Lutaaya’s songs are also on YouTube - Kenzo says in unapologetic interview

While appearing on CBS FM Monday evening, Kenzo said that despite the generation of Philly Lutaaya leaving an indelible mark on the music industry, the new age of artistes has also done things that those before them never achieved.

Kenzo this past week instigated a polarised debate on the internet when he said that redoing Lutaaya’s song, Born in Africa, will have a huge impact on it because he has mastered the art of leveraging the internet to pull eyeballs.

During the CBS interview, he said: “You reach a point where people are just looking for your bad side. We had a kid called Felix at Lubiri. He beat us from Senior One to Senior Three, I left when we were joining Senior Four... Those who were close in the race didn't want to talk to him, they looked at him as selfish... they looked at him as a threat. Today he is a doctor.

"When I remade the song, my interest was in promoting my country and preserving the late's legacy... and his message resonates with my current life. I have the potential to sing in over 500 countries... I didn't sing it because my career was at standstill and I needed something to push me... I didn't have any bad intentions when I said what I said.

"It's on record, I have done bigger things... they said he [Philly] sang before the internet... but at the time his music was being released, the likes of [Yvonne] Chaka Chaka were around.. and we knew about them... Brenda Fassie... Kanda Bongo Man... went ahead to become globally-acclaimed artistes... how did they reach that level?... How come they would come here to sing but Ugandans wouldn't travel to sing?... which means something was missing... what wasn't possible at that time, our generation is lucky to have made it happen... so, we have the right to claim whatever we want because we have done it.

"So, when you tell me to keep quiet... what is your problem?... We are talking about it so that we can inspire the next generation to also challenge us... if we don't speak, we won't have left a challenge... to facilitate development... these people are not fair... but, whatever I'm saying is on record... I have the highest number of subscribers on YouTube... and the highest views on YouTube, Spotify, and Shazam [this reporter wasn't able to immediately verify this]… I'm number one on streaming platforms.

Kenzo wondered why people are attacking him yet older songs have also been posted on streaming platforms but his songs still beat them. There are multiple reasons to explain this, including him being around to promote the songs, and, as Chameleone said earlier, some musicians buy these metrics.

Meanwhile, Kenzo reminded music lovers that he respects Lutaaya and that's why he redid his song. He said he doesn't mind people misinterpreting his previous message. "It's just background noise... to entertain people... but it doesn't take away the truth,” he said.

On those saying that his vocals in the remake were horrible, he said the numbers from sales will help judge that.