Young artists lack patience. – Rachael Magoola speaks on why artists step out of the game prematurely.

To a juvenile or aging fellow, this song rings bells whenever you listen to it; ‘Obangaina.’ I choose to call it her trademark which is commonly used to refer to her. Singer, songwriter, and dancer Rachael Magoola who doubles as the Bugweri district women’s representative-elect 2021-2026 blended vocals on this untimely ‘hit’ song_ Obangaina.

A song released as back as 22years ago appeals to old and young ears. However, it’s honest to write that one might have little or no knowledge that Magoola has a lengthy queue of other good songs over a hundred. It’s surprising, isn’t it?

Magoola, who is one of the members of Afrigo band, told Record Radio recently in an interview that she too, has never come to understand exactly what magic there is in this song that gets people jumping onto it when it is played.

“I recorded Obangaina in 1999 together with the Afrigo band and produced in Kenya nonetheless, people still jump up when it plays. Before we even returned to Uganda, it was already a hit. People love it so much and everyone has a unique reason why they love it. It has remained so popular for many years for the reason that it was produced finely,” the Obangaina singer remarked.

A generation ago when Magoola wrote ‘Obangaina’ she now reminisces about her little siblings, throwing disgust at it arguing that its future was dim. Twenty two years later, she confidently gives a wide smile at what her focus has reaped in the long last.

“People remember what they loved. Imagine I have recorded over a hundred songs but people are still glued to Obangaina. When a song hits, it hits. It’s always like a blessing when it happens which is one of the rare things that happens to artists lately,” she noted.

Unlike singers in the same boat with Magoola, today’s artist is earlier forgotten as his previous song. Why is this? Magoola notes that a strong desire to attain fame so quickly is one of the overriding factors that causes artists to wither away like rose flowers in the desert.

“In the present day, artists miss the whole point because of impatience and good music production. They are concerned so much about a ‘minutes-fame’ whose biggest objective is to hit the charts. Three months down the road and they are not hitting the charts, they quit. I sang for ten years before those who would not go to Afrigo got to know that I existed. On the contrary today, young people can’t wait for all this long. They are rushing to become something else and they end up losing it all,” revealed Magoola.

The 55years old Magoola advises young artists not to lose a sweat working for a hit song but rather do good work on what they love most, give it time and a hit will come up. She goes ahead and remarks that a lot of music nowadays is bubblegum onto which artists ought to share with more knowledgeable people in the industry to tell whether there is anything like art.

With people older in this industry like Rachael Magoola and colleagues in this regard, one wonders what they have done to pass the same knowledge to the younger generations. After all like they say, a candle loses nothing by lighting other candles. Though, she wonders too, what these artists have done on their part to make this happen.

“Most people keep asking what we as old artists have done to help the young ones but what have they done to help themselves in the first place. I have never seen or heard a young artist for the many years I have been here coming to me to inquire on how I do it. They are comfortable in a ‘celeb zone’. Many take us for ‘bakadde’ which is very okay but let’s wait for them,” Magoola responded with much concern.

She continued to say that, “Those who were young in the 70’s have disappeared even those in subsequent years because age is a process. When young artists are young, they forget that they can’t be young forever. Forgetting that even if they are up now, they can come down at any point in time. So it’s not up to me to get them in talks on how things ought to be done.”

The Obangaina singer is set to release her ninth album produced by ARC Music and Sound, an international label based in the US which is very into world music. Songs on this album were recorded during the Lockdown and constitute languages of five regions in Uganda. She in 2004 worked with the same label to produce ‘Songs from the source of the Nile’ album.