BEBE COOL’S MUSIC KEEPS GROWING STONGER

BY BAMUTURAKI MUSINGUZI

MOSES Ssali whose stage name is Bebe Cool and one of Uganda’s active pop musicians is optimistic that the local music industry will bear dividends in the next two decades.

“Our music is so competitive and getting better each other day. But the fruits will be visible in the next 20 years for those that can sustain it. This is because it is a new industry and any new industry needs time to start realizing from it,” Ssali, the 38-year-old music star said.

Ssali, who is also known as Big Size is a singer-songwriter, band leader, record producer and actor.

Although he is referred to as one of the leading African reggae and ragga musicians from Uganda, Ssali insists that he is a jack of all trade in the musical genres.  “My music is confused because I play all the types and styles depending on where I am and the audience that I am performing for,” he says.

He started his career around 1996 in Nairobi, Kenya, but a few years later relocated to Uganda. He was one of the first artists affiliated with Ogopa DJs, a production house and record label in Kenya.

Ssali, who sings in Luganda, Swahili, and English rose to music stardom with his collabos Funtula with Bobi Wine and later Mambo Mingi with Halima Namakula. Some of his popular singles are Fitina, King of the Jungle and Never Trust No People.

His highly acclaimed Go Mama album released in June 2015 has songs like Go Mama, Love You Everyday, Everywhere I Go, Byebyo, African Girl, among others.

His Love You Everyday song was nominated at the recent prestigious 2015 MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) in the Video of the Year category.

He says he has been doing singles ever since and if he was to compile them into albums they would add up to more than ten albums.

As to why he started a band and did not continue with CD backed lyrics that he began his career with, Ssali said: “Music grows as we grow and the delivery has to change as well. And it has to suit the age. I knew age would not allow me to jump around to track music of CD music, so I had to start slowly building my Gagamel band 15 years ago.”

Ssali named his band and his company Gagamel International after his the Jamaican music mentor Buju Banton alas Gargamel. “At the time when I was a youth Buju Banton delivered music that made a lot of sense to me in a different style that I had not heard before. So I got interested in him and music,” he said.

On August 7, 2015, he held Friends of Bebe Cool Concert at the Serena Kampala Hotel Victoria Hall.

Ssali was the headline act at the 2015 Viva con Agua (VcA) concert held at the National Theatre in Kampala on February 28, 2015. The proceeds went towards providing clean water for people in Northern Uganda.

“I believe in projects that have an attachment to the local people. There are people living in discomfort and if this project can bring change then I am glad to be part of it. I believe in charity and water and sanitation are very serious issues in Uganda,” Ssali said.

Ssali is among the best decorated Ugandan musicians. He won the Video of the Year award at the 2007Channel O Music Video Awards. He scooped several prizes at the Ugandan defunct Pearl of Africa Music Awards (PAM Awards) including Best Reggae Artiste/Group 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, among others.

He has also won 14 accolades at the HiPipo Music Awards including: Best Reggae Song with Rema (Missing You) 2013; and Artist of the Year 2013, among others.

He has been nominated for several awards including the Kora All-African Awards in 2003 and 2005.

He has performed in the UK and the US, among others. He has featured in the Big Brother house twice.

Together with Kenyan duo Necessary Noize, Ssali formed a reggae group known as the East African Bashment Crew. They released one album, Fire that has two hit singles, Africa Unite and Fire. The group was nominated at the inaugural MTV Africa Music Awards in 2008.

Ssali survived the bomb blasts set by Somali Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab at the Kyadondo Rugby Club in Kampala on July 11, 2010.

“It was basically total luck that I survived the bombs. I was not supposed to be there then the first bomb went off two rows behind me. The second one exploded 45 seconds later. As I crawled out I saw very many dead young people that I had never seen in my life. That is a picture that will not go away from my mind,” he says.

He shared the stage with several international stars at Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday party that was dubbed “The 46664 Concert” in Hyde Park, London in England in June 2008. The underlying motive of the 46664 charity concert was to combat HIV/Aids, through 46664, the charity named after his Robben Island prison number that Mandela established in 2002.

“Performing at Mandela’s birthday was the biggest achievement any artist can ever have because it happened once and never again. He is a legend whose life is celebrated across the world today. We shall never get such a man or icon in our life time. So it was a pleasure for me for having been part of that birthday event,” Ssali says.

Born on September 1, 1977 in Kampala, Ssali is married to Zuena Kirema a television presenter, model and former Miss Uganda contestant. They have three children; two sons and a daughter, Alpha Thierry, Beata and Caysan respectively.

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