Dear Kampala,

To mark one year of our existence, Bold Kampala in collaboration with the very best of the Ugandan fashion and entertainment industry as well as Redd’s, DSTV, Rwenzori Premium and Blush Media present to you a fashion-lover’s dream, ‘A Redd’s Carpet Affair’.

For the first time in Kampala, all your favourite local designers will be showcasing on one runway in what can only be described as the Ugandan all-star line-up. XP Africa Clothing, Biika, def.i.ni.tion Africa, Kiroto Africa, Kunda, Kwesh, Namia Couture, Qulture, Claire Tendo, Umuringa Jewelery and Gloria Wavamunno, in that order, will all be showcasing up to ten pieces each.

As if that is not enough to get you picking out your outfit, and without giving any surprises away, the entertainment for the night is in the very capable hands of Mister Deejay, Maurice Kirya, Lilian Mbabazi, Ekky, Richy, Patrobas and DJ Global.

Anybody that has ever had the pleasure of watching any of these talented people in performance will tell you that we are in for a treat!

The event is set to take place this Friday 24th May 2013 in a Bugolobi warehouse (map is enclosed in the tickets), doors will open at 7.00pm.

Courtesy of Redd’s , we will be kicking the night off with a cocktail, during which all attending guests will have the opportunity to do some after-dark shopping as well as meet and greet all your favourite local designers. We will be ending the night with an after-party at the same venue.

Given that the night is a celebration of the Ugandan fashion industry, the dress code is ‘Boldly Ugandan’, formal. There will be a prize for the Boldest Ugandan outfit in addition to 60 other give-aways.

In conclusion, all lovers of fashion, entertainment and Uganda, do not sit this one out. There are a limited number of tickets on sale at Bold Kampala for UGX60,000.

Bold is located on the first floor of the Krsna Mart building in Kisementi. See you there!

1. Listen to everything - You may not be a fan of local (so-called) “kidandali” music, but if you’re trying to figure out how to make it in Uganda, you need to listen to it. You need to listen to the music you don’t like as much as you listen to the music you like, because that’s the only way to understand why a song hits when it hits.

2. Befriend DJs, music programmers and other influential people -  This one may require a little persistence, but it is well worth it. Once you are in with  the people who choose what people listen to, it will be that much easier to push your next single and it will go much farther.

3. Take inspiration from the artists around you - You won’t get far by trying to emulate the marketing tactics of artists like (for example) Chris Brown because they have a ton of money and a very slick advertising machine behind them. You’ll learn a lot more from watching and trying to emulate artists like (for example) Jose Chamleone or Liquideep or Davido. Yes, they may have more money than you, but they’re operating in the same musical space which means they are better teachers than artists on western record labels.

4. Talk about it - Discuss your career with people, especially friends and family – because at the beginning they’ll be your team. You never know who’ll give you that one piece of important advice that takes you over the top.

5. Realize that we’re all in the same boat - Of course some artists are more successful than others, but that doesn’t mean that they’ve figured it all out. Those that think they have will probably be dead, buried and long forgotten by next year. Keep working, keep making your music.

Mister Deejay

There are millions of people on FB,  most fall into the following categories:

Silent but active

Likes a picture from 2006

Says nothing but has 5000+ friends

Active but empty

“My dog just burped. ”

“Hmm, traffic.”

Uploads an entire album of herself in front of the mirror in different poses

Active but random

“Don’t fall on the wrong side of it like the other time because lightening strikes thrice in cold places.”

“Brown cats remind me of that time….”

FB is for business

Hi, come to my party!

Hey there, wanna buy my products?

Hello friend! I’m selling my phone, interested?

TMI

“My man really loves me right”

“My underwear is too tight”

“Oops. Forgot to brush my teeth this morning.”

Misinformed TMI

Updates about the wrong person dying

Hears about fires in California and quickly updates about riots in Katwe.

Attention seeker

“It’s been real. I’m shutting down my FB account in 2 weeks”

“I’m sad & lonely. lol”

“I don’t want a man that can’t handle what I’ve got and who I am. I’m too hot to stress. Who’s with me?!”

Angry

“F the police”

“F rich people”

“F poor people ”

“F my life!”

Myziki.com

One of the most frustrating things about our music scene is that local music is often quite difficult to acquire.

If the new Chris Brown song plays on your radio, you can quickly jump on the Internet, whip out your credit card and boom that song is yours. (Or, more accurately, you can jump on the Internet, do a Google search and illegally download the song for free. But you don’t do that do you? . If, however you hear a local song that you like, things become a little more difficult. First you have to identify the song- Shazam is no use here- then you have to either have to call one of your musically-with-it friends and get it from him or hope there is a download link on Reverbnation or Soundcloud or the like.

Enter myziki.com.

There have been (and are) a number of attempts to create an “iTunes for Uganda”. I have tried them all, and MyZiki is the only one that ticks all the correct boxes as far as I’m concerned. The site has a clean, easy to use interface; you can use both credit cards and mobile money to buy songs (mobile money!!!); and, most importantly, it has a cool name!

If you dig a little deeper the plusses keep adding up. MyZiki was developed and is maintained by a group of local student coders, which means that they understand the local music scene.  Supporting the site means supporting a completely Ugandan business and at the same time doing a little bit for the local music industry. Plusses on top of plusses.

Song prices vary, but most are under 2k and once you set up a wallet on the site with mobile money you can download music directly to your phone!

I am super-excited about MyZiki.com and what it could mean for the local music scene. Artists can finally have a legit outlet to sell their music here and abroad and we fans can show our support for our local musicians in a way that will benefit them directly.

