Do you want another rap?

Grandmaster rap himself

Yes Sevo.  Unlike the song my response would be a very firm, “No. Never”. For those of you outside of Uganda I’m talking about Museveni’s 2010 debut rap release. I’ve mentioned it before on this blog but now things have taken a dramatic turn for the worse as this frankly embarrassing foray into the music industry has been named Best Single of the year. I dislike the song for many reasons, not leastly because it’s a bit like your dad reading a list of things he likes: cricket, Sunday newspapers, ham sandwiches, ordinate survey maps, slightly faster than usual and with a beat behind it and then trying to get your friends to dance to it. Each time I hear the song my toes curl a little and I just find myself a bit embarrassed for this 60 something man who has put himself in league with the likes of 50 cent and Eminem.

Weirdly though the youth here seem to quite like it. I just simply cannot imagine David Cameron releasing a song, rap or otherwise, that would be considered anything close to cool by the youth, or indeed anyone for that matter. There is certainly no way that whilst out on a Saturday night you would hear it in the clubs. Yet this is what happened to me the other week, there I was dancing away to the usual musical fare when over the PA came “do you want annazza rap?” Well as clearly expressed above, no I do not. I don’t want party politics to be brought into the enjoyment of my Saturday night either. Earlier in the day there had been an NRM (Museveni’s political party) rally and several people in the club were adorned in bright yellow t-shirts and bandanas with the president’s face on. When his song came on I thought the excitement might actually induce heart attacks as NRM supporters set about leaping everywhere and screaming “YES SEVO!” at the top of their lungs. In my opinion there is a time and place for party politics and it is not at 1am on a Saturday night whilst I’m trying to enjoy a cheeky gin and bitter lemon.

Finally, I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one in thinking that politicians should have better things with which to fill their time. Rather than releasing dubious records best confined to bargain bins perhaps he should be concentrating on the various issues that currently affect Uganda. The radio stations don’t need another rap song to fill up their shows but Ugandans do need basic health care, universal primary and secondary education, better roads and more job opportunities.