Ugandan music star Joseph Mayanja aka Chameleone opened up about the strengths and weaknesses of East African countries in the music industry.
Chameleone says that despite Uganda still lagging behind Kenya and Tanzania in the field of music, there are areas where his country beats others.
According to Chameleone, Ugandan musicians were left behind decades ago because they largely lacked financial resources.
He gave the example of Kenya where since the 1990s, artistes could afford the best musical equipment.
“Kenyans were very rich and invested a lot of money in their music,” he said.
“At that time we had three studios here, they had about 50 so they were far ahead of us,” he added.
As for the Tanzanians, Chameleone noted that their music took off faster than the Uganda’s because they have many patriotic fans.
The Ugandan music star noted that patriotic Tanzanian fans are the reason why the like Diamond Platinumz is treated like royalty by everyone in his country.
Chameleone stated that Uganda lacks in resources and patriotism even though the country’s musicians have talent.
The Valu Valu singer believes that neither Kenya nor Tanzania comes close to Uganda in producing musical talent.
“I can tell you this my friends, our neighbors have equipment and love, but they can’t sing like us,” Chameleone said.
“This is the only weapon we have and this is what we must use to build ourselves, others will come,” he added.
Chameleone was speaking at the weekly meeting of the Uganda National Musicians Federation (UNMF) in Makindye.
In the meeting, he gathered fellow artistes to understand the importance of working together in the federation.
He also condemned some musicians who have left the outfit since it was formed in May this year.
