By Dennis Asiimwe
I can see why folks got carried away with this track. It goes off the beaten track somewhat, with a potent Afrocentric house groove that is ridiculously hard to categorise. It sounds like music that might have been chosen as the theme music for Black Panther – with something of a Luganda bias.
Speaking of biases, I have a bias towards Sandra Suubi – she has got some incredible pipes on her, with a vocal range that is genuinely astonishing, and is powerful to boot. She also has ridiculous control (to get a better idea of this, listen to Nsiimye).
The customisation of the track is done inventively: there’s a xylophone thrown in, and, of course, the Luganda lyrics. Sandra uses her superlative vocals to drive the song, a track which pays homage to the call and answer that is the signature of African music
Sandra was once part of a frighteningly talented musical trio called XABU, which also included Tonya Michelle Ahenda, which should give you an idea of how damn good that trio was, vocally. They were part of a studio that focused on churning out some impressive jingles, and they were so commercially successful at it, it took a while for the world to discover that they existed, as musicians. Once the world figured out that they did exist, though, everything changed, and they went on to try separate music careers. Listen to Miss Suubi sing Sembera and you will pause, in simple, mortal awe.
The customisation of the track is done inventively: there’s a xylophone thrown in, and, of course, the Luganda lyrics. Sandra uses her superlative vocals to drive the song, a track which pays homage to the call and answer that is the signature of African music.
It’s powerful, potent stuff, and wonderfully Afrocentric without being cliché.
