kid.’ I realised why after listening to Sanyu Lyange and Kiba Kibi. The songs have a sweet melody.
Track: Kibaluma
Artiste: Juliana Kanyomozi
Juliana sounds angry. You cannot begrudge her the feeling. Around this time in 2006, she was in the spotlight after she failed to make the Pearl of Africa Music Awards nomination list.
The prophets of doom were in soothsaying mood. They lunged around with their verdicts, saying: “She is finished.†She answered them with her best weapon — her voice and song written by famed song writer Silver Kyagulanyi.
Track: Mazongoto
Artiste: Dr Hilderman
Ugandan musicians are spreading their wings into alien territory and coming out with words that we have never heard before. Mazongoto was one of the few. I love this track because it is up tempo, melodious and catchy, you will be singing it in your sleep.
The sounds cape stayed within the realms of dancehall — Ugandan style. The video was also good. A class full of students who look like spoiled brats being taught the dangers of sleeping on a double bed! Hilarious.
Album: The Prag’motive is to Chill Out
Artiste: Tshaka Mayanja and Pragmo Nsaiga
Mayanja, fed up with the malnutritious style of Uganda pop music, has been drifting towards other forms of music, most of which are world music oriented.
Mayanja and Nsaiga locked themselves up in a studio somewhere in Entebbe and came out with this funky and jazzy baby. The playing and packaging is beautiful. The album went in the record books as the first jazz album recording in Uganda.
Track: Oga
Artiste: Bebe Cool
He proved that stepping on tables one moment and tinting your beard do not prevent one from being a musical genius. I rate Cool as one of Uganda’s most talented singers and a live wire act, especially on stage, but I do not understand why his best hits are collaborations.
Track: Kabiri Nage
Artiste: Mesach Semakula
Musically speaking, Kabiri Nage picks up where his last recording left off. For many, there was a déjà vu feeling to it.
Track: Guli mu Gear
Artiste: Martin Angume
Angume is an example of a Jimmy Katumba. A Kakwa by tribe, he sings better than the Baganda. He breezed onto the scene with Esimbe and Ekadde Lyange.
This track came late, but I rate it as one of the best tracks of the year that got you reaching out for the repeat button on your music player. Blame it on the rumba style and the infectious rhythm guitar played by Diamond Production Band’s lead guitarist, Benjamin.
Track: Sirikyusa
Artiste: Don Balamu
Lately, some Ugandan artistes have branched into another sub-genre led by DJ Shiru. This was the closes reggaeton song and it was a beautiful rollicking number in which Balamu displays some dexterous punching of the keyboard on the computer. And not only that, he pasted some nice lyrics to it.
Track: Amagwa
Hajjati Sophie Nantongo
This, to me, was not her best melody. You cannot compare it to the beauty of Butayiga, released in 2006. But Natongo has something about her.
Track: Ensi Yaleeta
Artiste: Clever J
If riding on somebody’s back by singing exactly like them is one of the metres used to measure someone who is clever, then Clever J is such a person.
He sounds a lot like Chameleone and his musical formula (fruity loops and generated, repetitive beats) is overflowing with......(fill in the blank). Ok, he has the right to sound like Chameleone. My concern is: How many Chameleones can we have?
Album: Y’ono
Track: Iryn Namubiru
Easily one of the albums of the year, one is not short of songs to play. Iryn Namubiru’s goal last year was to make an artistic statement with an outstanding album that was both ‘gorgeous’ and ‘beautiful’ to listen to.
And she did it.
What makes Y’ono a top cut is its unexpected deepness. It boasts a vast range of textures and rhythms as it detours into zouk, proto-soukous, R&B and Afro pop.
Anyone who needs convincing that this lady can sing with a passion, needs to listen to Nsonyiwa. The entire album was full of goodies, but this is one of the tracks that stands out.
Strangely, at the end of the day, the biggest hit it spawned was the reggae-propelled Philly Lutaaya’s Empisazo. She owned the song, one would think Lutaaya wrote it for her.
