It must have been the most competitive 12 months the
industry has faced in a long time. Forget the brawls and cat fights of
yesteryear. This was the year of real hard hustle, or "work", like
that now famous slogan coined by comedian MC Kapale.
The dawn of the year had seen us lose the precocious
singing and writing talent that was Mowzey Radio, the departed singer breathing
his last on February 1, 2018 in a bar brawl that could have been avoided.
It was a year that had started on a relatively slow note,
with many of the songs released in 2017 dominating the show. One of these was
Rema Namakula’s Banyabo, straight out of the last batch of songs written by the
departed Mowzey. It was a year that did not exactly pan out the way everybody
had anticipated.
2018 was the year of the underdog. It was the year that
saw many a second-tier musician make their mark. Spice
Diana, Ykee Benda, Lydia
Jazmine and the deejaying duo of Roger and Slick Stuart,
among others. Many of these can no longer be categorized as upcoming artistes.
The usual suspects, nonetheless, decided they would not be
left out by the wave of hard hustle that would otherwise have consigned them to
the background.
Jose Chameleone
He was almost back to his old self, releasing and
collaborating in a string of songs that saw him end the year with no less than
five songs. He started the year with Kirabe, a reggae love ballad that would
possibly score a 6/10 on a personal musical scale.
He then released Champion, and onto the world, the real
Chameleone had arrived. Not known for his keenness on music videos until
2013/2014, Champion turned out the best Chameleone video we had seen. It wasn’t
to be his peak, with the lanky singer going on to do more projects with Pallaso,
Papa Cidy and Kalifa Aganaga, among others.
Kalifa Aganaga
One wouldn’t be far-fetched for accusing him to be one
that delights in adversity. Two of his biggest songs – Sister and Crocodile –
were direct diss-tracks aimed at fellow players in the industry.
In Sister, he throws thinly-veiled jibes at Rema’s
Namakula’s perceived petulance in “Siri Muyembe”, a song in which the latter
appeared to have grown frustrated at Kenzo’s dragged formalization of their
relationship. She was said to have been tired of being known as his live-in
bae.
But it was on Crocodile that Kalifa went bare knuckles.
“Ssebo mbuzi gwe Di-da-da omuyimbi wa demo. Wesoma ng’oyasama nga bwe nakusaba
collabo [...]”, he goes, clearly showing no love lost between the two.
Aganaga’s other songs, rather inevitably, would be with
Kenzo (Katono) and Chameleone (Kiboko) as he continued in his quest for
relevance. Both turned out hits, but it was the latter that would eventually
take the biscuit.
Previously known for releasing a song or two a year, the
Industrial Fine Art and Design graduate was in overdrive in 2018. One would be
safe to crown her as the most hardworking artiste of the year.
She had started the year on a rather interesting note;
that gaffe in a media interview, making her cannon fodder for headline-hungry
bloggers. She had scored aggregate 32 in History, Art and Luganda at A-level,
she said, an error of interpretation that she would realize too little too
late.
The result? No news is good news, says one old adage.
Spice Diana was in the news, and she had to play to the advantage. The result
was an Afro-beat collabo with Weasel, the aptly titled 32. It would spell the
beginning of good tidings for the 24-year old.
Next up on her sleeves was a string of songs, many of them
getting considerable air play. Bwebityo, Ndi Mu Love, Twebereremu, Ssente
Zakameeza and what I would consider her best song of 2018, Best Friend,
featuring King
Saha.
The former Leone Island protegee started the year being
his usual self. Serenading ballads, the odd hit here and seemed to take on the
year as it came.
By March, he was turning the airwaves on their heads with
Biri Biri and On My Way. The two songs appeared to have been his acme, only for
him to set footsteps on his musical moon.
Mowzey Radio had passed on, and Weasel needed a musical
shoulder to lean on. When he did the original version for Tokyayitaba, it was
missing some flavor.
In stepped Saha and the opening vocals could easily be
mistaken for Radio’s. Saha had been almost so anonymous that not many people
realized it was him on the intro.
Saha decided it was time to come out of his shell. We
would soon see the duo collaborate on Mpa Love, a song in which their chemistry
brilliantly came to the fore. It remains my best Saha song of 2018, closely
followed by Very Well (With Roja and Slick Stuart) and Best Friend (featuring
Spice Diana).
The reward for their effort was a Coke Studio stint. King
Saha did not just want to be known as this singer who tried his best to ape
Mowzey Radio. He does have the song-writing talent, as evidenced in Ndi Mu
Love, the song he wrote for Spice Diana.
Bebe Cool
Self-proclaimed Big Size, Munene Munene. Bba wa Zuena. He started
the year breathing fire. 2018 was going to be bigger than all his previous
years, he roared. When he did "Want it", the industry held its
breath. He had promised this was going to be his worst song, and more was in
stock.
