It has been making rounds across the face of this sovereign nation; jumping about on the airwaves like an unquenched lover. The jumping, however, shows how good the song is. It is King Saha’s melodic voice that tethers you to the nearest pole and robs you of your righteousness. It is his iconic hypnotic croons that escape his throat and seek solace in your ears where they morph into calm residents. And it is Ziza Bafana’s hoarse voice that is akin to ‘when it rains, it pours.’ When he starts speaking, rather singing, he never stops. And he is loud, only, his deafening voice is organized in a delight octave. Clearly, 2014 is a year of newbies. It is a year of Ugandan music.
Ladies want to jump King Saha’s bones. They want to pull out their eyes in hysterical fervor. They want to strip to their bare bones in sheer admiration of the lad who introduced himself as the best thing to ever grace the industry after Mowzey Radio. At first, admittedly, I thought he was a nonsensical lad who embraced auto-tune to sound like that. After a couple of his repertoire of songs, however, I sunk in my chair and hovered my hand over my hat to tip it. I haven’t. But then again, King Saha might not be a king of melodic voice, he is a prince. He is a promising talent; armed to the teeth with the arsenals and tumble in the jungle that is Uganda’s music. And it was evident in Abantu Baffe, lending his bankable vocals on a song that was already owned by a one Ziza Bafana. It is delightful to see the two promising chaps merge talents and delicately coming off nicely, as though they have been doing this all their lives.
Abantu Baffe might have been salvaged by the beat (the producer must have inhaled a few blunts), but the lads outworked themselves on it. It is easy on the ear, unlike Ziza Bafana’s part that seems to render you to smack your head on the wall in ecstasy. Abantu Baffe, our people, is a good song. But the thought of the lads in it gives the much needed redemption and sign that, yes, our music is on the high road like Three Days Grace sings.
Reviewed by Nimusiima
