Nneka chants down Political "Vagabonds"
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- Parent Category: Kampala One Articles
- Category: Music
- Published on Wednesday, 22 February 2012 14:13
- Written by Moses Serugo
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It is unlikely either of the females from the quartet of Ugandan opening acts at Nneka’s February 6, 2012 concert will have something to brag about. Their set was plagued by sound “issues” that made their appearances at the Goethe-Zentrum Kampala do forgettable. And yet the pay-off plan here was to benefit from a similar platform that gave the main act, Nneka her first break after she “curtain-raised” for Sean Paul back in 2004 at a Hamburg concert.
Ife Phianki racked up more points doubling as event emcee than being an opening act. And yet her jazzy-poetry-flavoured repertoire was worth paying undivided attention to. Thankfully she performs a minimalistic jazz set set at Course View Towers’ Soho Restaurant every Sunday starting 6pm free of charge. Irene Ntale tried out a disastrous acoustic set that exposed her mediocre guitar playing. Luckily for her, Qwela singer/trumpeter Emma Anikuru was on hand to smooth out rock singer Ntale’s the rough musical bits. She may want to explore the possibility of her good looks complementing Anikuru’s remarkable vocal talent.
Tshila treated the audio glitch as yet another occupational hazard opting to sing through it by enticing the audience with her ethno-music set. She won over a new legion of thanks to her up-tempo danceable Gishu songs that highlighted the fact that 2012 is yet another circumcision year for the Bamasaba residents, the ones that inhabit the foot of Mt. Elgon. Tshila endeared herself further with the aptly titled Omubbi wa Kunno, very relevant given the news story of the day was the one about the financial impropriety of two cabinet ministers. Keko got the loudest ovation of the foursome for being just Keko. The towering femme “rap-ale” enchanted with her blend of rootsy-urban hip-hop. Her lone background vocalist was quickly drowned out when the audience sang along Akello, Akello, Akello to her runaway song Full Circle.
The oddity was a marked improvement in sound quality when the Nigerian/ German star of the night Nneka stepped onto the stage. Maybe it was the fact that she benefitted from flying in her own sound engineer. Sorry Patrick Muyonjo! Perhaps you should be getting lessons from whoever was fingering the mixer keys during Nneka’s concert. Lithe frame and bad wardrobe aside, Nneka deserved being the main course of the night. It was hard to miss Naija-intellectualism mixed with German precision. If there were any hip-hop sceptics in the crowd, they were definitely won over by this version that is rather softer on the ear. Nneka could easily have turned the concert venue into a Tahrir Square when she belted out her song VIP, an acronym for Vagabonds in Power. This was her going for the jugular, seemingly prophesying tough times ahead as we get our own taste of the “oil curse”. Just so you should know, Nneka grew up and went to school in Nigeria’s Delta Region, the hotbed of MEND and the cradle of Ken Saro-Wiwa’s anti-Abacha’s protest movement.
There was everything to thank the Germans at Goethe-Zentrum Kampala for that night beyond Nneka baiting and hypnotizing her audience with BMW precision. A generous subsidy by way of the UGX5000 ($2) ticket price meant there was a more affordable distraction from Thursday night’s regular Kampala offering of plain-vanilla sketch comedy. Next time anyone has grand plans to picket outside our Parliament, there will probably be a placard screaming “VIP”. Between you and me it will be less about the “honourable” status of our 300-plus legislators and more of a tongue-in-cheek indictment about them bleeding the taxpayer of UGX103m ($41000) motor vehicles each. Count Dracula would be more benevolent.
Text: MOSES SERUGO ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )
Pictures: SAMSON BARANGA ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. )