Alas, his year turned out different. It was, largely, an
underwhelming year by his standards, only salvaged by "Wasibuka Wa"
and I do, the collabo with the pair of cuties that is Charlotte Rurinda and
Fatuma Umuhoza – or Charly na Nina as we’ve grown to know them. In the end,
most of the songs in between could not match the play power that came with
"Want it".
Bobi Wine
Revelling in his new-found status as the Honorable member
of parliament for Kyadondo East, every song he released was always going to be
viewed with utmost scrutiny.
Nsaba Twogere, done with Nubian Li – his long-term
lieutenant – did not generate as much debate. He would go on to be stomped over
by Jjajja’s SFC in that infamous Arua 33 for conniving with 32 others to hurl
one rock at the presidential convoy (yeah, his year was that magical).
But he had done Kyarenga, a song that overshadowed almost
everything else non-political that he would try. His planned concert at
Namboole Stadium was finally cancelled after an endless ping-pong game with the
Stadium’s management, and he had to go back to the drawing board, eventually
settling for Busaabala.
It was at the Busaabala concert that he did a teaser of
Engule, another song that was bound to generate a wave of political scrutiny.
Kyarenga remains the single most popular song of 2018.
She was her vintage self, releasing hit song after
another. You don’t join Jeff Kiwa’s team no sleep and rest on your laurels. He
got her the songwriters and producers she needed, and the result was the string
of hit songs that ensured her star would continue to shine throughout 2018.
With Mummy Yo, Tomorrow, Omwoyo, Beera Nange among others,
Sheebah had got the ammunition for her redbull-fuelled stage performance. 2018
was one year that Sheebah will look back at with utmost satisfaction. In the
end, she had to crown it with Omwoyo, a concert that was successful not in one,
but several other venues, including some as far-flung as Mbarara.
The single most crushed-on female celebrity in 2018 (you
wanna prove otherwise? Ask Ortega
Ian). You would have to give it to her somewhat cryptic
personality. From You and Me, the song that threatened to hog all the headlines
in 2018 to Hit and Run, Jazmine was on a roll.
Show after another, she continued to grace many a function
– corporate or otherwise. She’s one of those artistes one will no longer
categorize as upcoming.
One cheeky commentator had her ranked as both female and
male artiste of the year, owing to her Tomboyish outlook. He wasnt far from the
truth. In Omukwano Gwo, Chips Na Ketchup, Tubikole (featuring Fik Fameica),
Love Doctor and Mapozi, Vinka comfortably had earned her place in 2018’s
pantheon of star performers.
This, by no small measure, was down to her management at
Swangz Avenue, and the creative genius that was Yesse Oman Rafiki, the guy who
penned just about every song of hers.
The only downside to her sweat is that she did not stage a
concert. She, most definitely, deserved one, and there was no way it was going
to flop.
That she often chooses to release music when she wants
doesn’t mean her efforts for the year will go unrecognized. Bits and pieces,
her magnificent album was an absolute peach. It was the waiting well deserved
for an artiste that Don
Mohamed Kimbugwe prefers to describe as sui generis.
The album featured several songs and writers, and also saw
the brief return of Sylver Kyagulanyi to song-writing. His genius was certainly
not lost on us on Zaabu, one of the songs he wrote, and my personal favorite
off the Bits and Pieces album.
New entrant on the industry, and one that would go on to
leave a mark. One of the most versatile industry players, his profile reads:
producer (as Andre on the beat), songwriter (as Andrew Ojambo) and recording
artiste, as Daddy Andre.
He co-wrote Romance (with Tonix), did a string of collabos
(Now, featuring Spice Diana), Kyoyoya (featuring John
Blaq) and produced a truckload of songs. His efforts were
best pronounced on You and Me, the magnus opus that featured Lydia Jazmine.
On production, his 2018 exploits could only be rivalled by
Nessim Mukuza.
A Pass
Better known as the guy who makes more bad headlines than
good ones, he remains more known for his histrionics and that faked infatuation
with Flavia Tumusiime than the actual shift he put into music.
Not many will know him as the guy who penned Bebe Cool’s
Nsirikamu and Midnight Drum, a song that will possibly outlast the entire
collection of music released in 2018.
Featuring Apass, Fik Fameica, Rouge and Dj Maphorisa,
Midnight Drum is the kind of song that will transcend audiences and may be used
for a variety of uses – jingles (it’s said to have been the brainchild of Club
Pilsner), nightclub anthem, gym background music or a movie soundtrack.
Of course, we all know Di Dadada, one of his other projects,
and a top 10 contender for 2018’s hottest songs.
A Johnny-come-lately of sorts who, until June had a couple
of songs to his name. The one thing 21-year old John Kasadha has on his hands
is the time. He is the guy who features on Sweet Love (with Vinka), Kyoyoya
(with Daddy Andre) and a string of singles including, but not limited to
Romantic and arguably his biggest song of 2018, Tukwatagane.
