Kaboo Challenges Ugandan Artistes to Create, Not Copy

Ugandan-Swiss producer Kaboo has opened up about what he calls a “copycat” culture in Uganda’s music scene.

Appearing on the Ugandan Boy Talk Show, the hitmaker said that while he respects local artistes, too many try to recreate sounds from other countries instead of developing their own.

I have a lot of respect for Ugandan musicians, but I also feel like Ugandans are very good at copycating things. And not only Ugandans, because it is everywhere in the world. They want to try to copy songs from Nigeria or wherever, and they try to make it the same, but most times they never reach the level of the original. It is hard to copy the original.

Kaboo made it clear that imitation is not something he supports.

For him, creativity is about exploring new ideas and taking risks, even if the results are not immediately embraced.

It is not something I want. I do not judge people who do that, but it is not something I like. For example, the whole project I have with A Pass, we want to create new sounds. We want to make new types of beats that people may not be used to, and maybe not everyone will like them at first, but it is something new and fresh. We want to push a bit, and I do not like to copy things.

He added that Uganda’s rich musical culture offers endless inspiration that artistes should tap into instead of imitating others.

There are a lot of artistes in Uganda who love to copy things, and that is a sad thing for me because Uganda is so rich in music and culture. We have so many amazing instruments.

Kaboo said he is on a mission to redefine Ugandan music by blending traditional instruments with modern sounds.

My self-taught mission is to bring those Ugandan instruments to the forefront. Again, I work with artistes that try to use a lot of traditional instruments also, maybe not in their traditional way, but we want to bring them in, like in Ugandan sounds.