Ragga Dee Bringing on the Noise

Nov 15, 2007

HE has sung about being a simple man with a simple profile. Meet him and you know that those words drawn from his song <i>Nsaba Onyanjule</i> are a mere figment of his imagination. Daniel Kyeyune Kazibwe a.k.a Ragga Dee is “Big Size” in Kampala speak.

By Alex Balimwikungu

HE has sung about being a simple man with a simple profile. Meet him and you know that those words drawn from his song Nsaba Onyanjule are a mere figment of his imagination. Daniel Kyeyune Kazibwe a.k.a Ragga Dee is “Big Size” in Kampala speak.

A few minutes with Ragga Dee and I discovered that behind the shy demeanour and languid gaze is a strong and focused musician who has set his energies to get to the top.

That he is Uganda’s main act at the Bring the Noise concert comes as little surprise to him. “I am someone who does not look at things that set me back but rather those that are vital in boosting my prospects. I am a versatile artist whose music genre is ‘everything’.

I do reggae, ragga, soukous, kwaito, and the bongo flava. I fuse ideas from music around the world to make a sound suitable for all ears. I am the best at fusion music in Uganda; which is why I was the natural choice at the Bring the Noise concerts” he brags.

For someone who started out as a D.J in Angenoir discotheque, blubbering anything into a microphone; having 18 albums in his 20-year music career thus far, is worth the sweat.

He, however, has one ‘regret’ — the time he wasted badgering teachers at St Henry Kitovu to help him with math calculations to nurture his engineering dream in O’level.

“I apologise to all those time I wasted trying to learn Mathematics. My calling was in music and I have no regret,” he says nonchalantly.

The 34-year-old artiste is one of the pioneers of contemporary Ugandan music and was the first to rap in Luganda.

His entry onto the music scene was hard. It was at the time when the Congolese were on top of the game. “We were hardly given any audience,” Ragga Dee recalls. So, he took the Congolese Lingala beats, spiced it up with ragga and came up with what is now popularly called Afro-beat.

“That kicked the Congolese out,” explains Ragga Dee.
He released his first album, Mukwano in 1991, which was hardly noticed.
His 1992 hit, Bamusakata, a simple song is what made Ugandans recognise his talent.

It is a success that came with troubles. Rumours were three-pronged. Some claimed that it was Shanks Vivi Dee’s song, others thought it was the late Menton Summer’s while some took it to be Mola Messe’s.

He followed Bamusakata with Motherland in 1993. In 1994, he only sang about four songs with Da Hommies.
In 1995, he bounced back with the Mukyala Jump Around album.
Ragga Dee’s second coming was in 1999; the year that he became a household name with the Carry On album.

He quickly followed it up with Cissy in 2000. His attempt at a masters’ degree in UK didn’t bear any academic fruits and he ended up in business.

Another two years off the musical scene produced, Empetta in 2002, Mbawe (2003) and Ndigida (2004).
To Ragga Dee, timing is important if you are to sell big. That is why he did not release an album in 2005 although he had very many songs.

“It just was not ripe at the time when so many had got onto the bandwagon of launching albums. I needed to be more creative as times were changing,” he explains.

And after a lot of ground work, we got Letter O last year and now he recently unleashed Calypso.
Worried he never bagged any accolade at the recent PAM awards? Is he waning?

“I am just getting stronger.” Many have come and gone, yet Ragga Dee has managed to stay around for this long. He is optimistic that even when he retires from the stage, all his songs will still play as golden oldies.

Ragga Dee’s business acumen sets him apart from other artistes. He has since acquired a Business Administration degree, solely for purposes of ‘negotiating good concert payments as well as endorsements.’

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