I had first mistaken him for another Daddy Andre when I
first heard him sing, and his collabo with the latter was one I silently hoped
for. It may not have quite the product I expected, but it was nonetheless
decent. John Blaq is one for the future, and certainly one of the artistes to
watch out for in 2019.
Eddy Kenzo
He'll always be a hit in Francophone Africa. He has since
mastered their market and their love for the visual aspect of music.
It partly explains his penchant for colorful and well
choreographed videos. Pull Up, that duet with Harmonize was a big coup.
Then he did Love Don't Care and many an observer believed
it was his response to Rema's Siri Muyembe.
He then went for Mbakooye, a song laden with political undertones so strong that one would imagine he was trying to tap in on the wave of mass populism that had catapulted Bobi Wine to international fame.
But in The Heat, he has this song that will probably have a longer shelf life than many of his other 2018 projects.
It may not be the richest lyrically, but it comes with such arrangement that makes it unique, and Kenzo played it safe enough to keep it simple and basic.
His other highlights for the year included Dancehall (featuring Cindy) and Katono (festuring Kalifa Aganaga), among others.
Levixone
He had a hugely successful 2018, crowned by that successful Turn The Replay concert at Lugogo Cricket Oval.
He was the only gospel artiste to break into the secular playlist. Turn the Replay prominently featured on many Radio and TV playlists and was arguably one of the best 20 songs of the year.
He had a couple of decent projects, including Tompitako, Watching You and Hosanna. 2019 Prospects? He should continue to soar, going by his exploits in 2018.
Fik Fameica
John
Luke Tambiti's greatest artiste of 2018. Described as
humble and down to earth, Fik Fameica’s entry onto the music scene was as
emphatic as they come. In Gwe Abisobola, he had brought out the best of Byaxy
in 2017. But this was 2018, and the music fans, being the fickle souls that
we’ve always been, demanded for more.
Fameica did not disappoint, going on to release songs like
Property, Mafia and Born to Win, among others, with many of them going on to
enjoy massive airplay.
Barely a couple of years old in the industry, he’s already
courted enough controversy to last him another year; that reported fight with
Chameleone at Mowzey Radio’s funeral and the constant rumors romantically linking
him to Sheilah Gashumba being the most prominent.
Will 2019 turn out as successful for one of the industry’s
youngest player? Only time will tell.
The Rest:
Ykee Benda continued to hold his ground with a string of
bangers, and that high-budget video for Onabaayo deserves honorable mention.
Winnie Nwagi did not exactly fade into Oblivion. In Matala, Munange and Fire
Dancer, she put in quite a shift, though she did not quite scale her heights of
yesteryear.
But somehow, one gets the feeling that the guys at Swangz
probably had other priorities for the year.
Irene Ntale did not go to sleep, as did Gravity Omutujju,
the latter going on to stage his famous Embuzi Zakutudde concert at Lugogo
Cricket Oval.
Even in the face of his annus horribilis, Weasel still stood
tall. Tokyayitaba, his breathtaking tribute to Mowzey Radio was as well
received as 32 and Mpa Love, his other projects with Spice Diana and King Saha
respectively.
His other projects included Good over evil, Kyuma
(featuring Spice Diana), Data Cable (featuring Liam Voice) and Mary Jane
(featuring Mowzey, recorded before the latter’s demise).
Tonix had a big year with Romance, but he certainly could
do better. He’s threatened to come out bigger than the sneak-peak we saw in
2018, and we hope that Vibration Music eventually comes out of its shell to
propel him to greater heights in 2019.
Lastly, Solome Basuuta. She belongs to the
class of musicians who have a penchant for therapeutic music. Along with Mo
Roots (Moureen Rutabingwa) and Lillian Mbabazi, they ought to be locked up in
one place, so they can stay away from whatever distracts them from churning out
more of what they are capable of doing (will you do the honors, Agnes
Ndaaba? You are the biggest Solome Basuuta fan I know 
:)).
:)).
A listen to Freedom (the mashup), Nz’ani, Nsuubira or Can
we stay will make you appreciate the gem that is Solome Basuuta. Will she give
us more of this in 2019? Only she will be in position to tell.
***
So, we’ve rummaged through the year and rated the standout performers in different categories. We’ve rated audio producers, video producers, songwriters and recording artistes of 2018.
So, we’ve rummaged through the year and rated the standout performers in different categories. We’ve rated audio producers, video producers, songwriters and recording artistes of 2018.
Top 5 for each category. It’s something we want to come
out refined. We need someone to pay for our OTT, data and our transport to the
village (yeah, we are taking a Christmas break). We’ll aptly structure it for
your audience, we promise. Who’s paying? Hit my inbox.
