Bebe Cool by Steven Tendo

Bebe Cool has, after a run as the notorious bad boy of Ugandan music, finally turned around. Knowing his attention grabbing antics from the past five years, it had to be something really ground shaking that would finally reign him in and turn him into the polite soft voiced gentleman that he is today. It is scary walking up to him and cowering, expecting his trademark attitude, only to be offered a respectable reception from the former unapologetic award winning reggae star.

Bebe Cool (Moses Ssali) was born 27 years ago on the September 1, 1977. He has been on the East African music scene for a long time. Back in the days when Buju Banton was everyone’s favourite star, Bebe Cool was right there shaking his crazy dreadlocks and crooning in the laboured voice of his idol. When everyone else tired of trying to emulate something that they were miserably failing at, he stuck to his dream. Now we know him as the reggae star who can be cheeky and do a suprise dance hall number that will resonate within the very hearts of revellers, forcing them onto the dance floor.

When I meet him for this interview, his demeanour is that of just another guy lounging on a lazy afternoon with his friends. The only thing that makes him stand out are his famous dreadlocks. There are a number of artistes around Kampala who have grown the manacing taproots but there is only one Bebe Cool. He is in a white sports jersey with dark jeans. He has on brown sandals and he slouches lazily in the chair in his friend’s flat in Kitante watching a silent screen as the soothing sounds of Radio One serenade him.

My questions are burning; they are just too many. Why the change and why now? There are many big issues in the country right now as we move towards an uncertain time, what with the political climate changing? Bebe Cool just released a song, Ekisanja (Slang referring to a third term for President Museveni) that sings praises for the incumbent and I can’t help wonder if all this talk of him changing could be related to his going political.

“I am not into politics. I am just a social animal and I sing about what’s big in society at the moment. I only express what is in our collective mind in song,” he explains laughingly. He says a number of people have been asking him where he lies. One of his friends present for the interview chips in that Bebe should stop playing his Ekisanja song because it is a potential money-maker. Everytime it is played at the campaigns, Bebe should be paid.

“I think other singers are just scared about singing about what they should be singing about,” he goes on. “They therefore go on and on about love and money and all these shallow topics yet deep down they should be talking about the pertinent issues.” He says he does not fear anything.

But all this political talk is not getting us anywhere. This artiste has courted controversy since early days. Even when he and Jose Chameleon together with Red San were suffering in down town Nairobi, trying to make their mark, Bebe Cool was the dark sheep of this family of three. Eventually, they had to part ways, with Chameleon and Red San sticking together and Bebe becoming the maverick who was always jutting out his jaw and challenging the system.

“I am controversial for a reason. I don’t do things impulsively,” he defends himself. “I studied music for two years, unlike many people in the industry. I know what makes one and what breaks one. To be a good musician, you have to sell. And there is nothing that sells like controversy. Controversy travels faster than anything else.”

“Look at Uganda’s most vicious enemy, Kony. He is famous the world over because of the negativity of his actions. I am not condoning his acts but imagine what he could have done…the good he could have achieved if he suddenly turned around and said he has left that bad image!” Bebe Cool has an expression of wonderment on his face.

But he says he planned it before hand. For him, the whole image thing was only for a season. “The season has ended,” he tells me earnestly. “I had my run and I had some ups and downs. Penultimately, I achieved what I wanted. The bad boy image is dead and buried,” he says with conviction..

So why now, I ask. Bebe Cool was the face of WBS TV since the last months of 2003 to around June 2004. After that deal, he had made a number of contacts because the station did everything in its power to sell him to the world. Speaking to Elvis Wavamunno, the head honcho at WBS, I discovered that Bebe Cool’s deal entailed the station managing his image and getting him acts at world class venues. And they did because he was in the UK and the US at shows such as Miss Uganda UK. This year, he went away to the USA for six months and the stories did the rounds that he had run away. But last month, he returned and with a new image.

“When I went away, I wanted to be in the US for five months. That was the plan. But then before I left, Thierry arrived.” This is in reference to Alpha Thierry, his son with model, Zuena Kirema. Alpha is making one year on December 29. “His arrival changed everything. I spent four months instead of the five I had planned. I was a family man and I wanted to be here for my family.”

