Inside music management and the rampant break-ups

When rumours started circulating early this year that Jeff Kiwanuka, aka Jeff Kiwa had fired Rahmah Pinky from Team No Sleep (TNS) management, fans were served with an anomaly. It is usually the musician that ‘fires’ the manager – at least basing on past scenarios. This is the most recent high-profile artiste-manager break-up, and according to the rumours, Jeff Kiwa had become fed up of Pinky’s choice of company and the habits she picked up from them. She also allegedly ‘brought over men’ to her apartment, which was against management rules. After a few warnings, he realised the teenager was not as governable as Sheebah Karungi was. Meanwhile, Sheebah had had many years of success, but Pinky only had just a few songs to her name, including Walwaawo and Picha, featuring Grenade.

Most memorable splits

The most memorable manager-artiste conflicts and split-ups in Uganda also involved Jeff Kiwa, from as early as the Leone Island days with Jose Chameleone. Kiwa started Goodlyfe Crew together with Radio and Weasel after the duo and him felt unfairly treated by Leone Island founder and singer Chameleone. Goodlyfe Crew went on to become a force to reckon with; rising to the level of competing with their former mentor. With Goodlyfe, they took other artistes under their wing, including Gift of Kaddo and Diamond Oscar; who also had huge musical success in the highflying days of the crew. In 2013, the dynamic duo ‘fired’ Jeff Kiwa, accusing him of misusing company funds and fraudulently taking ownership of their property.

Kiwa then went on to start TNS, a new franchise which turned Sheebah Karungi, a former singer and dancer with the Obsessions, into a best-selling female artiste. Kiwa also signed Weasel’s brother Pallaso, after the singer/rapper made a huge collaboration in Amaaso with Radio and Weasel. This was upon his return from the diaspora. It is reported that Pallaso chose Kiwa over his brother Weasel – similar to what Weasel had done to Chameleone; their senior brother. Kiwa also had the late Akay 47, the youngest of the Mayanja brothers under his stable until his untimely death on March 16, 2015. Pallaso fell out with Jeff and quit TNS in May of that same year, starting Team Good Music, and later enjoying flamboyant success under Karma Ivan’s management.

Around the end of 2021, all signs pointed to a split between Sheebah and TNS; citing reasons similar to what Radio and Weasel had given six years earlier.

Music management

According to Michael Jowasi, an artiste manager, “Artiste management is the business of the artistry. It is handling the day-to-day activities of the artistes from booking shows, appearances, endorsements and everything else.”

“Uganda is different because we do not have good structures for a manager to actually be a manager, but at a certain degree the job is done as expected. Tasks of the manager include booking shows, branding the artiste, getting endorsements. You basically have to make sure the artiste creates great art and makes money from it,” he adds.

Having once managed a now highly sought-after musician, Martha Mukisa, Jowasi argues that he never takes disagreements personally.

“I believe that my success is not tied to anyone but myself. Just as I made one successful, I can make another. Haha! I started with Martha but she became big after she left my management. It was a mutual decision for her to leave, because at the moment I did not have the resources to fully manage her,” Jowasi says.

He currently manages urban musician Kohen Jayce, famed for songs Not Letting Go and TIP by Selector Jef and John Blaq. Jowasi says managers do not have a smooth ride in the business.

“We get disrespected by the people in the industry, and sometimes by the artistes themselves because some managers are zeroed down to just messengers for artistes. Also, there is a lack of structures and bodies governing managers. The biggest solution is setting up enough structures to allow managers do their work, and also educate both the managers and artistes about the music business,” he says.

Wycliffe Tugume, alias Ykee Benda, a musician and also the CEO of Mpaka Records,a fully-fledged music management franchise, says music management is about looking out for the creative, financial and brand growth of an artiste.

“There is great management for some artistes in Uganda, but then others just have booking agents in reality. Often, there are no formal contracts and artistes think they can do it all on their own,” he says.

Before his signature smash hits Munnakampala and Superman, Ykee Benda was signed under Badi Music, the same record label that gave us those early masterpieces by A Pass and Producer Nessim. He shares why he had to leave right after finding his breakthrough.

“I left because I wanted to give myself a chance to build a business, which was always the goal. I then started by own record label to build something bigger than me that will be here long after I am gone. I have also helped many brands [artistes] find their way to stardom.”

Among the names he brought to stardom, was Dre Cali, who left the label and immigrated to Canada, without Ykee Benda’s knowledge.

“At the end of the day you realise your dream is not everyone else’s, but you keep giving them the opportunity, until you land the one who shares your values,” Ykee Benda says.

He, however, argues that even though some artistes are emotional freaks who make permanent decisions in temporary situations, there is a great number of unprofessional managers, who think music management is a one-man job.

Aggrey Kihumuro, a former manager of singer Cosign of the Obeera Wa/Kireka Banda anthem, says management is not just about footing the artiste’s bills.

“To fully manage an artiste, stems from playing a role that a particular manager is assigned to do; meaning, he could be contracted to just handle most of the other bits other than taking up the financial burden that comes with the whole thing,” Kihumuro says.

Remembering his relationship with one of his old clients, he says: “I started with my former artiste when he was just recording music and had not put out any. We released music together. Since I was still at university at the time, we sat down and agreed about percentages, so I would get some upkeep for campus. I quit because of the big-headedness that came after our breakthrough song, and it went downhill from there.”

Kihumuro adds that despite the huge challenge of money, he is still involved with management due to the immense passion he has for it, and is experimenting with a new artiste called Sinanti. 

Ronald Maro, a seasoned Ugandan musician currently based in Germany, has his own point of view.

“Managment is an organised group of people who make a brand and maintain it. I call it a group because it is segmented and entails a lot of things such as marketing, booking, accounts, public relations, assistants and so much more.”

“Music management in Uganda is changing for the better, but for the most part, it is just specific die-hard fans with money who decide to make the artistes great by investing in them. Most want a name, so they pay for the artiste’s dream so that they can also be talked about in the process. Then we also have those who have a bit of the ideas and use the artistes’ money to fund and run the business. They all usually have an idea of how things work, and learn more on the job,” Maro adds.

He reveals that the fights and rifts are simple misunderstandings that are mainly a result of ego from both sides, because these relationships are mostly not professional. They are not going to stop today.

“As artistes, we are egoistic by nature because we know what we know and our vision is intangible, so no one can see what we see in our minds. If a manager who came to you as a friend with no clue of your vision tries to show you the way, it is understandable that you begin resisting. To avoid it, there should be proper paperwork, and those interested should approach artistes as management companies,” he says, adding that from the get-go, lawyers should be involved for each party.

Maro has had his own rifts

“My management were friends I sat with and we agreed we could make money out of my talent. As friends, you go through a lot of these fights, but eventually I felt like we played too much with our worth. I say ‘our’ because we had achieved a lot working together. I felt like we took our time and work lightly. We put in too much and we got exhausted at the times when we had to receive. Concerts take a lot from any camp and ours was no different. At Kamboyine Concert in 2015, the moment I saw no hunger to milk the gate and the recurring situation, I called it quits - in good faith,” Maro says.