Biography – Music Matters

Joshua Baraka and his hit song ‘Nana’

Almost every Ugandan has sung out the phrase ‘Oh nana baby’ which are lyrics from Joshua Baraka’s hit single ‘Nana’. The Ugandan audience is in utterly delighted and happy about the unique talent that the pearl of Africa has to offer to the world.

Joshua Baraka is a Ugandan music artist whose unique blend of musical genres has set him apart in the new generation of artists in Uganda. His rich musical background exposed him to different forms and variations of rhythm and melody. He writes, sings, produces music, and plays piano as well as guitar which he picked up at an early stage. Baraka refuses to be associated with a particular genre and continues to assert that his music style depends on what he wants to say at that moment. With his debut single titled ‘Tomorrow’, he won the hearts of many and continues to do so with his music.

The road to success of Nana

Nana by Joshua Baraka Cover Picture — Nana by Joshua is a hit in East Africa playing across various radio stations in the region.

Nana was released on the 20th of January, 2023. A month after, the official video of it was posted on Joshua Baraka’s YouTube channel and that was the same day the video was premiered on NBS after 5, a TV program in Uganda that hosts established and upcoming artists to talk about music related topics as well as share their projects to the public on one of the biggest TVs in the country. The song immediately shot to the top 10 trending music videos in Uganda on that particular day. Interestingly, it was the beginning of the stardom for Joshua Baraka as many got to know about his music.

A few days after he was already trending on twitter in Uganda and also became the most shazamed artist in Uganda which he was for a couple of weeks where he retained the number one spot. He was then also placed onto various editorial playlists on both Spotify and apple music which helped drive up his monthly listeners particularly on Spotify where he moved on to exceed 300,000 monthly listeners down from under 20,000. One can say he became Uganda’s most streamed artist on the internet and set a record as well.

Joshua Baraka, A Ugandan talented new wave music artist — Joshua Baraka refuses to be defined by genres and continues to create simply beautiful music.

He is a big inspiration to the other upcoming new generation of artists doing various genres just like him and are also aiming for international success. Simply put, he has opened the way for others to get noticed and discovered. I could attribute a lot to Joshua Baraka’s success but what sticks out more is his humility and calmness besides his talent and hard work which are all collectively essential for opening doors to success. Ugandans are now generally impressed with the direction in which Ugandan music is headed, as many never thought that the type of music which they yearned for, was made by their own fellow citizens.

I would love to call upon the other underground and upcoming Ugandan new generation of artists to follow the footsteps of Joshua Baraka so as to create their own unique path to global success right from character to work ethics and attitude. God bless all their efforts!

Nana’s music video crosses One Million YouTube streams after 8 weeks!

Baraka is inspired by Bob Marley, Maurice Kirya, Cory Henry and many more artists that have shaped his approach to music. He wishes to make this world a better place one song at a time with intentional lyrics and catchy melodies.

Stream Nana by Joshua Baraka on all DSPs: https://songwhip.com/joshuabaraka/nana

Subscribe to Joshua Baraka’s YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@ItsJoshuaBaraka

https://itsthemusicmatters.music.blog/2023/03/17/dj-arta-releases-his-last-instrumental-song-may/

Read about DJ Arta’s last instrumental track

DJ KosGabby & Waade Release single ‘Easy’

There are so many people really working hard each day to get out of hardships, pain and various miserable situations. But there’s come a point where we feel like quitting , tired of that life and all you can think of is killing oneself – hoping it will make one free from all the burdens. Waade and DJ KosGabby just want to remind you that you’re not alone, it’s not your fault – take it Easy.
DJ KosGabby

Trust God and continue to ask him “akyusa embeera ” – for he knows what comes before and after us , there’s no need to stress nor fuss over worldly things. Do not think of taking your life for that alone will only bring more problems to you, and those you leave behind.

#MentalHealth #Strongwill #conqueror
Waade

Waade, a Ugandan Rapper — Waade continues to sharpen his pen and mind with thoughtful lyrics and emotional stories to inspire younger artists in the rap game.

Starting with a loud thump, signifying the burden of the perils around you, Waade makes his entrance with a wailing battle cry, calling on KosGabby to come and tackle these demon of depression. KosGabby lays heavy and depressed bouncy Diva pluck single key notes in E minor. Waade‘s vocals continue to ride up on top describing the perils as they lead to a succulent Moombahton cocktail of kick and snare drums with some reggaeton bias, symbolizing the several obstacles that keep hitting you from every side, every now n then.

