Despite the long hiatus from the music scene, Sweet Kid sounded as fresh and smooth as ever when he stepped onto the stage. When The Observer met him at his restaurant, Pilao House in Makindye, Sweet Kid, who has evidently gained some weight, said it is the too much love he has for Juliana that made him come back on stage after nearly 11 years, despite futile attempts by event organizers over the years, to get him to perform at different events.
“There wasn’t even any money involved and it was not difficult for me to perform again, because I sometimes sing in my bar. But for that particular concert, I went for rehearsals with her once and I was good to go,” he said.
Sweet Kid last released a song in 2011 – Tegulifa Bukadde – and has since been off the music scene, a move he says has been intentional.
“I can never say that I quit doing music because an artiste never retires. I just took a sabbatical in order to try out other things. I wanted to venture into other businesses, which were equally demanding as music, because your availability as the owner of the business is very important. So, I took the painful decision of pausing music for a while and dedicate all my time to growing my other businesses.”
Some of the business ventures Sweet Kid has sacrificed his music career for include restaurants, bars, a recording studio called D-Records, an events company called Sweet Events, a secondary school and moneylending. He said he does not regret venturing into all these businesses because even though there have been some challenges, everything has been moving on well.
“My businesses have been good. You win some and lose some. There are some I have done and have been very successful and there also those that have lagged. I have also had to drop out of some business and concentrate more on others but all that is expected,” Sweet Kid, now 40, said.
About the current state of the music industry, Sweet Kid said it is headed in the right direction especially with the improvement in sound production and video quality. He, however, noted that the depth of lyrics has deteriorated because artistes no longer take their time while writing songs.
“The lyrics we sang were too deep because we would take so much time writing them, but I think maybe today’s artistes don’t have that much time. But I don’t think it is them to blame but, rather, it is the whole shift of the industry including the producers and fans.”
During his absence from the music industry, many other artistes have come on to the scene and he cites Rema Namakula, Ykee Benda, Winnie Nwagi, Fik Fameica and Azawi as among those that have caught his ear.
Sweet Kid was also known to be a good collaborator having collaborated with some of the top guns in the industry ranging from Juliana Kanyomozi on Sirina Mulala, to Iryn Namubiru on Gwe Ansanira and Bebe Cool on Kiba Kibi. He revealed that right now if he were to resume doing music and do a collabo with anyone, it would most probably be with Rema.
“If I sat down with an artiste like Rema and we wrote the right lyrics and matched her voice with mine, we could come up with something beautiful, because I mostly concentrate on someone’s vocal ability. I would also like to sing with Winnie Nwagi, because I like her deep voice,” he said.
On the future of his music career, Sweet Kid said he already has new songs recorded and ready to be released, but will release them when he feels ready.
“Music is what I do best and believe me, when I feel ready to come back, I will. I am just waiting for a perfect moment when I have enough time so that I can ably promote the music and perform in different places,” said the singer, who added that he likes taking his time. He, therefore, could not give a timeline on when this would happen.
“I am not scared of coming back and competing with the new artistes, because I am a dancehall, reggae, zouk, afro beat and RnB artiste. I can still measure up to the artistes in the industry right now because I can do so many genres.”
Born to Hajji Sulaiman Mulimira and Robina Nassaka, Sweet Kid loves spending his time with his wife Maggie Kasasa and children, as well as supporting his favourite football club, Arsenal. The singer officially wed Kasasa on December 23, 2019 at Old Kampala mosque, after being together for 13 years.
Unlike other celebrities, Sweet Kid does not subscribe to any social media platform apart from WhatsApp, a deliberate choice he made.
“I am not on social media by choice and I don’t think everyone has to be. But I have a smartphone and I only use WhatsApp to communicate with people I want to communicate with,” he said, adding that staying away from social media enabled him to do things at his own pace, and not succumb to pressure from fans.
Sweet Kid broke onto the Ugandan entertainment scene in 2004 with his hit single Mama Brenda, which was a huge success and earned him the New Artiste of the Year award at that year’s Pearl of Africa Music (PAM) awards.
He went on to release other songs including Tobesiga, Kisaati Wabwe, Sirikyusa, Kankutwale, and Akadde, among others. In 2011, he put his music career on hold to concentrate on businesses.
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