The site is still adding content, but you can navigate the music they have on there now and see how it works. Also follow them on Twitter  and Facebook to keep up with music news.

My song recommendations on the site for now:

- Code – Shut it down remix ft Essie, Enygma, theMith, Ruyonga and Tucker HD (free!)

- BigTril - Jaba Shake

- Radio and Weasel  album

I’m going to keep a close eye on MyZiki.com and you should too.

Mister Deejay

1. Your outfit looks really cute but you don’t.

A good outfit doesn’t pardon cracked heels and ashy legs nor has it ever made poor hygiene acceptable. There isn’t an outfit in the world hot enough to hide a bad odor. The most consistent part of any outfit is your body so most would agree that it is worth taking care of. There is a lot of truth to the theory that one should work from the inside out, try it. Hit the gym, practice relaxation exercises, get a massage, (shower regularly). It makes all the difference.

2.That is a very cute shirt, but you are bursting out of it (or, you are lost in it)!

It is okay to admire clothing you cannot fit in, it is even okay to make promises to yourself you will not necessarily keep in an attempt to one day fit in the clothing. However, it is not ok to knowingly purchase clothing that does not fit and squeeze into it anyway. It doesn’t matter which way you look at it, if it does not fit then it does not fit. And if it does not fit, do not wear it. When in doubt, look out for the signs- does your top come to an abrupt halt at your hips? Splitting buttons? Restricted arm movement? Sagging material around the crotch area? Don’t wear it.

3. That is a lovely dress, but you live in it!

At any given time there is that one piece(s) of clothing that we just cannot get enough of in our wardrobes. This is usually because it is either flattering, comfortable, stylish or all three. Whichever the case, it can be very tempting, no doubt, to wear these items of clothing as often as you can. Tempting is one thing, spending weeks at a time in what looks like the same outfit is another.

To avoid this, make a conscious effort to identify the clothing you wear more than you should, and keep a mental note of how often you wear it/them. Create a variety of looks for yourself based on one look- belt it today, tuck in tomorrow, dress it up, dress it down. Figure out what it is that you love about the clothing, the cut? The colour? The style? Once you have figured this out, make an effort to acquire more pieces like this to replace the clothing you do not wear. This way, your attention will be focused on your entire wardrobe rather than one or two pieces.

*Please note, you can get away with wearing simple black pants more often than you probably should, the same cannot be said for a studded leather jacket.

In conclusion, we should never underestimate the attention to detail, we should leave no room for ‘buts’, where we can help it. Very few things go unnoticed.

Until next week,

Bold

When I heard the news that Iryn Namibiru had been arrested in Japan I did a quick google search <Ugandan+arrested> and discovered that prison cells around the world are frequented by Ugandans.

It took google 0.29 seconds to give me 9,270,000 results

At a glance…

• Ugandan politicians arrested in India
• 5000 Ugandans detained in South Africa
• Two Ugandans arrested in Rwanda with fake dollars
• Ugandan arrested for prostitution in Malaysia
• Ugandan singer detained and arrested in Tokyo
• Ugandan footballer fakes his own kidnap, arrested in Thailand
• Ugandan arrested for overstaying in India

Might this be the reason for increasingly long lines in the visa re-application queue?

By the looks of things it seems the newest must-have fashion accessory is a motorcycle helmet. If you haven’t got one and are a regular rider you should! We have noticed that some people haven’t quite got it right – pails, buckets, American football helmets and rugby scrum caps don’t count.

Be safe!

It’s going to get a little tricky to remember all these new laws, rules and restrictions. The latest memo has been sent to police, policewomen must dress appropriately, not wear anklets (?!) or lipstick amongst other things.

We take this moment to salute infamous Kabalagala policewoman Sadia Alli, who seems to follow appropriate police-wear without fail. She doesn’t ‘tint’ her hair and somehow we don’t think she would be spotted in a anklet or ruby red lips and kakondo to work.

Salute.

Labour Day, otherwise known as May Day or ‘Yay, it’s a public holiday’ is tomorrow. The idea is to get some rest as workers around the world are acknowledge, celebrated and given the day off.

Established in 1891, May 1^st has been host to a few other notable events:

1776 – Illuminati was established in Upper Bavaria

1840 – First postage stamp used in the UK

1884 – First black person allowed to play professional basketball in the United States

1927 – First cooked meals ever served on a flight (France)

1930 – Pluto, formally known as the dwarf planet, is named

1931 – Empire State Building opened to the public

1948 – North Korea established

1956 – Polio vaccine made available to the public

1961 – Fidel Castro declares Cuba a socialist states and abolishes election

1961 – Tanganyika granted full internal self-government by Britain

1966 – Last Beetles concert

2011 – Osama bin Laden killed in Pakistan

Get some rest, it’s back to work on Thursday!

I decided to venture into karaoke. Such ‘wonderful’ interactive entertainment that perhaps should have been left to the Japanese. I lost respect for a lot of my friends. Although bad singing shouldn’t be grounds for dismissal, doesn’t really bad singing make you look at someone differently? Really bad singing but thinking it’s good enough to leave the confines of a shower and be unleashed in public, on a microphone?  – Now that person isn’t normal. There wasn’t enough beer to help me have blank out the wailing, crappy country songs and karaoke enthusiasts. Everyone wants to be Whitney or Celine or even worse, Mariah. Karaoke events should be sponsored by Absinthe and Sake mixed together as we sing our way into hell while our mind sits comfortably in an alcohol induced deaf state. Also we should be singing along to the likes of Britney and other crappy pop music with three of four words, not attempting to always love you – that’s a suicide mission.