Waade glides the chorus with deeply inciting vocals hoping you listen to the advice before it comes to the next verse, filled with ethereal vocal chops insinuating all the voices In your head that are pushing you to do away with your life. Waade is observed wailing together with thee “No, no, no” just to restrain you from going forward. He then shuts them out with a strong symbolic cry of “Do not kill yourself” just before KosGabby lays down heavenly airy piano keys that lead down to the outro. The drums die down and the diva pluck continues to play over surrounded by the keyscape piano before Waade seals of the track.

Easy Art Work, Waade & DJ KosGabby — ‘Easy’ is one of a kind

They say they made this AfroMoombahton stylicized simply because depressed people do not need to listen to depressing related music, so it’s why we put the message in a bouncy track.

Gabriel Herniel Kitutu popularly known as DJ KosGabby is a Gospel Trapper, Record Producer and DJ specialising in Trap, EDM, Gospel, and Afro-Beat Dancehall. His debut album BlackThunder , a Trap Gospel album, hit the waves in 2017 when he was only 16 years old. He did the majority of the production for the tracks and coursing the lyrics through most of them. The album features rappers Metrican , Malcolm De Urban, Saint Ella and various other producers.

The new DJ KosGabby Logo

Waade “formerly known as Brian Wade IP ” is a Ugandan rapper,Singer ,Producer touted to have a rap flow as slick as Lecrae (American hip hop artist) or Trip Lee (American hip hop artist).With a unique style and a smooth flexible flow. Waade cuts across the complexity of genres and eras with his music. On the journey to become one of the world’s best Artists and Africa’s finest . WAADE , is prolific and has worked on numerous music projects. He has collaborated with artists from Zambia,Nigeria, Malawi and South Africa. When it comes to music production, Waade has played a big part in his music production by producing, mixing and mastering most of his music

Stream Easy by DJ KosGabby & Waade here: https://songwhip.com/waade/easy

DJ KosGabby’s Kyosiga Song

Read about another song by DJ KosGabby

Marthabella, Uganda’s new female Rapper releases Goosebumps.

In Uganda, we have had a couple of female rappers take up the rap music scene that is widely dominated by their male counterparts. Keko seems to have pioneered this movement and now it is time to hand over the mantle to other talented ladies.

This time round, I present to you Marthabella who has just dropped something for you. Yes, a new project of hers titled Goosebumps. She is part of the urban music scene in Uganda which is a collective of young talented creative artists doing various styles and genres of music.

Marthabella Goosebumps — Marthabella wrote this song at a point in life when she was feeling so low

My name is Marthabella, I am a female rapper l started rapping back then when l was 17. l have got so many inspirations from hardworking women that l look up to. l rap about my life and what l feel so as to inspire myself in all that l do. l wrote Goosebumps at a time when l was feeling low and really needed inspiration so l wrote down something that motivates me and what people can relate to so I hope you enjoy as you listen to it.
Marthabella

Stream Goosebumps on YouTube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=p57w0uxPqvo&feature=share

Subscribe to Marthabella’s YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@marthabella4314

Follow Marthabella on Instagram: https://instagram.com/marthabella43?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

DJ Arta, A rising EDM Artist

DJ Arta born Arthur Okuta is a Ugandan Independent EDM Artist, Producer & DJ. His music is characterized under the genres of Afro Dancehall, Moombahton & House. Having been inspired by Progressive House music, he finds a way to make happy dance music that is slowed down which he calls Afro EDM.

For starters, the other side of DJ Arta is that he is a normal Ugandan citizen who deeply loves music and has just graduated from University with a bachelor’s degree in an engineering course. This is the point where he decides what career path to take as there are two options. At the moment, he still chooses both Music and Engineering but hopes to solely pursue music with love and have it as the chosen career path in the near future. All plans and efforts lead to music eventually and may the stars & universe align so that he can make it in his dream career.

DJ Arta born Arthur Okuta is a Ugandan based Instrumental Artist, Producer & DJ. Though born in 1998, he started making music in 2017 following inspiration from progressive House DJs Avicii and Martin Garrix due to love for that genre and style of music which always made him happy. His style of music which he calls Afro EDM is largely influenced by Major Lazer and DJ Snake to which he has a similar sound that is characterized by a blend of electronic sounds and native culture-diverse instruments and accompanied by rhythmic percussion. His main goal for making music is to make people happy, feel good, and make them dance as they enjoy the music and have songs on repeat.