His stay in the States was not fruitless, however. He came back with deals to do music in top studios with help from established artistes. He is working with Afromerica and with Sushi Studios owned by Dee, a drummer with Janet Jackson. He has also decided to go into movies. “If I did small parts as an extra now and then, my career will be helped a lot,” he tells me. “I was told that these days, one needs to be in both industries to make it big.” We are yet to see him in any, though.

And when he says he has changed, it’s all there for us to see. Before all this, he was doing dancehall music. It was characterised by rough tones and a menacing exterior. Now he seems to be following his heart; he has just recorded a 10 track album with Necessary Noize and he says it is pure roots reggae. The partnership between him and the duo has been christened The Bashment Crew.

There have always been people who think he was made for reggae and they must be beside themselves now. At the recent Return of the King concert at Steak Out in Kampala, Bebe Cool dazzled with Necessary Noize. This seems to have been the confirmation that he is the undisputed king of Ugandan contemporary reggae.

“I am now doing my music with Wyre and Naziz because I believe they are the hottest reggae act in Kenya right now and our partnership can go along way,” he enthuses.

The road ahead is paved with challenges. Bebe Cool is just one of the many artistes who have to shape up in the face of the upped competition. East Africa is fast becoming a hotbed of musical talent and there is no stopping the growth. Maybe in view of this, Bebe Cool had to change his style and image. He has shown before that he is far seeing and maybe his intuition is leading him where we all shall eventually head.

His Background and History

Bebe Cool a.k.a Moses Ssali born 1977 1st September, a famous and well-known Ugandan Reggae musician.

To write his music, Bebe Cool is inspired by the present situation at each time, communal events and personal experiences. He also produces music but on a personal basis. He does his own instrumentation thereby shooting two birds with one stone.

He has been in the industry for over ten years now. It all begins way back in his O Level in Kitante Hill School. During this time, he performed in various Secondary Schools, shows and did a lot of promotions like the Guinness Bar Promotions, which he did on a daily basis weekly. This helped him practice for his voice. After this, he joined Makerere College School for A level. During this time, he become Entertainment Prefect and he continued to perform in various schools and functions. He later on went to Kololo Senior Secondary School. Here he had to make a choice to finalize his studies. During this time he was preparing to start on heavy line music, he began growing his hair because he wanted to have dreadlocks. He started making contacts in Nairobi. After his senior six he left for Nairobi.

Bebe Cool’s first song was the 'Hehe song' and it was recorded in Nairobi. This was typically a rap song because at the time, the Nairobi audience was into rap music and he wanted to attract the crowd. He has recorded with various producers like the Ogopa deejays and D’N’D. He has released many songs like King of the Jungle, Hehe song which was his first song, Funtula, Never Trust, Twezinire, Burn dem down and Mambo Mingi and many more.

His best songs are King of the Jungle and Never trust no people. He recently launched Gaetano’s song in Club Silk. This song is basically to hype up Gaetano and make his name bigger so that he is received well when he comes back and put him in the line of stars. In this song he talks about Arsenal. This is because he supports Arsenal and the seasons are about to begin, this could act as an anthem for Arsenal supporters.

Apart from writing music and singing, he is involved in various community activities. He is under the umbrella M. Community. This was set up musicians in Uganda who want to do good turn. They do community work like cleaning markets like the Jinja market, wells like one in Makerere Kikoni.

He hates people with many words (Mambo Mingi), he also hates jealous people. He therefore stresses ways of life and living in his songs. Bebe Cool also writes love songs but he doesn’t produce them because that is what everyone is singing so he prefers doing his own thing or something different. His best Ugandan musician is Peter Myles because of his style of singing and way of life, which are simple and straight. He also continues to say that he loves him because he is probably the only Ugandan musician who doesn't have any enemies in the industry referring to him as neutral.

His mentors are Bunju Bunton, Wyclef Jean and Beres Herman. In the next three years he sees some of the outstanding Ugandan musicians becoming International and in the next twenty years he sees himself in International fame even in the movie industry.

