Shena Skies Rejects Calls to Quit Singing and Stick to Songwriting
Ugandan singer and songwriter Shena Skies is not here for the advice telling her to stay in the shadows.
For a while now, some music followers have been saying the same thing about her career.
The songs she writes for other artistes do well. Her own songs? Not at the same level.
So, in their view, she should stop trying to be in the spotlight and just stick to songwriting.
But to Shena, that suggestion sounds good only to people who do not know what it takes to survive off music.
Speaking during a sit down with Ebipya 256, the “Kiki Ekiganye” star opened up about the reality behind the scenes, and it is far from glamorous.
How many songwriters do you see living a good life? How many do you see driving Range Rovers? I come from Kawempe, and by God’s grace, the only thing I have in life is the talent He gave me. That is how I am supposed to get what to eat, change my life, and help my people back home.
For her, being told to remain a songwriter is not career advice. It is advice that keeps her stuck.
Shena says the money she earns from writing for others barely covers basic needs.
You cannot tell me to stay behind other people when the money they give is only enough to pay my rent in Kawempe. That is all I make. I do not have any other job. I am a musician, and that is it.
And that struggle does not end there.
The little she earns also affects how far she can push her own music as a performing artiste.
Without money to invest in promotion and growth, breaking through becomes even harder.
The money one makes from songwriting is only enough to pay rent and buy food. That is it. You cannot change your life with it. Me writing music and singing it myself and it not taking off comes from the fact that I do not make enough from songwriting to push my music as an artiste. So how can you tell me to settle for that and stick to writing for others?
Beyond money, Shena says the bigger issue is how people try to box talent into one lane.
She believes being able to do many things should be an advantage, not a reason to be limited.
Why would you tell people who are talented not to sing and leave it to those who are not? Since when did it become bad for someone to be good at many things?
She adds that she is not just a writer, but also a producer and singer, and does not understand why she should be forced to focus on only one skill.
I can make beats, I can sing, I know how to write, and to some, that is a problem because they ask me to do only one thing. In the Western world, someone can be an actor and at the same time a football player, as long as they have the talent. But here in Uganda, they want you to do only one thing. Did I commit a crime by knowing how to sing and write songs?
With that, Shena Skies shifts the focus from the performance of her work to survival, identity, and the freedom to use every talent she has.