DJ Arta brand & Logo

His Afro EDM is characterized under the genres of Afro Dancehall, Moombahton & House. The music appeals to African, Latin and Arabic cultures as this speaks to the diversity of his sound as he is also inspired by unique sounds from those cultures and communities. One can distinctively classify his music by the genres of Afro EDM and Afro House.

He released his first track Dance With Me in 2020, an Afro Dancehall song and has gone on subsequently releasing tracks. Most recently he released a Moombahton song titled Mumbah and another single titled FAV will be released soon. FAV is a house song that will drop at the end of the year 2022. DJ Arta’s style and twist of music is similar to the sounds of artists like Sico Vox, Ikson, Qoee & Kygo to which he is a big fan to all.

DJ Arta Spotify wrapped 2022 — “Grateful for being a top fan of five people” – DJ Arta

For now, I believe that I am my biggest fan and hopefully someday others will join me and topple me as regards that position. I will keep pushing out my style of music to Ugandans and the rest of the world in a bid to capture the attention of new listeners who could possibly turn into super fans. Thanks to everyone that listens to my music and I hope that the DJ Arta community grows bigger as we listen and share my music to make people feel good and better.
DJ Arta

Join the DJ Arta Community: https://djartamusic.ck.page/3089834c5c

Stream DJ Arta’s music on all DSPs: https://songwhip.com/djarta

Follow DJ Arta on Social Media: https://linktr.ee/DJarta

Subscribe to DJ Arta’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/djartamusic

Uganda’s EDM DJ, Tera Nitric

Read about another Ugandan EDM Artist

DJ KosGabby’s Kyosiga Song

Song Description

Like all large beings were once mere embryos, all living elements have a defined growth pattern that they follow to yield into a purposeful composite. Being inspired by the power of how a small sacrifice into someone’s life can grow into a titanic load of good in the most unexpected way, Kyosiga by DJ KosGabby was created. Using melodies, she describes the nature of growth of those particular elements presented into the life of any being.

Kyosiga Album Art, a song by two African EDM producers & DJs — Kyosiga Album Art

Starting off with a simple coursing ambient melody complemented with euphoric vocals, the pre-hook entry is layered with filtered trombones made of heavenly synths that transcends one into a cheerful array of carefully plastered purity piano key notes that symbolize the planting of seed whilst watering the same – the act of giving.
There is an immediate bridge buildup of upbeat UG-X Bounce drum percussions leading into the hook to showcase the excitement of the seed undergoing germination with all the inner components rushing and gushing and bringing life to the recipient. The chorus hits with a mad Stub followed by a dexterous aromatic mixture of House based effects and dance plugin sounds. One can’t fail to skip and jump to the arousing relay of the UG-X kadoodi, hi hats, congas, claps and heart lifting kicks. It totally takes one to a whole new level of embracement for Dance music.
The second verse comes in with a somewhat vibrant energy showcasing the youth stage of growth tailored with the anxious desire for diversity from the kin. The simple gliding organ notes accompanied by a resounding Reese Bass symbolizes the friends and the elements that the key subject picks up along the way, moulding its definition as a whole.
“Thinking about those days,” a statement that will live to be remembered in that, there was a genesis from where this all begun, oathing to always remember those days. Chaperoned with harmonious keyscape notes, the second verse transitions into the chorus with a lightrous drum build up followed by a short preview of the chorus for about 4 bars. There then, she drops into a trap sensation symbolizing the agile near adult life of the element. Filled with atmospheric mars sounds, its late transition into actual maturity is followed by an artfully saturated chord progression demonstrating the now true aging adult life of the element ready to give back, yielding to thee that sowed. That’s the power of Kyosiga.

DJ KosGabby

Gabriel Herniel Kitutu popularly known as DJ KosGabby is a Gospel Trapper, Record Producer and DJ specialising in Trap, EDM, Gospel, and Afro-Beat Dancehall. His debut album BlackThunder , a Trap Gospel album, hit the waves in 2017 when he was only 16 years. He did majority of the production for the tracks and coursing the lyrics through most of them. The album features rappers Metrican , Malcolm De Urban, Saint Ella and various other producers.

He grew up in Jinja-Uganda alongside two siblings learning piano, drums and guitar from Church. It’s from where he began his journey as a DJ in 2012 for a gospel dance crew where he also was a crew dancer. His unprecedented creative mixing skills got him noticed by club and events managers, careering as an amateur DJ doing gigs and parties.

