Music and medicine: Kachumbali hit maker Quex juggles careers

This is followed by jumping to the front and back, then turning around in unison. Amid the lockdown to curtail the spread of Covid-19 starting in March, Kachumbali rising star George Kwesiga aka Quex became a viral sensation. Currently in his final semester on the Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery programme at Kampala International University’s Ishaka campus, Kwesiga is still in disbelief that Kachumabali is taking 2020 by storm.

“I wrote this song in January 2019 and released it in February. The audio has been around for 14 months, but people have appreciated the song after a video was released during the lockdown in March 2020,” Kwesiga said.

Now that he is a star of sorts, one would expect the 26-year-old to feel on top of the world and proud, a character synonymous with upcoming artistes once they land breakthrough hits. He has maintained a low profile, though. At Freedom City mall where we conducted the interview, he was alone, shy and avoided eye contact.

Kwesiga, who proudly refers to himself as the lyrical doctor, said the current situation has helped him not to expose his face by wearing a mask. Even at Jinja regional referral hospital where he is undertaking a placement exercise ending April 2021, patients walk past him on the surgical ward where he works 24/7 without noticing him.

MAKING OF KACHUMBALI

Kwesiga is an artiste who writes all genres of music alongside rap. Before Kachumbali, he had released songs such as Batukakasa, I Can’t Wait Tonight, Regina, What a Bum Bum [Ft Big Mo 256 & Moya King], Dusk Till Dawn, Nga Amazzi ft. Moya King, Makindye, and Lovely Woman. When creative juices for Kachumbali hit, a friend introduced him to The Booth studio in Mutungo owned by producer Klin.

“This was a new studio and I was hesitant to go there. On arrival, the studio was too small to even accommodate three people at a go with equipment. So, producer Klin played for me a track, saved it on my phone, and I went home to write something,” Kwesiga recalled.

In about five hours, he had written the chorus, and the first and second verses. He was convinced this would be another ‘nice song’ for people’s ears, but not a hit.

While Klin handed over a complete project, Kwesiga was not awestruck with the output. He approached another producer, Godfrey Mwayi aka Genius Goody, of City Jam Records in Makindye, to master the song. It took Mwayi at least a week to refine Kachumbali.

“When Quex approached me, I was willing to advise and help him because I have worked on most of his songs. We improved on the sound by adding a live guitar and a female voice to back him in studio. I also changed the order of some sentences, which brought more life to the song,” Mwayi, with a studio experience of 15 years, said.

While Kwesiga was mesmerized by the final output, Mwayi still feels there is room to add more spices.

“Quex and simplicity are inseparable! I talked to him several times to add more things but he objected. To some extent, when you listen to his arguments, he makes a valid point. He wants to be original in his songs as opposed to using several instruments in studio,” he said.

After Kachumbali, Mwayi has also produced Kwesiga’s ninth song dubbed Mu Bitabo, another love song featuring talented saxophonist, Michael Kitanda.

WHY THE HYPE NOW?

Kachumbali is now widely accepted thanks to a video dance shuffle by his friends and students at Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi. Without a manager yet, Kwesiga dedicates most of his time to studies. He works with a team of friends to market his music. He is branding himself as a label, Quex Music Uganda, instead of signing under any management.

One may wonder why a song that has stayed with the same lyrics did not make it far last year.

“I had a lot of scuffles with people in media houses. They would complain that the audio output was not good and could not play on their TVs or radios. Some DJs at these stations downplayed my song, but I believed in God that it would make it one day,” Kwesiga said.

Well, Kachumbali did not penetrate mainstream media last year, but continued to trend online. Before he released the official video, sections of fans were already uploading the Kachumbali challenge on various platforms. This left Kwesiga and his team challenged about the video concept.

He chose gospel artiste Levixone’s Chikibombe approach that features a string of Ugandan artistes and celebrities that sing and dance along to the song. Shot by Toltape films and directed by Derrick Woko, Kachumbali’s four-minute video was released without complex visual effects, featuring his friends and a few media personalities. Like the first audio output, Kwesiga said the concept did not meet his expectations despite being one of the video directors.

