Uganda’s Jamal Wasswa stages comeback concert

Now on the comeback trail, Jamal, backed by a live band, took to the stage at a few minutes past midnight and took the crowd down memory lane with songs like ‘Abakyala balabye’, ‘Ononsonyiwa’, ‘Sooka Osabe’ and ‘Abakyala Baziira’, among others, before embarking on 'Omusomesa', 'Siste' and other hit songs.

Jamal started his music career way back in Kampala. In search of better fortunes, however, Jamal left Kampala in 2006 for the only musical job at the time that could sustain him - karaoke sessions at Nyiira Rock Bar in Kigali, Rwanda. In 2007 he became famous after releasing the hit ‘Obawuwo’, which dominated the Ugandan airwaves for some time. Following the success of ‘Obawuwo’, Jamal continued to release hit after hit, with most of his songs getting healthy airplay in Uganda, where he is loved because of the positive message in his songs, which fans find educational and inspiring.

Speaking recently to Ugandan blog Chano8, the vocalist announced that he will release a new single, ‘Kyotalye’, some time in November. Asked about his long absence from the music scene, the artist what matters to him is not simply recording or gaining social media popularity, but rather about what one actually brings to the people. He added that music is a marathon that never ends and that he has always been concentrating on his music.

The artist travelled to Sweden in early 2015 for a period of three months, during which he shot his video for the single ‘Malaika’. In the song, Jamal uses Swahili, which he says is his way of reaching new audiences that speak the language. He says based on this, the single has been able to earn airplay in Kenya. During his three-month stay in Sweden, Jamal also recorded another track, ‘Nagezako’.