He continued up with the skill through to College from where he started his production career in 2015 during his Ordinary Level Education. He released his first track, a Remix of Million Stylez’s Miss Fatty which remains unpublished to date. He continued to become the shadow Entertainment minister (KosGabby) and college DJ, upping both his mixing and production skills through to the birth of BlackThunder. In 2019, he retired from turntabling to focus more on Production being inspired by gated synth producers like Timbaland, Alesso, Marshmello, John De Sohn and Nicky Romero causing him to develop a unique emotional dance music style showcased in his tracks Burnt Water, You or Me, False Awakening and most of his latest releases.

Tera Nitric

An EDM Producer/DJ from Uganda, with a couple of releases on underground EDM international labels. Not only is he talented but also hardworking. One cannot talk about Electronic Dance Music in Uganda and fail to hear his name surface or mentioned by someone in the crowd or crew. He has worked his way up and successfully released music with various underground EDM record labels in the US and Europe. Versatility is also one of his strengths as he can make various genres of music ranging from Bigroom house to Afro EDM, to even anything like Amapiano and UGX-bounce.

Tera Nitric Logo

The Story behind Kyosiga

Starting as a soundtrack intended for a feature film by the same name – that never made it out of the production house, DJ KosGabby conjured Kyosiga to fit the pleasure of giving. Intending to sound different from all other sound tracks created before, he intended to give it an African taste of production by building up the percussions being inspired by the kadoodi music artistry. Having cancelled release of the film, he cast the project upon the shelves to be long forgotten or so he thought.
On one of his endeavors working with DJ Arta, KosGabby crossed paths with EDM Guru Tera Nitric, Epaphroditus Kerim – and after sharing a lot amongst each other, Tera revealed that he was working on developing a new sound in the EDM vicinity that would change and bridge a lot of music ethnicities world over. But little did DJ KosGabby know that what he had put away long gone on the shelves was exactly what Tera was talking about. Still unaware, the two planned to work together on several projects and after sharing production files including the Kyosiga project, Tera was so surprised to find a producer who understood exactly what he wanted to bring out to the world. Thus after some short excitement and a few late night activities, Kyosiga was born. The song will be released on 12th August, 2022.

Listening to Kyosiga by DJ KosGabby ft. Tera Nitric — Releases on 12/08/2022

Presave and stream Kyosiga on all DSPs: https://lnk.to/Kyosiga

Stream DJ KosGabby on all DSPs:https://songwhip.com/djkosgabby

Watch & subscribe to DJ KosGabby on Youtube:

The YouTube link
https://youtube.com/channel/UCzKyLGA1CNmmbpb-DI1vx_w

Stream Tera Nitric on all DSPs: https://songwhip.com/teranitric

Follow Tera Nitric on all social media platforms: https://t.co/GKZAImg1VN

https://itsthemusicmatters.music.blog/2022/08/01/the-elgon-song/

Read about this DJ Arta Song

Uganda’s EDM DJ, Tera Nitric

Tera Nitric Story

In this music era today, Tera Nitric born Clyde Epaphroditus is taking the music waves in Uganda by storm. Not only is he talented but also hardworking. One cannot talk about EDM (Electronic Dance Music) in Uganda and fail to hear his name surface or mentioned by someone in the crowd or crew. He has worked his way up and successfully released music with various underground EDM record labels in the US and Europe. Versatility is also one of his strengths as he can make various genres of music ranging from Bigroom house to Afro EDM, to even anything like Amapiano and UGX-bounce.

Ugandan EDM DJ & producer. Tera Nitric from East Africa. — Tera Nitric Logo

This budding artist actually started making music in 2015 in his senior five class while at Macos. The artist name Tera Nitric, initially was his rap name. Writing rhymes and raps is what he used to do but still had a hidden love for EDM music. And neither did he have any idea about deejaying and making EDM music back then. All he recalls is that he had a lot of that music on his laptop. Thereafter, he then promised himself to learn an instrument when band guys in school were actually having short breaks. After that, he got to know the basics in Keyboard from band buddies “Glenn & Kulo” and that is when he actually decided to switch from rapping to making music(producing) because there were honestly many rappers and aspiring rappers in Macos. By then it was Mainests, EyezClosed, Drillz and many more. But there were fewer producers so he asked himself, “why not start with basics in Piano”. So by the time his form six vacation started he was already out and pretty sure that all he wanted was to make music. Initially, he felt the urge to make Hiphop and trap music.

