Joshua Baraka
Artiste of the Year: None
Do you remember a story in this publication a story that said 2024 has been horrible for music? Well, it is hard picking out one artiste as truly outstanding this year.
Some artistes did well but were overshadowed by mediocrity and vulgarity, which was heavily pushed by some media houses. Mainstream music has been so bad that it took the intervention of two governments, Buganda and Uganda to technically ban the music.
Male artiste of the year: Joshua Baraka
This was close between Elijah Kitaka and Joshua Baraka, and it came down to this. Joshua Baraka is not your ordinary local artist, he’s not out there clout chasing or seeking attention; he makes music. But the most important thing is that Baraka is truly exporting Ugandan music; this year, he has been relentless about taking his sound out of Uganda. He staged two shows in London, collaborated with Ice Prince, Nkosazana Daughter,
Bensoul, KiDi, Victoria Kimani, Fave, King Perry, Marioo, LeoStay Trill, Kivumbi King and Mr. Tee and TenorBoy. This year alone, he has collaborated with artistes from east, west and southern Africa on top of touring Sauti Sol’s Bien.
Did we also mention he has released two EPs, Growing Pains and Recess in a space of one year?
Female artiste of the year: Nandor Love
This woman has had a very unexpected year; she has featured in some of the hottest collaborations, such as the all-star female, Six Killas where she joined forces with Ava Peace, Zafaran, Nina Roz, Recho Rey and Jowy Landa on Kukyakala na Kubwa. Since then however, she has been consistent through out the year churning out songs such as Byadala, Empologoma, Mumbulamu and that’s without mentioning her latest, Nawolovu.
For a year where the most trending female artiste was mainly known for her body shape, Nandor Love, Azawi, Vinka and Ava Peace were some of the few that kept the lights on.
Song of the year: Masavu
Azawi’s Masavu song came with mixed reactions. After the release of the original version, an AI remix featuring the late Mowzey Radio was released a few days later which caused a lot of controversy, with many saying Azawi stole Radio’s song. After the official release of the video, the song went on to be number one for at least a month on YouTube and has been in the YouTube Top 40 ever since its release in April to date, currently occupying no. 32.
Nandor Love
It's also the second oldest Ugandan song in the top 40. With those statistics, Masavu is our song of the year, and it was in contention with Elijah Kitaka’s Dawa, It’s Okay by Acidic Vokoz, Otulo Zafaran, Enkudi by Lil Pazo and Hoozambe by D Star.
Breakthrough artiste of the year: Acidic Vokoz
Acidic Vokoz, real name Kakaire Mutwahilu, had a successful concert at Cricket Oval this year. His concert was on the same day as Mudra's, but he managed to pull it off despite being referred to as an upcoming artiste.
“We wanted to erase the mentality that to have a concert, you have to have been in the industry for many years and that Cricket Oval should be the last venue an artiste should hold a concert at after several concerts in other small venues,” he told us after the concert. Besides the concert, Acidic Vokoz has managed to give us some top charting songs this year, notably It's Okay, which has been the oldest Ugandan song in the top 40 YouTube charts.
It’s Okay has been on the charts for 300 days, only followed by Azawi’s Masavu.
In this category, he was up against Gloria Bugie, Nandor Love, D Star, Spyda Mc and Ava Peace.
Producer of the year: Nessim This is not the first time we are awarding Nessim as the producer of the year. Not for the quantity but the quality and his versatility in production. Whether it’s Vyroota’s Maria, Pretty Pretty by King Saha, Bamutwala, and Byadala by Nador Love and Ava Peace or Dax Vibez’s Tabbu, he always brings his A-game.
Elijah Kitaka
Video of the year: Lukusuuta
The art of making videos that don’t only say but show is long gone. At the moment, a big percentage of local videos are a bunch of sleek shots that don’t communicate. Which makes Lukusuuta exceptional; it is a scripted video with an actual storyline. The other video that came close was Azawi’s Masavu.
Joshua Baraka’s conceptual Dalilah could have hit the mark, but how do we explain the concept to a regular Sula? all well received by his audience.
Alone features South African artistes Nkosazana Daughter and Delilah II alongside Simi and Qing Madi, which have been crossovers to markets such as Nigeria, the UK, South Africa, the United States, and Kenya, among other countries.
However, besides Joshua Baraka, other albums we considered for Album of the Year included Bagonza by A-Pass, Rwebembera by Kohen Jaycee, Viboyo’sHand Made Triumph, and Rickman’s Ndi Muto.
Concert of the Year: Legend in Gold One of the hardest categories this year. We debated for days until we all reached a middle ground that Chameleone’s Legend in Gold was indeed the best of them all. In a category that included Iryn Namubiru's
Timeless Concert, Blu *3's Reunion Concert, Melodies of Love by Rema, and Mayinja @47, Chameleone’s concert stood out in a number of things. He had previously had a concert at Cricket Oval, and without any new music, he still managed to pull a huge crowd at Serena Victoria Hall just a few months apart.
This concert had no shortcomings at all. Everything played out well, from time management and supporting acts to stage and sound, but most importantly, Chameleone performed to his best and to people’s expectations. Indeed, this concert was a celebration of his 25 years in the music business.
Hozambee
Collaboration of the year: Love Commissioner
This year has been a wealth of collaborations. It made this category so hard. Imagine a comeback for Viboyo such as Bother Me with Spyda and Tushi Polo or Nandor Love and Ava Peace on Byadala. Anyway, after deliberations, it was hard to come to a conclusion, but Love Commissioner by David Lutalo and Rema Namakula came out on top.
Other notables were Tabbu, Dax Vybez, and Ava Peace; Style by John Blaq and Pia Pounds; Hozambe by Mudra and D-Star; and Young Mulo and Sheebah’s Sipimika.
Cross-Over song
Hozambee
We are not sure how much the original version garnered on YouTube but the remix of Hozambee featuring Mudra has managed to get 9.3 million views in just six months.
Hozambee song was a wave this year in that we saw foreign celebrities like Nameless doing TikTok challenges of it. The artiste even made a courtesy visit to Kenya because of the song and during the Kenya riots, a clip of him on the streets made rounds with the crowd chanting the song.
Unfortunately, It is one of those scenarios where the song is bigger than the artiste.
Gospel song: Lukusuuta Lukusuuta by the Stream Of Life Choir, Kennedy SS is one song that speaks to those listening. It is inspirational and has it’s message well stated, something many gospel singers don’t do these days. But above all, it fronts talent over anything
