Naava Grey: The only Tusker Project Fame product still standing
Naava, popular for hits such as Aliba Waani and Nteledde, is the only one that has made anything meaningful of her talent outside the TPF academy in Uganda, although she was evicted early in the show in season three. Courtesy Photo.
What you need to know:
She may not have won, in fact she was evicted early from the show, but Naava Grey is the only one of the talent show’s participants still flying high. Edgar R. Batte looks her up in search of what has made her survive the tide that seems to have thrown others into oblivion.
It is the sixth year running and not a big star has come out of the Tusker Project Fame! Matter of fact the winners have not gone so far in pushing their dreams forward to a noticeable standard.
One contestant who got evicted in the first weeks of the show back in 2008 has been chasing her dream for stardom since.
Asha Naava Zziwa alias Naava Grey cannot afford to stay her cause. She has hustled; fallen several times but willingly stood up again and today proudly announces her plans of releasing her maiden album and a couple of singles.
She has been juggling motherhood, distress from emotionally-draining relationships and up until recently thought music was after all her only love, perhaps solace.
Naava is willing to keep working at it and already the fruits of persistence and hard work are beginning to bear ripe dreams.
Naava was a nominee and main performer at the recently held Club Music Video Awards (CMVAs). She made good of her stage moment, leaving the crowd smitten with her stage presence and good choreography alongside her dancers.
Little wonder her music video Ninga Omulonge was nominated in the Special Effects category. She was also nominated in the New Comer and Video of the Year, with her Nteredde.
But that is not all that defines the musicality of this rising star. Naava puts time and creativity in her lyrics, bridging on the subject of love which she handles with good diction, pronounced originality and a delivery that exhibits a fusion of rhyme, a bit of slang and emotional outpour that’s believable from a young a woman.
Tshaka Mayanja managed the audition back in 2008 and spotted Naava from the crowd of thousands who had turned to give their go at the chance to shine on stage. He has been a judge at the TPF rates Naava highly, and, his words, she is impressive.
“I am absolutely impressed by her work. I chose her all the way through the rounds in the Kampala auditions and also to the last 10 in Nairobi. I don’t think the material during the finals in Nairobi suited her unique style. We were hard on her actually, which helped her dig deeper,” Tshaka who hardly throws praises, says of Naava.
Tshaka, in his analysis says that of all the finalists that year, Naava and probably Steven Oundo plus Wendy Kimani were the most driven, with the hunger to succeed.
She was hungrier and meeting her in person reveals a fighter who presents herself in way you are sure to get it real and raw. She will smile to a joke, wink when tickled but maintain a straight face when sharing the story of her journey as a female musician in Uganda’s music industry.
Naava is an open-minded woman, willing to tell her story in the most realistic way, as the experiences that characterise it, and her story is unique because she did not win a penny from TPF but spotlight that became that continuous challenge she had to deal with.
“You know I pass in places or sit in restaurants and people are pointing at me,” she says. Eventually, the attention has become a driving factor for her to try this and that all in the name of exploring her deep passion, her childhood dream to become a music star.
Her exploration has had her meander a few times though she has always found herself back on stage or in a music recording studio.
“I have been up to so many things, but right now I am working on my first album, the title of the album is called Ninga omuloge,” she says with a smile that speaks of satisfied mind. It is loaded with 13 songs.
Ninga Omuloge, loosely translated to mean ‘I act like I am bewitched’ is a title track which is Naava’s message from the heart.
The story behind this song is not one the artiste is comfortable to share but when she finally agrees to, it makes so much meaning when you listen to the song again.
“There was this person I was really in love with and for a while it got me thinking that I loved them so much that it felt like I had been bewitched, so I decided to write a song about what I felt at the time,” she explains.
She is so discreet about any more information about who this lucky man exactly is. In fact any further questions only get her giving this girlish I-won’t-tell smile. A further nudging will get her to reveal that “he is still around”.
“Yeah he is a round. I keep him around and right now I want to focus on my career so I am not concentrating on the relationship. I might crumble. It is destruction in a way when it comes to work,” the diva adds, pointing to how much she focuses on her music career.
On her maiden album she has largely worked with little known producer David Arinaitwe (D-King), in a studio in Ntinda.
“I have worked with him on songs like Ninga Omulege, Ndi wano, nja kwagala, Oluyimba, among others,” she says. She has also worked with Zambia’s K’million.
She adds, “I have worked with many big artistes that I cannot mention now because the songs are not out yet.” In 2009 she worked on Aliba Wani at Fenon Studio, with a producer called Michael Fingers (Mugisha). Since then she worked on a few singles with artistes like Mun G with whom she has done three songs, Sejusa, Champion and Okimpeko. She has also worked with GNL Zamba (Make a wish).
All these are songs that have her favour among music lovers. But her biggest highlight as an artiste was curtain-raising for American Grammy Award winning rapper Eve, a deal she got from her brother who has an events organisation company- Ogopa Butterflies, which organises international gigs.
It was a euphoric moment on stage for the Ugandan singer whose performance was received with cheers even though revellers had no idea what she was singing about.
At the concert she also met her current manager, Munya Dakar, a well-travelled music promoter.
“He had connections and one day when we flew to South Africa, we hooked up with the people who work with Sony South Africa and gave them a CD. I think they found the music nice and they eventually called me up and have offered to distribute my music,” an ecstatic Naava explains. The artiste adds, “I was not that surprised, I think it is high time I got recognised for my hard work.”
Hard work it has been for the girl who came out of the blue. In fact, before TPF, she says she was “just a normal person”.
“I was working on school. Trying to set up a counselling centre, open up a restaurant somewhere and at the same time applying for a job in some bank somewhere as I studied,” she recounts. She was pursuing a degree in Information Technology (IT) at Makerere University at the time. Even as an ordinary university girl something was calling out.
“I felt something was calling out to me. A voice within kept saying there is something you need to try out. Before I did not realise until Tusker Project Fame came then I thought to myself, let me just give it a shot,” she recollects.
In 2006, she was pregnant with her first and only child, so far, watching the first season of TPF.
“I used to imagine myself on the same stage. And a week later, I dreamt myself on the same stage. Little did I know that two years later I would take part in the same competition,” she narrates. And yes dreams come true. A dream came true for Naava Grey.
Life in the academy:
Would you return to the academy given the chance?
I wouldn’t go back because TPF is just a shadow of what the reality is all about. It is nothing like the real world. It gives you a break yes, but this out here is the real world.
The hardest thing.
It was being restricted. In there, you are cut off from the rest of the world so it eventually becomes an emotional affair as everything you are used to like family is unavailable.
The happiest moments.
I enjoyed my friends…getting to know people from different areas of life was a beautiful experience.
Any regrets? What would you do differently given another chance?
I have no regrets whatsoever. When you get your one shot in life, you take it the best way you can. But we are not perfect so doing it again would not guarantee perfection. I would rather focus on moving forward.
Did you see your eviction coming? How did it feel?
Yes I saw it coming, and it felt good. For me, it was an opportunity to get out there and do my best putting what I had learnt to good use.
Tip for the contestants in the academy.
Let them enjoy the pampering and believe in themselves even if things do not work out. You may not win, but you will have acquired a wealth of tips and knowledge and an experience like no other so make the most of that.
My biggest lesson from the TPF experience.
It is never too late to pursue your dreams. I had never sang anywhere beyond my house and it was my family that encouraged me to go for auditions. I was surprised how far I got and it was an eye opener for me about how much I could achieve.