Track: Philly Lutaaya Tribute
Artiste: Various artistes
To the purist out there, these artistes, many of who were born ‘yesterday’ or still wetting their beds when Lutaaya died, got these eternal songs and literally murdered them.
I guess Lutaaya, who was a renowned perfectionist, could have felt the same. But whatever your feelings, keep them to yourself. The intention was to keep Lutaaya’s memory alive and wherever he is, he must be happy too.
Track: Mukama Njagala Kumanya
Artiste: Pastor Wilson Bugembe
Arguably an award-winning effort that put him in line for the PAM and inaugural Viga Awards. If there is a song that had us swinging, it was this catchy melodious prayerful song.
Its intensity was so overwhelming it was everywhere — on radio, on the streets and could also be heard in taxis. No wonder it catapulted him into instant hit territory, both on the gospel and mainstream market.
Track: Yesu Asobola
Artiste: Judith Babirye
She has a knack for writing instant praise hits like Wambatira, Omusaayi gwa Yesu and Ekitibwa kyo Mukama. Her balmy alto voice reduces some mainstream singers into average Sundays school choristers.
Her simple praise-and-worship songs have a tendency to communicate expressive buoyancy that touches people. Musically speaking, Yesu Asobola picks up where her last project left off, in the same p raise and worship vein.
Track: Kuba Bulungi
Artiste: Jose Chameleone
Is Chameleone losing the spark that made him red-hot? That is what some critics say. A singer with as much attitude as talent, could it be that he has matured? I can sense it in this mid-tempo reggae-ish song about the virtues of working hard.
Track: Bibawo
Artiste: Kenno Musanyusa
Here is an example of what real gospel music is all about. Musanyusa is the former commercial producer of Capital Radio. On this track, he was innovative, combining secular forms of Afro-pop with religious lyrics. In my opinion, it is one of the best gospel songs that made a smooth cross-over to the mainstream.
Track: Abogezi
Artiste: Henry Tigan
He came from nowhere and took the scene by storm. He is an artiste to watch out for this year. The word on the street is that some top artistes are already sweating. This was an excellent song to kick back and relax to, put over so well with smooth singing.
Track: Kawuna
Artiste: Ron Banton
With the explosion in dancehall and Afrobeat in recent years, lovers of both styles had a swell time with this track which melded both styles effectively.
Track: Yegwe
Artiste: Haruna Mubiru
His star has been rising since he hit a jackpot with Ekitooke Kifa Nsalira. The problem is sometimes you cannot tell the difference between him and his nephew Mesach Semakula.
Track: Kisimuluzo
Artiste: Toolman
This new kid on the block dished out an edgy dancehall pummelling ragga song. It is not exactly hard core like the real thing, but it had enough twists and hooks to propel him to the top.
Track: Dodo
Artiste: Bella
She took the dancehall reggae world by storm with an entirely-digital rhythm hook. Critics say she does not possess very much in the singing department, but with the style of music she does, she does not need that.
Track: Gwogye Mukyalo
Artiste: Ragga Dee
Is he still a ragga artiste? Is he not? That is the debate currently raging on in the music circles. He does not want to be held prisoner to one style. It seems his motto is if the music grows, it is natural that you grow with it. It is what he tried to do with this proto-soukous song but despite the nice production, I still prefer Mbawe and Ndigida, which you could even sing in your sleep.
Track: ‘Olimuzimu gwa Nankya’
Artiste: Clever Claw
When you meet a Kadongo kamu singer with such a name, be afraid. This was one of the worst Kadongo kamu singing I have ever heard (about being haunted by the ghost of his late girlfriend).
Was this young dude singing or rapping? The track is boring and repetitive, but a hit all the same, after the video with clips and cheap effect which look like they were borrowed from a Nigerian movie.
