The easiest way to insult a Ugandan urban artist is to tell him or her that their music “sounds like kidandali”. Most urban artists look down on kidandali. They consider it low-brow, a simpleton’s or a “local” person’s music. However, the fact is that the majority of artists in Uganda make so-called “kidandali music” and it’s by far the most popular type of music in Uganda. Urban artists are gaining ground in many ways, but they still have a long way to go before they can claim even a fraction of the popularity that kidandali has.
The question becomes: why is kidandali so popular and what can urban music learn from it? In my opinion there are three things that kidandali artists do right:
1.They make music that is easy to dance to. Kidandali is basically party music. It doesn’t require an advanced degree.
2.They make music that the ordinary Ugandan can relate to. The majority of kidandali music is in the vernacular, but that’s not what I mean. A Ugandan in the UK can listen to Bebe Cool’s “Cease and seckle” and immediately recognize something uniquely Ugandan about that song. Sadly, the same cannot be said for most urban artists’ music.
3.Although they borrow styles from other countries (mainly Jamaican dancehall), they manage to fuse those styles with a local sensibility. In contrast, most Ugandan urban artists merely try to imitate foreign music and they end up sounding like cheap knock-offs.
I am not a huge fan of kidandali. (By the way, I realise there is debate surrounding what that term really means- but you all know what I’m talking about, right?) The occasional kidandali song catches my ear but the majority doesn’t. Still I appreciate how artists who make kidandali have managed forge a space for themselves by staying true to their roots. There are some local urban artists thar would do well to learn from their example.
May 28, 2012 @ 12:41:04
i don like local music, unless there is-accent im not for it.
May 28, 2012 @ 13:07:16
maybe people are embarrassed to be themselves. sss. they are scared to be ”local” when local is who we are no manters what car you have and music you ”pretend” to understand
May 28, 2012 @ 13:38:36
The thing about kidandali is that it sounds like a different person singing to the same song. Maybe that’s why people like it. Its familiar.
May 28, 2012 @ 14:15:11
people like ‘anonymous’ who dont like music ‘unless there is accent’ are what’s wrong with uganda today….
May 28, 2012 @ 14:29:24
I love my country and support the music industry where I can, but kidandali is the most un-inventive genre on the face of the earth. We can and we are doing so much better than that ‘doom chacka doom chacka doom chack ZZzzzzz’ crap
May 29, 2012 @ 15:15:43
My primary beef with kidandali is that it’s pretty much the same beat on every song. I’m very much for Ugandans making music that is in the local dialect and appeals to any level of society. But hearing the same beat over and over just kills me. The issue about faking American and Jamaican accents irritates a little as well but I can forgive that one if double standards didn’t exist. Pretty much nobody gets called out for trying to be Jamaican but urban artists are always being called wannabes. We can’t have it both ways.
Jun 04, 2012 @ 18:09:49
kidandali is kidandali. Just like rnb. When u r listening to rnb session does it sound like the same song? No! Theres kidandali all over the music world. Listen to Akons remix of NO BODY thats kidandali. I relate what we are talking about to an optician trying to explain tracoma and blindness to a child learning how to talk/speak.
Jun 05, 2012 @ 10:12:37
roki, you lost me at tracoma.
Jun 08, 2012 @ 15:24:35
Kidandali is what the media think that society likes. Before Kidandali there was South African music like Kwaito & Lingala taking over and the media made people believe that thats da music to listen to until our own local started developing gradually. Then Bongo Flava came, dis also was enforced by da media as if we dont have our Rap Music. Media controls society, wat it portrays is wat people consume. Now that they have forcefully appreciated UG rap music that its a genre worth listening to, the public is loving it.