Bebe outs hit to Zuena by Isaac Ssejjombwe

Bebe Cool has proven yet again that he is the master in composing situational hits because nearly six months after Zuena left her marital duties, He has however come up with a new hit called Bamugambe and by the look of things, it is likely to scoop at least an award in
the coming Pearl of Africa Music Awards.

Bebe insults fellow artists by Isaac Ssejjombwe

Soon after loosing out on the Artist of the year accolade in the just concluded PAM Awards, Bebe Cool pointed all his guns at throwing insults at his fellow musicians.

The Baffude singer alleged that all the other artists are way below his standards when it comes to success and he attributes this to the various concerts he has so far performed on this year including the Nelson Mandela birthday concert held in London some time back that had over 70,000 people in attendance "I was the only Artist who made an impact on that concert and it's not an easy task making over 70,000
people sing with you but I was able to do it and that was quite a motivation because I was able to exhibit class". Bebe said

Bobi Knocks out  Bebe by Isaac Ssejjombwe

Dominance in the music business is by far what anyone would strive for in the music business because self proclaimed Uganja and Ghetto president Bobi Wine last Sunday knocked out mentor and former ally Bebe Cool during ekitoobero concert at nakivubo stadium because of a statement he made on stage. The outburst was sparked off when Bebe made said during his performance to hundreds of thousands that there are two big guns in the music industry him and Chameleon which made Bobi Wine so infuriated.

On descending the stairs from the stage, Bebe found a rather angry Bobi waiting for him and both started exchanging hot words before Bobi punched him hard on the face saying that no one can intimidate him like that in front of his fans. The bafuude singer then pushed Bobi but other firebase crew members especially Kabaya pounced on him causing various injuries all over his body before Meddie Nsereko and other bouncers could separate the two parties. After the incident, Bebe proceeded to old Kampala police station to open up a case and after headed to mayo clinic to receive further treatment. Bebe has now canselled all his upcoming trips to bushenyi, Mbarara, among other places to nurse his wounds.

Many thought the beef between these musicians especially the top guys was a narration but it seems otherwise and what hurts is that many upcoming artists look up to these guys as mentors, guiders and role models but hearing them fight frequently devastates the trust from not only their fellow artists but also their diehard fans

Bebe shuns PAM Awards by Isaac Ssejjombwe.

Are the wheels finally coming off Uganda’s biggest music awards bandwagon? Looks like it, as Bebe cool becomes the second big artist after Chameleon to shun the annual pearl of Africa music awards. The current male artist of the year made the statement during an interview saying it’s time for upcoming artists to benefit from the annual awards. “I’m not against the awards but I believe I’m bigger than not only Pam awards but also mTV and Kora. It’s time for us big artists to pull out and leave the awards to upcoming musicians.” Bebe said. He also added that he’s not in music for any awards but people’s gratitude to his music is what matters the most.

However, during the Pam awards press launch at club silk a month back, Bebe apologized for not attending the launch but promised to be part of the event due to take place at Lugogo cricket oval. In 2007, Chameleon who is a two time artist of the year winner publicly announced his denunciation from the awards despite being nominated in various categories and has never attended any of them since then.

It should be eminent that in the Ugandan entertainment world, Bebe Cool is the only artist among the top three to have never scooped the artist of the year award despite appearing on the same category since their initiation.
                               
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Two Launches on the same date!!! By Isaac Ssejjombwe

For the first time in history, Uganda will witness the battle of the greatest as two of its finest will be tussling for supremacy in the music world. Bebe Cool and Bobi Wine are slated to launch their albums on the same day, same time but in different places.

Bebe Cool, famously known as ‘big is big”, will be launching his Bamugambe album at Kyadondo Rugby Club while his counterpart Bobi Wine and self proclaimed “mazzi mawanvu” (deep waters) will be launching his Carolina album at Hotel Africana peoples space.