Track: Yoyo
Artiste: Michael Ross
He can dance like American singer Usher Raymond, but when did he last have a hit? He had to learn, like Juliana did, that to come up with a hit song, you have to sing in a language the locals understand and can relate to.
Ross did just that with this track. It is now on the play list of ‘wedding songs.’ Watch out for him when he gets a good songwriter.
Track: Mufumbo
Artiste: Sylvia Namugenyi
This tall, shapely, young beautiful sister with a thick crop of kiwani flowing down to her shoulders, cut more than just a nice figure. She muscled her way into the already crowded market with this song which is about fending off the advances of a lustful man.
Track: Ginkese
Artiste: Qute Kaye
I love this song. Cute, just like his name. Being stabbed in the back by friend is terrible. The song provides brilliant vocals from this talented young man but, could he be over-doing it just a bit with his vocal styling? Or is it the wax in my ears?
Tune in to 94.8FM Vision Voice for a live review of hits in 2007 on the History of Music show with guests Silver Kyagulanyi and Harry Tamale again, on Saturday from 11:00am-2:00pm
SHOCKED, depressed, saddened and empty are some of the feelings we had last year. In fact, they are reminiscent of those we felt back in 2005 when ‘Ever-green’ Elly Wamala and Jimmy Katumba died. Before the reverberations of their passing had completely died down, in May 2007, the Ugandan entertainment industry was once again shaken to its very foundations by the death of Kadongo Kamu superstar, Prince Paul Job Kafeero.
Yes, history will judge Lord Fred Sebatta as the purveyor of a sleek, high-tech brand that blended everything from rumba to reggae with Kadongo kamu elements. But the title ‘King of Kadongo kamu’ certainly belongs to Kafeero.
While Sebatta and company were grappling with concepts of western pop with the help of top-notch producers like Steve Jean and Winston Mayanja, Kafeero remained strictly a Kadongo Kamu singer. He stuck to the insistent, rhythmic pulse of Bakisimba, which is the core of Kadongo kamu, a genre of music we can rightly claim to be our own.
We shall remember Kafeero for his lyrics. He was perceptive, clever and sharp with his words. You just have to listen to the word play in his songs like Kampala mu Kooti and the dark, brooding song about death, Walumbe Zaaya.
He will also be remembered for his insatiable love for the bottle, especially crude waragi. (Everybody has his own cross to carry and for Kafeero, it was enguli and women).
Think about Uganda’s top DJ and Bangi will always stay up there with the best in the country. ‘Oldies are goodies,’ so goes the saying. Veteran Congolese singer Papa Wemba made a hit out of it. DJ Bangi lived it. On radio, he spoke with a funny, delightful English accent. The intensity of his speech made him sound like he was having a shouting match with a crazy football fan.
But in a country where radio play lists are dominated by modern pop songs, Bangi was a welcome breather. His oldies music programmes always had my ears glued to radio or TV because we knew we were in for a rare treat.
He was not only the proud owner of one of the largest collections of LPs and singles in the country, but the data about each of the songs in his collections seemed to trip off his tongue in spades.
He knew who wrote the songs and the history of the recording.
He had so much information that often times he would interrupt the flow of the songs he was playing to the chagrin of many who accused him of being too elitist.
The legendary Afrigo’s saxaphonist, Mzee Bulegeya Mansur, who also passed away last year, belonged to the ‘endangered species’ of wind instrumentalists, especially the saxophonists. (Endangered because you can count them on your fingers).
In all honesty, Afrigo band leader Moses Matovu and Isaiah Katumwa owe a lot to Mansur. Like Mansur, Matovu can play almost the whole range of saxophones from, soprano alto, alto, tenor clarinet and flutes.
South African Lucky Phillip Dube, whose father Hlatshwayo was a womaniser and drunkard, started working as a shamba boy at the age of five, before he started going to school. He worked as a houseboy till 1981. He stole his teacher’s guitar to form his first band, the Skyway Band.
The news of his death on August 11, 2007 devastated his in Uganda which he was planning to visit this month.
