Chagga jumps off Chameleone’s grip
Apr 14, 2005
Singer Chagga does not need introduction except for those, who
By Joseph Batte
Singer Chagga does not need introduction except for those, who are still new in the city. He is the fat-cheeked chap with an enchanting soulful voice who has been featuring on Jose Chameleone’s hit albums.
Chameleone fondly chanted his name, Chagga Chagga Yo! Though the pair has recorded albums, including Dorotia and Bei Kali together, naturally they are two independent performers. Chameleone is a good songwriter with an infectious raw singing style and has a knack for crafting hits. Likewise, Chagga is a talented songwriter, who can hold his own among the top crooners in the country as he proved with Yono, which featured on Bei Kali and Nkoye Omukwano on Mambo Bado.
What puzzled many was why he could not release his own solo project. But that missing puzzle is no more. It is in form of his own album titled Birungi, which was released last week by Kasiwukira Ltd on Ben Kiwanuka Street.
It is a listenable recording and has songs flowing easily in an eclectic mix of lovers rock reggae and Afro pop. It is a good example of the power simplicity in songwriting. This album gets off to a hot start with the title track Birungi, which is guaranteed to pump your adrenalin to high levels.
On Jangu Eno Maama, Chagga stays within his singing strength and Leone trademark style, familiar riffs, heavy bass and simple three-chord patterns with minimal lyrics laid over them. Put four stars on David Mukalazi-produced reggae track, Sirina Musango. His vocals flow best on this goodie and proves he is adept at singing love songs as well as social anthems.
This track tackles the issue of treachery.
A close friend he helped cross the bridge turned his back on him and tried to destroy his name! There is enough quality material on Birungi to please fans of Ugandan dance music. Radio Simba are among those ardent fans.
They recently pinched snippets of Jangu Eno Maama to power their promotional drive in the airwaves battle because it is high on the bounce metre. He also keeps the flow with Nesiga gwe, while a new kid on the block called Moze, keeps the fire burning with Tujja kuba ffembi’.
Chagga’s singing styles shows that he has mastered two styles, the soulful and the hoarse guttural deliveries that make him sound like McGregor and Chameleone all rolled into a bundle.
Birungi glistens with those trademark hooks, simplistic catchy beats and chord progressions that have come to be associated with Chameleone’s Leone Island camp, which proves he has not severed musical ties with Chameleone. However, that does not ruin the album at all. He admits the intention was to employ that earth-shattering formula that Chameloene used to storm the charts in East Africa. Chagga (Geoffrey Kyagambidwa), was born 24 years ago to the late Godfrey Kyagambidwa and Pastor Rosette Miti of Bulange Christian Fellowship Church.
He started singing at Namirembe Cathedral Choir, which he joined as a soprano in 1989. “In 1994, I joined Light College Katikamu. That is where I started singing secular music.
There, I found inspiration through listening to Jamaican reggae greats like Luciano and Freddie McGregor,†Chagga adds. After fine-tuning his voice, he needed an artistic name for his music career.
He shortened Kyagambidwa to Chagga. “Later, I formed a group called Extra Grim with Isaac Omwana, who now lives in Germany and Michael Chris Kyemwa, a Gospel artiste based in the UK. We were the kid group that used to curtain raise for Shanks Vivie Dee. When my colleagues left, I joined a hip-hop group called Bataka Underground, but hip-hop was not my style of music.
Chameleone noticed him for his good singing in 2000 and went with him to him to Ogopa DJ studio in Nairobi to help sing backup vocals on his tracks. “Since then, we have been working together and sharing ideas on song writing,†Chagga adds.
In 2003, he wrote Yono, which turned out to be one of the standout tracks on Chameleone’s Bei Kali. Last year, he contributed Nkoye Omukwano on Mambo Bado.
“By then, I used one boat with Chameleone to go fishing. But I have been forced to get my own boat. That is why I had to go solo. They used to introduce only Chameleone, but now they also mention Chagga as artiste in his own right. “I’m grateful to Chameleone for giving me a ride on his back.
