When Winston Churchill named Uganda the Pearl of Africa he must have not only seen the beautiful sceneries but also envisioned the rich talents from different parts of the country. The Karimojong still carry the image of pastoralists and to some extent warriors but today, they are engaged in almost everything. The Sunrise’ Fahad Kasibante caught up with Ayre Sadam, a proud Karimojong who is giving new life to dance hall music in Uganda.
Born in Kireka to Muhammed Lomu and Rehma Naigaga, Ayre Sadam aka Viper Ranking is the fourth among his siblings. He went to St. Mary’s Kireka and Kamuli Church of Uganda for his primary, Standard Secondary School for his O-Level before joining Kyambogo University to pursue a certificate in refrigeration.
His love for music deterred him from finishing the refrigeration course. However, after realizing that music requires some financial investment, Viper resorted to fridge repairing to fully support his music career.
Like any other dreamer, Ayre used to mimic Jamaican super stars Busy Signal, Konshens, Shabba Ranks among others. This made him popular at school and inspired the release of his first song in Form Four, Nonuhdem, which he derived from Shaba Rank’s None a dem.
Currently signed under Bantu Entertainment Africa, the Tebimala star has six songs: Nonuhdem, soma, tobatya, kyenge, whine up that he did with DJ Cream and Nutty Neithan and Tebimala that he sang with Cindy.
The rising star believes money drives the entertainment industry and this is why there are many talented young artistes underground who cannot fund the media and promoters to push their songs.
“Talent ends with those who believe in you. When it comes to the media, you need to invest in a lot to get your song played. There are many talented artistes with great songs who have failed to push their music through because of money,” he said.
He urges those in the media to stop discouraging young artistes.
“Stop bringing musicians down and start encouraging them. You release one song and they start saying you are a one hit wonder. The song will take him nowhere,” Viper says.
When asked about his apparent love affair with Cindy Viper says they are just speculations, that he is only learning live music performance from Cindy and her band.
Viper’s biggest dream is to start a foundation that will help raise school fees for children in the ghetto for he has been there and felt what it like is to lack education.
