Rapper Da Agent has weighed in on the ongoing debate about why Ugandan musicians have struggled to break into the international music market, arguing that the issue lies more with artists’ ambitions than the quality of their music.
Speaking while reacting to recent remarks by Kenyan singer Bien, Da Agent said many Ugandan musicians are content with building successful careers at home and have little interest in pursuing foreign audiences.
According to him, there is nothing wrong with focusing on the local market, especially for artists who have mastered entertaining Ugandan fans and continue to thrive from it.
“Some of them are okay entertaining their local audiences and are very good at it. Some people can’t even do it like they do,” Da Agent said. He explained that every artist has different career goals, and not everyone is driven by the desire to become an international star.
However, the rapper acknowledged that music production remains another major obstacle. He noted that while Ugandan producers continue to improve, the country’s competitors embraced modern production techniques many years ago, leaving Uganda playing catch-up.
“Our production, our people are still learning the new things yet our competitors learnt them 10 years ago,” he said.
Da Agent’s comments came after Bien recently stated on a podcast that many Ugandan musicians primarily create music for the local market instead of intentionally positioning themselves for international success.
While agreeing with parts of Bien’s assessment, Da Agent maintained that the decision to stay local is often a personal career choice rather than a reflection of a lack of talent.