The only for me to succeed was by riding on someone big like him,†Chagga says.
Singer Chagga does not need introduction except for those, who are still new in the city. He is the fat-cheeked chap with an enchanting soulful voice who has been featuring on Jose Chameleone’s hit albums.
Chameleone fondly chanted his name, Chagga Chagga Yo! Though the pair has recorded albums, including Dorotia and Bei Kali together, naturally they are two independent performers. Chameleone is a good songwriter with an infectious raw singing style and has a knack for crafting hits. Likewise, Chagga is a talented songwriter, who can hold his own among the top crooners in the country as he proved with Yono, which featured on Bei Kali and Nkoye Omukwano on Mambo Bado.
What puzzled many was why he could not release his own solo project. But that missing puzzle is no more. It is in form of his own album titled Birungi, which was released last week by Kasiwukira Ltd on Ben Kiwanuka Street.
It is a listenable recording and has songs flowing easily in an eclectic mix of lovers rock reggae and Afro pop. It is a good example of the power simplicity in songwriting. This album gets off to a hot start with the title track Birungi, which is guaranteed to pump your adrenalin to high levels.
On Jangu Eno Maama, Chagga stays within his singing strength and Leone trademark style, familiar riffs, heavy bass and simple three-chord patterns with minimal lyrics laid over them. Put four stars on David Mukalazi-produced reggae track, Sirina Musango. His vocals flow best on this goodie and proves he is adept at singing love songs as well as social anthems.
This track tackles the issue of treachery.
A close friend he helped cross the bridge turned his back on him and tried to destroy his name! There is enough quality material on Birungi to please fans of Ugandan dance music. Radio Simba are among those ardent fans.
They recently pinched snippets of Jangu Eno Maama to power their promotional drive in the airwaves battle because it is high on the bounce metre. He also keeps the flow with Nesiga gwe, while a new kid on the block called Moze, keeps the fire burning with Tujja kuba ffembi’.
Chagga’s singing styles shows that he has mastered two styles, the soulful and the hoarse guttural deliveries that make him sound like McGregor and Chameleone all rolled into a bundle.
Birungi glistens with those trademark hooks, simplistic catchy beats and chord progressions that have come to be associated with Chameleone’s Leone Island camp, which proves he has not severed musical ties with Chameleone. However, that does not ruin the album at all. He admits the intention was to employ that earth-shattering formula that Chameloene used to storm the charts in East Africa. Chagga (Geoffrey Kyagambidwa), was born 24 years ago to the late Godfrey Kyagambidwa and Pastor Rosette Miti of Bulange Christian Fellowship Church.
He started singing at Namirembe Cathedral Choir, which he joined as a soprano in 1989. “In 1994, I joined Light College Katikamu. That is where I started singing secular music.
There, I found inspiration through listening to Jamaican reggae greats like Luciano and Freddie McGregor,†Chagga adds. After fine-tuning his voice, he needed an artistic name for his music career.
He shortened Kyagambidwa to Chagga. “Later, I formed a group called Extra Grim with Isaac Omwana, who now lives in Germany and Michael Chris Kyemwa, a Gospel artiste based in the UK. We were the kid group that used to curtain raise for Shanks Vivie Dee. When my colleagues left, I joined a hip-hop group called Bataka Underground, but hip-hop was not my style of music.
Chameleone noticed him for his good singing in 2000 and went with him to him to Ogopa DJ studio in Nairobi to help sing backup vocals on his tracks. “Since then, we have been working together and sharing ideas on song writing,†Chagga adds.
In 2003, he wrote Yono, which turned out to be one of the standout tracks on Chameleone’s Bei Kali. Last year, he contributed Nkoye Omukwano on Mambo Bado.
“By then, I used one boat with Chameleone to go fishing. But I have been forced to get my own boat. That is why I had to go solo. They used to introduce only Chameleone, but now they also mention Chagga as artiste in his own right. “I’m grateful to Chameleone for giving me a ride on his back.
The only for me to succeed was by riding on someone big like him,†Chagga says.