By Nimusiima
This should be flagged as an open letter/notification/warning/memo/anything that carries a message to Eddy Kenzo. He is a global icon now, thanks to the dancing street kids in Sitya Loss. Thanks to YouTube, too. Hard it not been for those kids, Kenzo would be, well, let me not be a prophet of doom. Have you kept tabs on him? No? I have. I notice, the fame is getting to him. I notice the international travels are getting to him. I notice he is jetlagged because he is booked for a show at AFCON finals and a few days, he is in Accra and downtown Lagos, picking Nairas. I notice the money is weighty in his back pockets. I notice he has morphed into someone different, not the Eddy Kenzo we knew. Not the Eddy Kenzo we all love. Not Musuuza. Not BbaWaRema. I notice he is mouthed in the same breathe with Africa’s big stars; squeezing selfies with them.
Sadly, he will be forgotten in a bit. Sadly, the path he has followed is a path peppered with pitfalls and potholes and it is a path only braved by few. Eddy Kenzo has changed his style of music. It is fine, they say. It is being diverse, they chant. It is being international, they preach. It is being stupid, I say. His song ‘Royal’ with new kid Patoranking tends to give this argument some weight. He sings in English. Eddy Kenzo sings in English, folks. Did he sound good? Even the gods know that he was as vague as a record played in a wrong key. He jabbers about words we won’t hear, because he has changed his style, betrayed his ardent fans and, eventually, sadly too, shot himself in the foot. We loved Kenzo in his native Luganda lingua. Kenzo who gave us Sitya Loss and Nice and Lovely. We loved him for his unrivalled style. But now, we hate him for betraying us. Navio can rap in English because, well, he is Navio and he has been Navio for yonks. Let Maurice Kirya sing in English because he is Maurice Kirya and has a target audience that has seen blackboards. But someone should stop Eddy Kenzo. Some fuzz should flag him down and tell him to stop his latest style of music. We hate it. Am I generalizing? I could be. But hell, I loathe it. Royal could pass as a good song because the beat is catchy, but Eddy Kenzo sucked and he should stick to Luganda where he flourishes effortlessly.