on MUSIC............

I don't mean to brag or anything, but music comes naturally to me...the appreciation, the talent...I love to listen to good (not the use of the word) music.
I started playing piano in my Primary 3, but like with all other interests of mine, I didn't take it too seriously. I've played the flute and acoustic guitar, and at present I play the bass guitar (it's so much easier than acoustic..)

When i listen to a song, I listen to EVERYTHING about it, of least interest probably are the lyrics, though these have to be good for me to keep listening.
I listen for the message behind the message...the words between the lines...
I listen to the instruments more than anything...
-the percussion-the basic beat, the beat behind that...
-the melody, the way the different tunes weave in and out of each other, behind the words, yet one with the words and each other...a really good song always has those background sounds that you never hear unless you're listening for them, yet the song would sound totally different if they weren't there...
-and of course the voice... the singer of the words...the one who gives the words that life that makes them...

So you can understand why it takes a lot of energy on my part to resist the urge to stop the taxi, get out and walk whenever the radio plays one of our very own! At home, I control what I listen to. But in a taxi...I keep praying that I get to my destination without screaming in outrage at all the "hits" that keep blaring from the
Don't get me wrong, I do agree that occasionally, by some quack of nature, a local artist releases something that can be genuinely classified as music, but on the whole....our local music industry leaves a lot to be desired. When it is good, UTAKE (that all encompassing name coined by Chanel 5 for Ugandan, Kenyan and Tanzanian music) is near the top of my list of favourites, but let's face up to the fact that the TA and the KE are so much better at it than the U.
No! This is not a case of patriotism or some such claim-love-for-your-own-regardless-of... It's not. This is about calling a spade a spade, and pathetic, pathetic.

You don't agree? Well, that's your opinion... each one is entitled to their own and here's mine. I think most Ugandan music is shallow, pointless, uninspired, uninspiring, unoriginal, embarrassing, unmusical...! I can bet my first paycheck that each time that music is played, the forefathers of music turn over in their graves. With the recent mass release of local music it's no wonder we had an earthquake that was practically off the charts...the music ancestors must have been threatening to rise from the dead and do something about this....insult to humanity.
Still don't agree? Let me explain:
shallow: most of these guys sound like they just got a beat off some kid's toy, put words to it and sold it to the first radio station that felt like losing good listenership... the words rotate around one point, not saying anything new...the instruments would be frowned upon by my church band of nonprofessionals...the song generally doesn't add anything to the soul of the listener.
pointless: need clarification? listen to Faasi, Letter O...and countless other hits spoiling the airwaves these days.
uninspired: i really don't see any of these guys having that moment of inspiration when they actually get the ....(what's the word) to actually write a song and sing it. The impression I get is that the guy's kid or kid sis or some other toddler relation is babbling something at the dinner table and the guy thinks "Ah! A song, a hit, let me get paper and pen...she could write it out for me!"
uninspiring: as already said, most of these songs don't add anything lasting to the soul, body and general well being of any sensible human being.
unoriginal: listen to ten of these songs in a row and you realise you're listening to the same thing in different voices, to different beats, maybe the words change a bit, but the repetition is noticeable...either in the point(lessness) of the song, or the rhyming or the bit, or something!
embarrassing: some of the content of some of these songs is so wrong<>
unmusical: seriously by now I've said enough for that point to be self explanatory!

Watching these guys you'd think they said the best musician is the one with the most albums!! I mean, who ever heard of Bryan McKnight releasing two albums in one year?! Come to think of it, when did he last release an album? Yet he's recognised worldwide as a good artist.

Then come the music videos! The songs are bad, but the videos...(no words)! Watching those videos you'd think singers were told it is a must to have skimpily dressed gyrating bodies flashing at every beat! It's NOT!! It's PATHETIC, cheap popularity, uncouth, and if they argue that it increases the viewership, that should tell them how bad the songs are that one has to use optical (mal)nutrition to keep the viewers glued. I bet my second paycheck that most viewers watch those videos in mute...and the sensible people don't watch at all.
So, if I consider myself sensible, how come I watch them? BECAUSE THE LOUSY THINGS ARE PLAYED ON EVERY STATION, AT ALL TIMES, BETWEEN EVERY PROGRAMME...! It's a form of terrorism that no one is pointing out!

I have to remind you that the above applies to only a portion of the local music, but sadly the larger portion.
I have made up my mind to keep it international and ten music years back, because the recent out of Uganda music is almost just as bad!
Better still, I think I'll just stick to classical...Beethoven, Mendel, Chopin...now THAT's good music!