Sandra Nankoma: Musicians have a duty to change perceptions

“I am not a politician but I believe with the influence I have as an artist I can advocate for change,” the singer told Music In Africa during a recent visit to Nairobi, Kenya.

“I don't like to discuss politics but given this opportunity I believe that artists need to mirror the evils happening in our society. This year in Uganda we've seen many murders go uninvestigated. What’s disturbing is that the victims are women and no one has come out to ask the necessary questions to prompt further investigations.”  

Nankoma says music has the power to create awareness and dialogue and should be crafted to positively change society. She says the right lyrics can create identities for musicians to engage audiences on various levels of activism.

“Through music we can make people think about important issues. Activism does not only involve criticising the government. We have seen many musicians challenging the government about opportunities and basic privileges. Music can be about raising awareness about HIV/AIDS, gender equality, vanity and much more."

"Like Nina Simone put it, an artist's duty is to reflect the times. Therefore, I believe that musicians in East Africa need to be open-minded and see activism beyond politics because there is a lot of truth to be told. If this cannot happen then we do not have any business in this industry.”

Last year, Nankoma released ‘Kaddugala’, a song that criticises perceptions of beauty based on skin colour. The song is part of her debut album Ye’nze, which was released earlier this year.

“'Kaddugala' is an anthem for melanin,” the singer said. “It's a fight against skin discrimination and to restore confidence to those who are victimised. I have personally been bullied and even called black charcoal. I needed to get a message out there because I witnessed many girls bleach their skin from high school because of the negative comments they got from people. 

Asked whether the recently imposed social media tax has had an effect on the music industry in Uganda, Nankoma said: “Internet in my country has become very expensive so it has become impossible for fans to download our music.

"For example, to download an album one requires at least 30 000 Ugandan shillings ($8) worth of mobile data. Because of this, we've had to concentrate more on marketing our music through CDs, which is a big challenge due to lack of music distribution points.”