Since the release of the first single- Circumference, off his highly anticipated album, Break the Chains, singer Bebe Cool has been an active man.
And after releasing the second single- Motivation, the artist has been on a roll, not just within, but also on the international scene.
Just fresh from launching the Motivation Week, Bebe features on an interview with UK-based Nigerian media personality DJ Edu’s hot seat, on the BBC podcast- This is Africa.
During the exclusive interview, Bebe Cool talks about speaks about the beginning of his musical journey, moving to Kenya, after getting top producer of the time- Ted Josiah’s contact, but failed to meet him. He went on to narrate how he lived with a security guard, and later crossing paths with a one Mohammed, who had a studio, and let him record after just hearing him freestyle.
“Someone told me that there is a man who has a private studio, so I knocked and he welcomed me, he asked me what i wanted to do for a living, I told him I sing. He asked me to show him and I had a CD with eleven instrumentals, I freestyled on all of them, and he was like, go and look for a producer, you can come and record,” Bebe says.
Bebe Cool would later meet up with Lucas Bikedo, one of the founders of Ogopa Deejays and like they say, the rest is history.
He further narrates how he gained traction in Kenya for performing at various Miss Kenya pageants, and of course, everything blew up later when he joined Redsan and Jose Chameleone, to form the first Bashment Crew.
Dj Edu highlighted that when Bebe teamed up with the Necessary Noize duo- Nazizi and Wyre, the music they created such as Fire Anthem, Combination and Africa Unite was nothing many Kenyans had listened to before.
Bebe Cool also revisits the story of the day he got shot. He narrated that it all started when he saw a group of artistes from the Good Lyfe arguing with a policeman; and when he approached together with some friends, the police officer thought they’d come to save the person he was arguing with, so he immediately opened fire.
“Since I always move with security, I sent my man to talk to him, policeman to police man but he simply opened fire, it was traumatic, five people got injured,” he says.
Bebe Cool was in a wheelchair for almost a year, after undergoing surgery. better part of the year after the incident. A few months later, Bebe survived another scare, when he managed to make it out alive after bombs went off at Kyadondo Rugby club, where he had performed at a World Cup viewing party.
“I did not get any therapy after that, because our country was not yet at that level. I said, let me use this and become a stronger person, and yes, they made me a stronger person at heart,” he says.
Bebe Cool also speaks about Break the Chains- his new album. He says he decide to so Afrobeats because it’s what the world is listening to. He says that as an artiste trying to sell Uganda to the world, he can’t resist the sound.
Click this link to listen to the full interview!