Opha Kayiira,

It's not everyday that you'll find someone who is brave enough to do Philly Lutaaya's songs. It's not so much about the stature of the icon who wrote those songs. Its more to do with the fact that there are very many intricacies in the songs and one would realize that these songs are not as easy as the master made them sound.

Last Monday at the Jam Session at the National Theatre, the patrons were struck to dambness when this young man, straight out of nowhere stepped to the mic and started doing a number of the master's songs. They were not angry that he was skewing the songs, no. Instead, they were marveling at the voice that was almost mirroring Philly's. When he did Born In Africa, it was reminiscent of those days way back when the country was awash with his songs.

The young man is called Robert Opha Kayiira. Opha refers to the fact that he is an orphan who went through the hardships that every other orphan in Uganda has gone through. The difference is probably that he has embraced his hardships with a clear mind. He has put his feelings in music and his chosen genre is reggae.

His reggae is not the reggae we are used to however so you'll probably first think that this is a concocted style. But then this artiste has been around, as it were. He has had experience with a number of artistes and groups and so we can safely say that his reggae is tinged with all the markings of his experience.

Listening to his six tracks, part of a project he's working on, one gets transported to a place of utmost serenity. His voice is so mellow and you get the impression that its not meant to sing about violent things. It's a voice that's meant to educate and where necessary, admonish. And he does this a lot in his songs, I realized.

Charity is the first song. It seems it was such a big achievement for him because against his conviction that he should stick to the big issues in society like corruption and the way the new generation is going, he pours out his heart on this track. He sings of the pangs that are wrought by that ancient feeling and what it does to him when he sees this goddess.

The other tracks on the CD are diverse; like Omuzadde which tries as many other tracks have tried to peg a value to the parents that gave him a life. He seems to fail in this venture when he realizes that it is a Herculean task and that the only way to show appreciation is to just love his parents unconditionally as they did to him. Others are Crazy about You , Sunda, Ekimansulo and Nkowola .

Opha is a very modest artiste who seems to have gone through a lot. Right now, he does back up for Mariam Nadagire in the Trends band but when I asked him about his seeming diversion, he said everyone does this eventually. It could be attributed to the ambition that burns in his eyes when he talks of the dreams he's got.

He wants to go out on his own someday. That day might be when he finishes his degree programme at Campus and gets the foundation he needs. He dreams of being a great influence to the young generation of his country because they have so much potential and they could achieve a lot given the chance. Opha