Ok, so 2007 was a tough year.
On the upside, Ugandan musicians went full blast and dropped a lot of music in our laps. Some of the music was good, but a lot of it does not merit any mention. Below are the hits that brought sunshine into our lives.
Track: Kaaba Mpola
Artiste: Dr Tee
His real name is Travis Kazibwe. One of the best producers who, together with US-based Tim Kizito and Steve Jean, created a new brand of Afro pop that blends reggae, calypso and rumba.
For years, Kazibwe had been crafting hits for others until mid 2007, when he slammed the speakers with Kaaba Mpola. There is a lot that makes this track one of the best for the year — common sense lyrics about not ‘washing your dirty linen in public.’ The good grooves had our heads bobbing to the beat and the track’s sticky hook and sweet melody rang in our ears.
Track: Kiwani
Artiste: Bobi Wine
I have great respect for this young artiste. This was no doubt a massive hit and certainly, one of the best hits of the year. But his music antics were deeply depressing.
The squalid impression we got was that it was his composition, yet it was not. The original version was released in 2005 by a Kisenyi slum-based group called Street Voice.
Track: Abalungi Balumya
Artiste: Bobi Wine featuring Nubian Lee
The worst music crime committed by the self-proclaimed ghetto president and turned him into kiwani, was when he lifted Lord Laro’s World News which the Trinidad and Tobago singer released in 1981.
He had the guts to claim it was a creation of his rich imagination. But his producer Tony Hauls was humble enough to admit he borrowed ‘ideas’ from World News. Nonetheless, it does not take away the hit status of Abalungi Balumya.
Track: Nakatuude
Artiste: Maddox Sematimba
I wish Ugandan artistes would borrow a leaf from this former primary school teacher. He released his second album after seven years!
And it cemented his reputation as one of the most talented singers. He has been likened to the late Philly Lutaaya. His is a self-produced album. All the instrumentation on the album was played by Maddox.
Track: Africa
Artiste: Ronald Mayinja
2007 was his year, starting with the release of Tuli Ku Bukenke. The opposition lifted the song. It is a good listen and struck a chord with the masses. However, it is not a good song melodically.
Track: Sweet Baby
Artiste: Rebecca Jingo
This bubbly young lady with a wide toothy smile, foul temper and a tongue that fires off more words than a machine gun, first made waves with Weyise Ngabwoyagala two years ago.
Her star shone bright with this proto-soukous track. The video also showed us that she dances well. I have to wonder, though, why Kato Lubwama’s booted her out of the Diamonds Production band!
Track: Kiba Kibi
Artiste: Sweet Kid and Bebe Cool
Good catchy song which is packed and edgy. It will have you shaking your booty to it. Not surprising, when two talented singers team up. Their chemistry was good. The video clip of the same song made interesting viewing.
Track: Sanyu Lyange
Artiste: Sweet Kid
This reggae song was a catchy hit. I was wondering why he had chosen to call himself a dumb name like ‘Sweet Kid.’ I realised why after listening to Sanyu Lyange and Kiba Kibi. The songs have a sweet melody.
Track: Kibaluma
Artiste: Juliana Kanyomozi
Juliana sounds angry. You cannot begrudge her the feeling. Around this time in 2006, she was in the spotlight after she failed to make the Pearl of Africa Music Awards nomination list.
The prophets of doom were in soothsaying mood. They lunged around with their verdicts, saying: “She is finished.†She answered them with her best weapon — her voice and song written by famed song writer Silver Kyagulanyi.
Track: Mazongoto
Artiste: Dr Hilderman
Ugandan musicians are spreading their wings into alien territory and coming out with words that we have never heard before. Mazongoto was one of the few. I love this track because it is up tempo, melodious and catchy, you will be singing it in your sleep.
The sounds cape stayed within the realms of dancehall — Ugandan style. The video was also good. A class full of students who look like spoiled brats being taught the dangers of sleeping on a double bed! Hilarious.
