Hum Kay uses music to worship, entertain and inspire

He loves and thinks musically.  Hum Kay, born Humphrey Kiingi, is one person who hears and translates things into music. In the middle of a conversation, Hum Kay would rather sing than say something. 

His musicality straddles entertainment, inspiration, worship and film scores. 

“I am a musician who uses my craft as a tool to build communities and in the process improve myself,” he explains. 

His musical journey connects to his parents. Hum Kay’s mother, Edna Hilda Kibuuka (RIP) used to sing in a choir. He was not conscious of what his mother had on him until a call was made for pupils at Victoria Nile School, Jinja to join the choir.

Then, his music teacher Ms Bakalikwiila, compelled him to join the choir. 

In teaching him, she must have observed his potential. He was not upbeat about it because music was considered a career for ‘failures’,  even then, he was struggling with tuition. 

Ms Bakalikwiila was persistent and Hum Kay joined the choir. He also excelled in academics. At seven years, he sang with his mother in church. With his siblings, they would sing for their mother. 

Budding singer

His turning point was at Busoga College Mwiri where he got born again in 1992.

 “I felt the need to do something in line with serving God and I settled for music. I joined the Scripture Union which doubled as the chapel choir,” he recounts.

The school had a strong Christian fellowship and discipleship.

“Christian brothers always looked out for you, there were Bible studies at the chapel, fellowships, and prayer meetings everywhere. There were people to orient your life towards scripture and prayer. I expended my energy into ministry and things pertaining to the chapel,” he says.

In Senior One, Hum Kay wrote his first song, Sing. Patrick Muyinda, now a commissioner at the Ministry of Education, played the keyboard in the chapel. When Kay sang, Muyinda found the musical chords and taught it to the choir. 

Hum Kay became famous. In Senior Four vacation,  Hum Kay and friends including Jeremy Byemanzi, Jeff Mwesigye, Ronnie Nsubuga now pastors, plus Paul, Daniel, Isaac and Jonan Mukama formed the I am Family band. 

It was at that point that he became intentional about writing songs. The band of youngsters performed in schools, at crusades from vacation through high school to university after which they parted ways.

The solo career

At that point, Hum Kay went solo and became a worship leader at Miracle Centre Church - Jinja and later Full Gospel Church. Much later, he went to Miracle Centre, Rubaga as a worship pastor for five years.

In 2004, he released his first album titled Go for Gold, with 12 tracks and an overall message of aiming for the best in life, self-belief and having faith in God regardless of the obvious challenges one faces such as the naysayers. 

Kampala was one of the most popular songs on the album. It was on the musical chats on Power FM for 24 weeks, and also had a cross-over appeal thanks to its groovy touch. 

He then released Took me by the hand. The two songs introduced the gospel artiste to the music industry. He launched the music album at Makerere University swimming pool where he  was a lecturer of Communications Skills at Makerere Institute of Languages. He then did Byonkoledde album in 2007 two years later, Asaanidde then Oli Nange- By My Side in 2012 before The HK Live DVD in 2016 and Christmas from Africa in 2017.

Music theme

On choosing the themes for his music, Hum Kay explains that for the music to sound coherent, it must sound like one unit. For example, Christmas from Africa are Christmas carols with an African sound.

He picked from Ankole, rhythms from Rwanda, Buganda, a collaboration from Burundi and one cannot miss the akogo, endingidi, and more.

 Asaanidde is a worship project done at a point when he was established as a worship minister. He considers it his most successful and impactful project because the worship project opened many doors for him both in and out of the country to ministries, universities, churches, organisations for worship events, to speak at conferences, Bible schools and conduct training workshops.

 “I believe that is because worship is my core space of ministry. It also has some supernatural stories around it and that is a big deal to me. For instance, there is a couple that requested for an appointment and when we met, one of the testimonies the woman shared  after suffering  a miscarriage.  And, she was pregnant again but with complications .”

However, she narrates that in that crisis as they rushed her to hospital, she played Asaanidde repeatedly in their car which gave her strength to pull through.

It was a little more than a year ago when this couple shared the testimony with Hum Kay.  The child is now 12 years old.

Inspiration and mentorship

Over the years, he has been mostly inspired and influenced by the likes of Limit X, Christafari, Richard Kawesa, Ken Serukenya, Isaac Serukenya, Don Moen, Alvin Slaughter, Isaiah Katumwa and Benjamin Dube.

