Ugandan music is struggling on the international scene - Paddy Man

He explained that the industry has lost touch with originality in beat making while trying to catch up with the famous sounds of South African, Nigerian and Jamaican music. This scramble for trending beats by artists has left many producers lazy and some reluctant to develop original beats.

Paddy Man Pulse

"Back in the day I used to come up with original beats. Take for example Jose Chameleone’s “Basiima Ogenze“, a song I created, such originality is why many loved the song but as of now, due to the influence South Africans and Nigerians plus Jamaicans, local artists hit the studio and ask producers to sample beats from those mentioned countries," Paddy Man said.

Paddy Man Pulse

The producer also commented on the low investment in production equipment in the country, reasoning that a person using a microphone that costs 100$ cannot compete favorably with someone using a 1000$ microphone.

However, he has hope that this is only a phase and that it will pass.

AgaNaga Pulse

Back in 2019, the producer said that Ugandan music lacks a recognisable identity and the best it can be categorised in "Kidandali" music.

Kidandali means "a bar or party with a lot of noise" and is a type of local dancehall many local artists have embraced as their forte.

Renown musician Kalifah AgaNaga is a big advocate for the industry to embrace Kidandali as the Ugandan sound, urging more artists to focus on releasing music in the genre.

Kalifah AgaNaga Pulse

AgaNaga warned that Ugandan music will not win a seat on the international scene without an identity, and Kidandali is the way to go. He gave an example of Kwaito and Amapiano as South Africa's internationally winning sound, Afro-beat for Nigeria, Bongo Flava and Taarab for Tanzania.

Kalifah AgaNaga Pulse

These three African music stakeholders have dominated the industry in such a short time due to their concentrated efforts in their genre identities, and Kidandali has potential to unite and concentrate musical talent for Uganda.

Adding to the conversation around low investment in the music industry, AgaNaga said that the only way to catch up to the Tanzanians and Nigerians is to finance the industry.