Past meets present at croak and rhyme show

Joanita Kawalya on stage and revellers enjoying the night. Photos by Eddie Chicco

Croak and Rhyme is not just any of your ordinary entertainment shows that host a bevy of artistes without a good cause. The annual event organised by 40 Days Over 40 Smiles Foundation, a youth founded charity group that seeks to better lives of children, took place on Friday night at the Uganda Museum.

Yes, it was a music fusion of past meets present. The new artistes got to share the same stage with the legendary artistes; Joanita Kawalya and Maddox Ssematimba.

A gracefully aging Kawalya blew away the youthful crowd that abandoned their smart phones and the comfort of their seats to pull off some slow waltz moves to Jim, an old record (that by the way still sounds fresh) from the iron lady of Afrigo Band.

Maddox Ssematimba’s scintillating performance kept the crowd on its feet throughout his performance with his reggae vibes. After years of being off the scene, Maddox can still put up quite a show; dude is able to sing his songs word to word with a lot of confidence, passion and vigour.

Qute Kaye took to the stage seemingly confused about what to perform. Obviously he hadn’t put his act together. As he fleeted from country to hip-hop to Afro beat, one could easily tell he was a musician trying to regain his ground.

Before the legends, the new kids on the block like Benezeri, Ruyonga, Nutty Neithan, Maro and Naava Grey, warmed up the stage. All the proceeds raised at this event are meant to support the building of a girls’ dormitory at Elohim Child Development Association, in Bombo.