Pulse: Your contribution to the Ugandan music industry has been quite consistent over the years. Is it just a matter of following your passion or a love for the industry?
Washington: It is a good thing when you see home-grown talent thriving and I must admit that gives me a lot of satisfaction. Over the years I have seen the industry grow. I have worked with artistes such as Chameleone, Radio and Weasel, Cindy and Eddie Kenzo, all celebrated names across the region.
P: Most of those are founder showbiz artistes, talking of this generation of musicians. We don’t seem to be getting any new names from Uganda showbiz...
W: Not quite. Radio and Weasel haven’t been in the industry for as long as say Chameleone has been and so clearly, there is good growth. I am actually working with a new group called Power Bank whose projects will be out soon.
P: There used to be so much beef among Ugandan singers. That seems to have gone away, right?
W: The days of beef among Ugandan artistes are a thing of the past. There is no fighting anymore. Artistes and the industry in general has matured and people have realised that we are here to make a living not fight each other.
P: That said, there was this spat between singer Maurice Kirya and Chameleone over the artistes ‘matoke’ dinner date with President Yoweri Museveni, an invite that Kirya declined...
W: Don’t believe everything you hear from the tabloids. Besides, artistes have always sought dialogue with the president but this was taken to mean that we were going to State House to pledge support for the ongoing political campaigns. That was not the case really. Just like anyone else, artistes have a right to air their views so there was nothing about artistes eating ‘matoke’ with the president.
P: It is said that money exchanged hands as the president got assurances that artistes and the youth would rally behind him...
W: I can’t speak about that. How the president deals with an artiste individually is not something I can talk about. And still, artistes sing to make a living. They have families to feed and bills to pay. The truth is we pitched serious matters to the president like the fate of artistes here and the copyright law that needs to come to place. We want to see artistes earning real money and everything was driven towards this. Besides, it was a show of unity towards a common purpose.
P: I understand artistes also recorded a song in praise for Museveni after that. How much were they paid for this?
W: This was a good gesture from the artistes and there was no money involved. Sometimes you just need to sow a seed and wait to reap later.
P: Talking about sowing seeds, it is the second time you have recorded a song with the president. The financial returns must be really handsome...
W: Like I said, sometimes you need to plant a seed and wait to reap the harvest later. The first release Yes Ssebo, went viral and played well in the presidential campaigns. This new song is expected to be the same.
P: What is it like recording with the president?
W: I treat him like any other client.
P: He comes to your studio?
W: No, that is the only difference. I have to go to State House and record from there.
P: Who writes the lyrics to his songs?
W: He does. It is solemnly his idea. My work is simply to guide him when I start recording.
P: How long did he take to write this new song?
W: I don’t really know. What I know is that it took us less than three hours to record the song. He is good at it. Just like the first recording, we just did one take and the song was ready.
P: Do we expect a video out?
W: Yes. We are recording a video this week, which I expect to release by Friday (today).
P: Since it is a rap song, do we expect to see Museveni dressed like a hip-hop star?
W: That I won’t reveal for now but the video will have it all.
P: Is that not an endorsement...
W: Like I said, every artiste is an individual citizen who has a right to support the presidential candidate they wish to. I know he (Museveni) will be elected president. There is nothing new about artistes showing their political leaning.