Apparently, this is to find out who the better gun is; concerning the local music fraternity and who ever will attract a bigger crowd will be deemed the best Entertainer. Both artists have singles on their respective albums which have turned out to be the public’s favorites and have enormously received good radio air play. Wesotinge, Carolina, Promise are some of the songs that have made Bobi Wine a respected artist in Uganda, while hits like Agenze, Bamugambe, Sweet Loving, Lwaki Seyagala, Why Africa are responsible for making Bebe Cool a force to reckon in the Music Industry.

Fascinatingly, both artists who were one time allies against Chameleon, another big name in Ugandan music industry, have a long list of similar artists to curtain raise at their launches but a better offer will certainly lure some to decide which to perform on. Expectantly, this will help solve the fracas that has been going on between these two artists, but it is entirely up to the fans to support their favorite artist come October this year.

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Bebe hits back at critics by Isaac ssejjombwe.

Self proclaimed king of the jungle, Moses Ssali a.k.a Bebe Cool has finally responded to all his critics after months of insults through his song boom bark (bogolako). Bebe Cool during his performance at Acacia Avenue’s based Steak Out publicly announced that he solely feeds all artists who sing about him and his family.“I’m the only reason those artists are surviving in the music industry and this is because they have nothing to sing about except me and my family so if it wasn’t me, they would have taken up other professions.” Bebe said.

Bebe faced insults after the departure of his longtime girlfriend and mother of his two kids Zuena Kirema shortly before last year ended and using this as an opportunity, established musicians composed hits that provoked him one way or another. “Shortly after my wife left her marital status, some artists decided to use me as a stepping stone by releasing hits concerning my family but can’t wait to look at their faces when my wife returns on the 2nd of October during my Agenze album launch to be held at Kyadondo rugby club.” added Bebe.

The Goodlyf duo of Moze Radio and Weasel are the artists the Bamugambe singer was talking about as they released hits such as Zuena, lwaki onumya, number emu among others towards Bebe Cool. Besides the goodlyf crew members, Bobi Wine is the other artist with a hit known as Wesotinge which has turned out to be essential on his Carolynah album.

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Indeed, “Big is big” by Isaac Ssejjombwe.

With a combination of Silk Events as the events organizers, Balaam enterprises as the event managers and Bebe Cool behind the microphone, The Agenze concert at Kyadondo rugby club last Friday can best be hailed as the most successful concert ever by a local act. Being the third concert after the thriving Jinja and Mukono shows the previous week, Bebe clad in an orange 46664 overall and barked by the gagamel band took to the stage at exactly 9:00pm after a brief act by Sylvia Namugenyi and performed Mukomela, nsonyiwa mukwano,oga, Ekitibwa and I was born in Africa for his first live performance session.

Bebe, Bobi set records by Isaac Ssejjombwe.

In one corner was Bebe Cool at kyadondo rugby club with his Agenze album launch organized by Balaam and Silk events and in the opposite corner was Bobi Wine at Africana people’s space with Carolina launch organized by Kibo and Events ware house. The judges were the fans and the fight was all about supremacy in the music industry. What started as a musical battle ended up with both artists making tremendous records that will take a music genius to break.

Zuena and Bebe back together by Isaac Ssejjombwe.

It seems the trick Bebe used to release hit after hit to Zuena has worked as reliable info reaching us has it that the two have finally reconciledafter spending almost a year of breaking up.

Zuena’s departure was somewhat a blessing in disguise as it helped rejuvenate the Bamugambe star's career as it helped him pull the biggest crowd ever witnessed in the entertainment industry by a local musician during his Agenze album launch at kyadondo rugby club a few weeks back. Zuena who was supposed to return home on the same day as the launch didn’t do as earlier promised by Bebe as she refused to go stage to publicly declare her return though she was sighted in the V.I.P section with a couple of friends.

Bebe’s Hummer arrives by Isaac Ssejjombwe.

Finally after years of serious promises without delivering, Bebe’s state of the art hummer is in the country ready to move around the dirty streets of Kampala.

Being held at Mombassa for the last couple of months, the Hummer which is currently at URA offices reached Kampala on Tuesday last week.

It is estimated that the Kasepeki singer had to pay 200million for the monster ride minus taxes and still has to pay extra 50m for the pimping.

This now means Zuena will cruise the ride at least until Bebe gets back on his feet.

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