Uganda’s true diva by Steven Tendo

Juliana Kanyomozi is arguably Uganda’s most visible, most talented female musician today. She has come a long way from her early days as a teenager hanging out at karaoke bars, trying to catch the eye of admiring music producers. She is definitely not the young starry-eyed novice who faithfully acted the role of Iryn Namubiru’s sidekick in the girl group I-Jay back in 1999.

In the 2008 runaway hit Usiende Mbali with Tanzanian crooner Bushoke, Juliana’s presentation in the video shows a woman who has fully come into her own; confident and challenging; challenging the world to bring it on because if she were ever afraid in her life, those days are long gone. Her smile into the camera is not nervous and her body language is languid and sensual, like she is being a little bit cheekier than the director would have planned it.

The journey to the top has been fraught with landmines and all sorts of road blocks. In the time it has taken the musician to clean up her act and get into contention for the crown of Uganda’s topmost diva, many other talented acts have cropped up on the scene. The game is a lot more competitive, with improved technology and skills. Everyday, the hundreds of media outlets are releasing information on new talents. The speed at which young people are outing new music should be a cause for worry for anyone who sits on their laurels.

In a field that boasts the likes of Grace Nakimera, Desire Luzinda, a hot new young lady enjoying rave reviews and Iryn Namubiru seriously outing hit after hit, this must be the most exciting time in Uganda’s music industry in ages.

Kanyomozi’s longevity in the public eye can be attributed to a number of factors. It is well known how she caught the eye, or rather, the ears of the late Jimmy Katumba while still a sprightly student at Namasagali College in eastern Uganda. The school, which has a long history in the performing arts, has produced many alumni that are especially inclined towards the arts.

Well known figures on the scene, like theatre luminaries Kwezi Kaganda, comic Kenneth ‘Pablo’ Kimuli and Phillip Luswata have all gone through Namasagali’s gates. Frobisher Lwanga, another emerging force on screen and stage went to the same college.

It was here that Juliana learnt how to use her God-given gift, her voice to great effect. The late Jimmy Katumba is said to have been instrumental in crafting her money maker, as it were.

Other factors are Steve Jean, one of Uganda’s leading music producers and Sylver Kyagulanyi, a star writer, who has a Midas touch when it comes to scripting musical hits. Juliana has made it a rule to work with only the producer Steve Jean.

Sticking to the same producer maybe seen as suicide but this musician has taken her chances and it has paid off. When the producer is too busy to handle her work, or out of the country or down the flu, Juliana will probably wait until such a time when Jean is available to release or work on anything.

The trend has given the songstress’ music a predictable sound, seeing as it all comes from the same kitchen but it seems the sounds are exactly what Ugandans and East Africans are looking for at the moment, not that the moment is showing any signs of ending. For close to a decade, Kanyomozi’s music has been given the chance to grow and develop into an unbreakable, indomitable anthem announcing the arrival of one of Africa’s truest divas.

In the early days, it was a given that the young musician was taken with an R’n’B style which was a marvel to listen to but in reality, a no-seller among the bigger audience, the crowd in down-town Kampala. The traders in the central business district of Uganda are the backbone of the music industry and one would be unwise to make music that alienates them. Songs from Juliana like Say It, You are my Center and Seven Day Symphony were heroic projects as far as vocal arrangements went but they did not help her to break into the real big time. It was when she crossed over into Luganda that the fame came. It was when she teamed up with the virtuoso Sylver Kyagulanyi on Nabikoowa (I already got tired of your drama), that she became a household name.

There have been many low moments, admittedly. There have been times when those who do not think Kanyomozi deserves this sort of attention applauded when she fell on hard times. But this has always been on the personal front. Rarely has the strength of her voice and the mass appeal that she commands been disputed. And Kanyomozi seems to ride the tide with increasing expertise. It has always been strange that when the rags produce stories about her love-life and how sordid it is or when she famously had a case of wardrobe malfunction in 2005, it was always at a point when her singing career seemed to be on the wane.

But the brink-woman that she is always turned the attention to her advantage. The aura of mysticism always worked in her favour. Sometimes she was painted as the poor woman who had been mistreated by the father of her child and almost in the same breath; she was presented as a scheming hard-hearted woman on a mission to dominate the world. She was presented as a man snatcher, especially when it was reported that she and Ugandan US-based pugilist, Kassim Ouma were in a romantic relationship.

The dangerous culture of leaving things unfinished gaining currency in Uganda. Buildings are seen all over Kampala with work clearly still going on their top floors; cranes moving sand and blocks but the bottom floors are occupied by traders briskly doing business. It was not always like this, though. This is probably something that has come on due to anxiety of not knowing what the near future holds.

The ravages of war and HIV/Aids have been painful and they have left the majority of the population with the goal to do everything quickly since there is so little time left. This has resulted in a number of accidents with buildings crashing down on people and the authorities standing around with no credible explanation.

This haphazard way of doing things has not left music untouched; musicians have scented the money that comes with the territory. Producers have complained of half-baked projects that show that the artistry of creating good music has disappeared. In its place, there are pretenders who think they can live big without trying so hard. This probably explains why few musicians are ready to venture into world music unlike a few like Geoffrey Oryema and Herbert Kinobe. It is a lot easier to produce feel-good music, what with the technology; Fruity Looped songs are not uncommon.

In an earlier interview, Kanyomozi newly recognized by the industry and hired by Capital radio had no easy words for Ugandan music: “There is a very small level of professionalism in the industry. Our music is still growing and from the looks of it, it is taking it’s time. That definitely will stifle the talent and the progress will be slow.” That prophesy has proven to be partly wrong but she is still one of the few who have been successful.

This is where Kanyomozi has managed to remain relevant. It took her years to produce an album and she had the presence of mind to withstand the pressure to produce an album every year like many of the musicians were doing at the time. And that has been the secret; at the moment, she is in the fray for the biggest musical trophy in the region. Come November 1, 2008, she could be announced as the Artist of the Year.

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