Ugandan artiste celebrates 30 yrs in music

The mention of his name elicits a mention of Kadongo Kamu music genre, the ‘one-beat’ music version of the popular Ugandan music. Fred Sebatta is one of the surviving icons of Kadongo Kamu but even as the genre weakens both in content and listenership the musical lord is still going strong.He is a celebrity in a world where big cars and houses are nothing to floss about but where music is meant to cause social change. His is a humble world just like his beginnings as an artiste.Before Sebatta took the bold step to record his first album, which he titled Sam Wange in 1981, he was a music fan just like you and me.He was a particular admirer of Elly Wamala who he considers one of Kadongo Kamu’s grandfathers.Back at home music had its place since both his parents loved music too, but the type who mumbled to their favourite songs as they went about doing their daily chores.“My dad would hum while harvesting coffee, in late 1960s when Segamwenge’s bamugamba played after the fall of Obote 1. My mother was a house wife,” Sebatta recounts. “At school my teachers singled me out and they would retain me at school for music practice as the other pupils went home,” Sebatta recounts. As a boy he saw this as a bother but little did he know that his teacher had singled him out because of his unique talent.His first song, Sam Wange, was an instant hit. He did the song with his fiancé Nabigumira. The song became so popular that one Kabugo made money off it. Sebatta went on to do Sekiriba Kyataka. But from then Sebatta says that he has been using Kadongo Kamu not only to entertain but to communicate messages. Daily Monitor

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Ugandan artiste celebrates 30 yrs in music