Album: The Prag’motive is to Chill Out
Artiste: Tshaka Mayanja and Pragmo Nsaiga
Mayanja, fed up with the malnutritious style of Uganda pop music, has been drifting towards other forms of music, most of which are world music oriented.
Mayanja and Nsaiga locked themselves up in a studio somewhere in Entebbe and came out with this funky and jazzy baby. The playing and packaging is beautiful. The album went in the record books as the first jazz album recording in Uganda.
Track: Oga
Artiste: Bebe Cool
He proved that stepping on tables one moment and tinting your beard do not prevent one from being a musical genius. I rate Cool as one of Uganda’s most talented singers and a live wire act, especially on stage, but I do not understand why his best hits are collaborations.
Track: Kabiri Nage
Artiste: Mesach Semakula
Musically speaking, Kabiri Nage picks up where his last recording left off. For many, there was a déjà vu feeling to it.
Track: Guli mu Gear
Artiste: Martin Angume
Angume is an example of a Jimmy Katumba. A Kakwa by tribe, he sings better than the Baganda. He breezed onto the scene with Esimbe and Ekadde Lyange.
This track came late, but I rate it as one of the best tracks of the year that got you reaching out for the repeat button on your music player. Blame it on the rumba style and the infectious rhythm guitar played by Diamond Production Band’s lead guitarist, Benjamin.
Track: Sirikyusa
Artiste: Don Balamu
Lately, some Ugandan artistes have branched into another sub-genre led by DJ Shiru. This was the closes reggaeton song and it was a beautiful rollicking number in which Balamu displays some dexterous punching of the keyboard on the computer. And not only that, he pasted some nice lyrics to it.
Track: Amagwa
Hajjati Sophie Nantongo
This, to me, was not her best melody. You cannot compare it to the beauty of Butayiga, released in 2006. But Natongo has something about her.
Track: Ensi Yaleeta
Artiste: Clever J
If riding on somebody’s back by singing exactly like them is one of the metres used to measure someone who is clever, then Clever J is such a person.
He sounds a lot like Chameleone and his musical formula (fruity loops and generated, repetitive beats) is overflowing with......(fill in the blank). Ok, he has the right to sound like Chameleone. My concern is: How many Chameleones can we have?
Album: Y’ono
Track: Iryn Namubiru
Easily one of the albums of the year, one is not short of songs to play. Iryn Namubiru’s goal last year was to make an artistic statement with an outstanding album that was both ‘gorgeous’ and ‘beautiful’ to listen to.
And she did it.
What makes Y’ono a top cut is its unexpected deepness. It boasts a vast range of textures and rhythms as it detours into zouk, proto-soukous, R&B and Afro pop.
Anyone who needs convincing that this lady can sing with a passion, needs to listen to Nsonyiwa. The entire album was full of goodies, but this is one of the tracks that stands out.
Strangely, at the end of the day, the biggest hit it spawned was the reggae-propelled Philly Lutaaya’s Empisazo. She owned the song, one would think Lutaaya wrote it for her.
Track: Philly Lutaaya Tribute
Artiste: Various artistes
To the purist out there, these artistes, many of who were born ‘yesterday’ or still wetting their beds when Lutaaya died, got these eternal songs and literally murdered them.
I guess Lutaaya, who was a renowned perfectionist, could have felt the same. But whatever your feelings, keep them to yourself. The intention was to keep Lutaaya’s memory alive and wherever he is, he must be happy too.
Track: Mukama Njagala Kumanya
Artiste: Pastor Wilson Bugembe
Arguably an award-winning effort that put him in line for the PAM and inaugural Viga Awards. If there is a song that had us swinging, it was this catchy melodious prayerful song.
Its intensity was so overwhelming it was everywhere — on radio, on the streets and could also be heard in taxis. No wonder it catapulted him into instant hit territory, both on the gospel and mainstream market.