Hearing from Tera Nitric

“2016, which was my vacation was a year of making a choice, so nothing big happened. Until fast-forward to 2018 which was like First Year 2nd Semester of campus when got this roommate ‘Canaan’ aka ‘Crums’ who had LMMS and FL Studio which are production software brands. So I joined a room and he was my roommate. I discovered Crums made music on his laptop by then we both were into Hip-Hop and trap so I used to make trap beats and he made some trap and EDM. So later while making trap, we all decided why not switch it up to EDM mostly. Maybe because we just felt that trap beat makers were also too many in Uganda. There was that urge to be unique, even when we were new to making music, which was actually hilarious now that I think about it. Oh, by the way Crums really disliked me the first time I was his roommate because I used to stay up later than him and he liked his lights off by like 9pm. Honestly I found it weird that he slept at 9pm. So I used to stay up either making short notes for law school or trying to learn how to make EDM music.”

“So after being so affiliated with the EDM genre, Crums introduced me to DJ Arta his OB who is also an EDM Producer and DJ. The link up was immediately strong because somehow by that time we all made Progressive House music actually in 2020 me and DJ Arta had progressive House Tracks released on the same label Wolfrage Records based in Netherlands. Crums made more tropical house because of Kygo’s influence on him. But one thing in common is that I, DJ Arta and Crums were all inspired by Avicii (RIP). So DJ Arta is the founder of Electronic Wave and he took me up to be part of it. Electronic Wave is a Group of Ugandan EDM Producers and DJ’s. From then I never looked back. I became more indulged with this music. It has been a good journey from 2018 to date. Actually four years since I started Producing Music.”

“In 2020, I got more inspiration from a Kenyan friend and Talented Producer and DJ ‘Moses Gitua’ aka ‘KeyRai’. To me, he is the African ‘Nicki Romero’. His music and DJ sets inspired me to keep growing my craft. His hard work and work ethics is just high up there. You can realize that in 2020, my soundcloud and YouTube pages had alot of Progressive House tracks because of some of my inspirations, “Moses Gitua ” and “Avicii”. In 2021, I decided to diversify my creativity to other different subgenres like Bigroom House, Future Bass, Afro EDM, Trap EDM and more. Last year honestly was a good year. I got to make music that was signed by labels I never thought would sign my music. I had music released on labels based in the US which are Shift Axis Records, NoFace Records by Max Vangeli who was an associate to Swedish House Mafia. The tracks I released last year off labels were majorly Bigroom House tracks that I made with my Colleague and good friend in Kenya named ‘DRUE’. His a real bigroom fan just like me so we decided to make tracks together. We had 3 releases and had one this year off Seal Network and many more in the kitchen. This year I have already released tracks off labels like Seal Network based in Germany and Mafia Family Crew based in Sri Lanka. More music with diversity is yet to drop off.”

Kampala EDM DJ Tera Nitric. — Tera Nitric Brand

UG-X Bounce.
What is UG-X Bounce?
This is an EdM genre that was first thought of by DJ Mericorn, a fuse of EDM with african elements like percussions, and instruments. In 2020 she asked that we should dive into the sound design of the genre and we alluded from the kadodi music, ‘Bagisu Music’ of Eastern Ugandan. The genre has been in the works for nearly two years now and finally one can testify that it is ready and many tracks are going to be released under the genre by Tera Nitric and Afriki Wave. You will soon know what Afriki Wave is all about in no time. The genre was first started with the 3rd step pattern and the rest was histroy. We just felt the need to come back to the African routes and own our sound as EDM creatives from Uganda. The sound so far has received personal support and good feedback from various artists like DJ Arta, DJ KosGabby, ItsMdnyt, DJ Ronnie, Maerco (Moses Gitua, Drue, Sktr4, Ndunda, DJ Bismarck these are DJ’s from Kenya). Right now, Tera Nitric’s story hasn’t yet ended, stay tuned for more music.

Follow Tera Nitric on social media:
https://t.co/GKZAImg1VN

Stream Tera Nitric’s music on streaming sites: https://songwhip.com/teranitric

Catch Tera Nitric’s DJ mixes and music on YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCNRCJV0uYD37DQ0AC8xfMgg

Uganda’s EDM Scene

EDM from Uganda