Isaac Serukenya says Hum Kay is one of the most extraordinary young men. 

“I first met him at Busoga College Mwiri in 1994. He caught my attention with his powerful voice, great song writing skills, a great musical ear and great focus and determination. These being great values in my life, we bonded immediately. I mentored him in music and ministry for several years and thereafter,” Serukenya recalls.

Hum Kay later succeeded Serukenya as head of Worship Ministry at Miracle Centre Cathedral, Rubaga. He did not disappoint.

“Later, he moved on to his own ministry and I am very proud of his achievements. He has a lot of potential to keep rising musically. I pray he will stay the course and keep the focus on serving our Lord Jesus Christ.  I wish him well,” Serukenya adds.

Ivan Akansiima, a musician, remembers I am Family, a male a cappella group that rocked the Christian music scene from mid to late 1990s in Jinja. 

They sang polyphonic arrangements of familiar sacred repertoire, and their original compositions. Hum Kay’s was that soulful and ornamental tenor and soprano with a range of almost three octaves that echoed the glorious vocal textures of the group. 

“When I am Family was scheduled to perform anywhere, everybody desperately waited to listen to Hum Kay lead and over lay his polyrhythmic ad libs and phrasings over the music. The guy sang and no one matched him. He embodied all vocal prowess of (Boyz to Men). Every major Pentecostal church wanted Hum Kay to coach their worship team. He is a spirit-filled worship leader,” Akansiima narrates. 

He had gone to attend service at Rubaga Miracle Centre and stayed there for the whole Sunday. 

“That evening Hum Kay came and before he began service, he looked out and saw me seating in  a corner next to the main stage and recognised me. He called me and asked me to seat by the drum kit and play for him. I felt like God had remembered me because I was fascinated by everything at that church, especially their quality of music. I played the drums and that opened many doors to many great opportunities that have since changed my life,” recalls Akansiima, now a renowned Jazz pianist in Michigan, US. 

Worship minister Bertille Ineza (Tille) had gone to a church in Buwaate for the first time when he had an amazing worship experience.

“People were kneeling and some crying as Hum Kay led the worship session. I didn’t know someone could minister to people without preaching to them. I could not see myself elsewhere after experiencing such a presence of God in every session of the service. I wanted to be part of that and grow to be like that someday,” Tille explains. 

She adds, “He is someone I know who knows how to value ministry time. Whoever you’re in his life, it is ministry first. He is truly committed to God and knows whom he is serving. He gave me so many opportunities to serve with him, it was always a blessing.”

Projects

On his journey, Hum Kay has worked with Steve Jean, one of the most influential music producers in Uganda. One of the projects the two worked on was the ‘MTN Yellow Sunshine advert then worked on collaboration which was a Christmas song titled Silent Night.  On it was Jean, Hon Peter Sematimba, Martha Musinguzi, Allan Kisitu, Juliana Kanyomozi and Yvon. He has also worked with Banny Dru, Danro, Sam Bisaso, Steve Jean and Eyezo, as music producers. 

He has collaborated with former girl group- Blu*3, The All Star (A Little Bit of Love) Tille, Shalom Rappers, Kamanzi, Qwela Band, Richard Kawesa and Isaiah Katumwa.

“I also plan to release quite a bit of new music, again online for the most part because my work seems to appeal to audiences beyond Uganda perhaps more than it does locally, “he adds.

 “I think my sound is not typical, and my approach to music is not time stamped. As a result, I don’t seem to blend in with what is known to be the typical ‘local artistes’ and what is known to be the in sound of the time like we  currently have the amapiano sound.”

Hum Kay’s music is generally characterised by cutting-edge vocals, wholesome lyrical content and out-of-the-box artistry. 

“For those who are tightly boxed into genres, I would loosely call my dominant style Afro-Fusion with a leaning towards Afro-Soul. I believe every person’s expression is a sum of their experience. Be it from their childhood, through their education, or exposure to different cultures; that has a bearing on how everyone expresses themselves,” he adds.

His greatest triggers for the music he writes are inspiration which is like the wind; you never know when it will blow or where it will go then experiences that cause pain, pleasure or lessons and the purpose he would like a song to serve.