Uganda’s Music Scene

The History

Just like all the other beautiful nations in Africa, Uganda has had a culture of music that shaped itself into what it is now. Her recorded music industry began in the twentieth century, back in time when she was still colonized by England. At that time, there was even a record label promoting and putting out the music. Later on into post-independence, Uganda saw a rise of various genres being made and composed traditionally such as reggae and jazz music.

In the 21st century, the music scenery had new artists who came with various styles and the predominant genre was called ‘kidandali’ as this was the new trend of music. From time to time, we have had a stream of artists come into the lime light of Uganda’s music scene. A few years ago, some artists took our own sound to international levels and the most notable ones in this aspect are Eddy Kenzo and Big Trill. It is amazing to look back on how much we have grown our music as a country to gain attention from the world wide community. Everything is improving day by day, the songwriting, the production, the videos, and the press to mention but a few.

The current

To date, the most consumed Ugandan music is by the mainstream local artists who have established big audiences within the country and these artists mainly write music in the most common local language which is ‘luganda’. Since a majority of people speak and understand the local languages, it is no surprise that the local music has its footing in the country. All regions of the country have well established artists who create music of their own origin and ethnicity. However, it is important to note that there is an increased consumption of international music in the country.

International artists from the western world dominate radio airplay just as much as the local artists do. To be specific, West African music has taken a toll in the Uganda music consumption as ‘afrobeats’ which originates from Nigeria and Ghana trends more than any other music genre in the country. The charts of radio stations and streaming platforms in the country are heavily dominated by West African artists such as Omah Lay and Fireboy DML. Nowadays even ‘amapiano’ music trends in the country. These trends are driven by the consumption habits of our Ugandan youth who seem to prefer International music compared to local music for various reasons and tastes. Regardless, we are all African so we definitely do love Africa.

The future

We have many artists and styles of music being composed and curated in the country. Given that some are more foreign oriented and influenced, these styles are slow in penetrating the Ugandan audience to which it is new. One notable new style of music is Electronic Dance Music (EDM) which is almost something new to Ugandans as the only close music to it has been ‘amapiano’ which is known by a good percentage of Ugandans ever since the lockdowns caused by the pandemic. We have noticeable talented EDM producers/DJs in the country such as Tera Nitric and DJ Arta who continue to create the amazing instrumental music. Other new styles include gospel rap. Even though hip-hop and rap now have a substantial audience in the Ugandan music scene, gospel rap is something new and growing.

However, a number of young creatives face a serious challenge of having their music heard given that their styles of music are new, hence need more effort in promotion. The beauty of the new future music is that these extremely creative artists have infused foreign music styles with afro and local music elements, hence making it both unique and original at the same time. In summary, the music being put out by these ambitious and industrious young men and women is termed as ‘urban music’, and there is a new streaming platform called ‘urban flow’ that is designed to help promote the various styles and works of young creatives besides just having a catalogue of all the Ugandan music.

Stream all Ugandan urban music on this spotify playlist:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vqLiP0xi86BdrMAsDu31a?si=wuqB6WFcSWenQAlyQAnBuw

Listen to more urban music from Uganda on this Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZWl1JJfjAExQxf3JwTQfw?si=cKrHbn-bRL2lH6gb0yC0qA&utm_source=copy-link

Uganda’s EDM Scene