Track: Yesu Asobola
Artiste: Judith Babirye
She has a knack for writing instant praise hits like Wambatira, Omusaayi gwa Yesu and Ekitibwa kyo Mukama. Her balmy alto voice reduces some mainstream singers into average Sundays school choristers.
Her simple praise-and-worship songs have a tendency to communicate expressive buoyancy that touches people. Musically speaking, Yesu Asobola picks up where her last project left off, in the same p raise and worship vein.
Track: Kuba Bulungi
Artiste: Jose Chameleone
Is Chameleone losing the spark that made him red-hot? That is what some critics say. A singer with as much attitude as talent, could it be that he has matured? I can sense it in this mid-tempo reggae-ish song about the virtues of working hard.
Track: Bibawo
Artiste: Kenno Musanyusa
Here is an example of what real gospel music is all about. Musanyusa is the former commercial producer of Capital Radio. On this track, he was innovative, combining secular forms of Afro-pop with religious lyrics. In my opinion, it is one of the best gospel songs that made a smooth cross-over to the mainstream.
Track: Abogezi
Artiste: Henry Tigan
He came from nowhere and took the scene by storm. He is an artiste to watch out for this year. The word on the street is that some top artistes are already sweating. This was an excellent song to kick back and relax to, put over so well with smooth singing.
Track: Kawuna
Artiste: Ron Banton
With the explosion in dancehall and Afrobeat in recent years, lovers of both styles had a swell time with this track which melded both styles effectively.
Track: Yegwe
Artiste: Haruna Mubiru
His star has been rising since he hit a jackpot with Ekitooke Kifa Nsalira. The problem is sometimes you cannot tell the difference between him and his nephew Mesach Semakula.
Track: Kisimuluzo
Artiste: Toolman
This new kid on the block dished out an edgy dancehall pummelling ragga song. It is not exactly hard core like the real thing, but it had enough twists and hooks to propel him to the top.
Track: Dodo
Artiste: Bella
She took the dancehall reggae world by storm with an entirely-digital rhythm hook. Critics say she does not possess very much in the singing department, but with the style of music she does, she does not need that.
Track: Gwogye Mukyalo
Artiste: Ragga Dee
Is he still a ragga artiste? Is he not? That is the debate currently raging on in the music circles. He does not want to be held prisoner to one style. It seems his motto is if the music grows, it is natural that you grow with it. It is what he tried to do with this proto-soukous song but despite the nice production, I still prefer Mbawe and Ndigida, which you could even sing in your sleep.
Track: ‘Olimuzimu gwa Nankya’
Artiste: Clever Claw
When you meet a Kadongo kamu singer with such a name, be afraid. This was one of the worst Kadongo kamu singing I have ever heard (about being haunted by the ghost of his late girlfriend).
Was this young dude singing or rapping? The track is boring and repetitive, but a hit all the same, after the video with clips and cheap effect which look like they were borrowed from a Nigerian movie.
Track: Yoyo
Artiste: Michael Ross
He can dance like American singer Usher Raymond, but when did he last have a hit? He had to learn, like Juliana did, that to come up with a hit song, you have to sing in a language the locals understand and can relate to.
Ross did just that with this track. It is now on the play list of ‘wedding songs.’ Watch out for him when he gets a good songwriter.
Track: Mufumbo
Artiste: Sylvia Namugenyi
This tall, shapely, young beautiful sister with a thick crop of kiwani flowing down to her shoulders, cut more than just a nice figure. She muscled her way into the already crowded market with this song which is about fending off the advances of a lustful man.
Track: Ginkese
Artiste: Qute Kaye
I love this song. Cute, just like his name. Being stabbed in the back by friend is terrible. The song provides brilliant vocals from this talented young man but, could he be over-doing it just a bit with his vocal styling? Or is it the wax in my ears?
Tune in to 94.8FM Vision Voice for a live review of hits in 2007 on the History of Music show with guests Silver Kyagulanyi and Harry Tamale again, on Saturday from 11:00am-2:00pm