“I badly wanted the Chikibombe concept but the person who mixed our video didn’t pull it off well. Actually, some big TV stations said they would not air my video but I had no money to repeat the work to meet their expectations. After all, people continued to request for my song on their music shows and they had no option but to play it,” he said.

According to producer Mwayi, broadcast media is fond of ignoring rising artistes that are not willing to bribe their way in order to play their music.

“There are media people who are passionate supporters of big artistes and it takes rising artistes time to convince them that they have equally good music,” he said, citing an incident that once left him dumbfounded.

“One time, I watched Quex do a TV interview and he wasn’t given time to express himself well. After tweeting about the incident, they re-interviewed him. Is media helping the music industry or it aims at frustrating young talents while praising established artistes?”

Nevertheless, Kwesiga is glad that Kachumbali is doing well and that he has so far recouped more than he invested.

“Kachumbali has come with many connections and gigs. If brands like Rwenzori that I featured in the song also start pushing young artistes, they will be inspired to make good music, because they lack the financial muscle to stay afloat in the industry,” said Kwesiga who doubles as the tourism ambassador for Rada Safaris, a travel company.

‘MUSIC, MY FIRST DREAM’

Although Kwesiga’s parents felt he was always meant to be in the medical field, it was not the first dream he set out to achieve. His mother, Anne Byamukama, is a medical officer while the father Boniface Byamukama is a businessman and former chairman of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators (AUTO).

The fourth born out of five children, his siblings thought he would easily be inspired by their mother to join the health sector. Throughout his education, Kwesiga said he has been a top science student and “very bad at art subjects apart from fine art”.

He went to Kabojja Junior School, Mugwanya Preparatory School (2001 to 2007), St Henry’s College Kitovu for O-level (2008 to 2011) and Bishop Cyprian Kihangire, Luzira for A-level (2012 to 2013) where he did Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics.

He joined KIU Ishaka campus to pursue medicine after failing to secure a slot at Makerere University. It is at Kabojja that a friend, Tonny Gache, nicknamed him Quex, his current signature name in music. In his quest to join the music industry, he recalls being conned out of Shs 150,000 that he had saved off pocket money for two terms, at a studio in Ntinda.

“If there were a time for me to quit music, it [was that] day. I was so frustrated and shed tears. I found a Rasta who lied that he worked with the studio yet he did not. He took my money without issuing any receipt and had promised to record at least five songs,” he said.

But Kwesiga did not quit and during his S4 vacation, he met Producer Mimo in Entebbe and recorded his first single, Batukakasa. He worked behind his parents’ back and frequented bars at Centenary park to perform whenever given a chance.

JUGGLING CAREERS

Had it not been for the pandemic, Kwesiga’s parents would not have found out about their son’s involvement in music.

“I am a very secretive guy…. Actually, my father got to know that I am seriously into music after watching me during a TV interview during the lockdown. He called immediately to ask how I was balancing music and academics,” he said.

Bursting into laughter, he said: “My parents are tech-savvy…so, I had blocked them on all my social media platforms to keep my music a secret. I just unblocked them recently, because I couldn’t hide it any further.”

Now that Kwesiga is soon completing his medical course, the parents are slowly adjusting to his dual career. While music is his first love, Kwesiga is also passionate about medicine.

“It has been a very hard thing for me to balance books and music. Both careers are bulky, but whenever I am at campus, I don’t engage in music. Even with classmates, none knew that I was into music until Kachumbali went viral,” he said. Surprisingly, the Kachumbali song first hit at Uganda Martyrs University, Nkozi, even before it got to KIU, Ishaka.

Since he is soon closing the medical journey, I asked Kwesiga about his private life.

He said: “I had a girlfriend but she chased me last year. She was demanding a lot yet I was just a simple campus hustler being taken care of by my parents. She was like another course unit yet I have to balance music, books, and a personal life. I am single and concentrating on my music and books.”

On whether he plans to collaborate with any big names in music, Kwesiga hopes to work with Irene Ntale, Geo Steady, and Dre Cali.

nangonzi@observer.ug