A few weeks ago we invited Qwela on to SNMS to talk about their new album Afrotopia. Joe, Alice, FEsto, Roy, Anita, MoRoots, Vincent and Ian were generous enough to bring their instruments along with them to Radiocity and treat our listeners to a little on-air mini-concert. For those that don’t know, Qwela is a very popular and very accomplished afro-jazz band based here in Uganda. After we got past the technical difficulites of setting up an entire band in the cramped Radiocity studios, we had a little fun.

Afrotopia is available in numerous outlets around town including BOLD in Krsna mart, Kisementi. If you don’t live in Uganda but like what you hear please in touch with Qwela band thru their facebook page at facebook.com/qwelamusic, or via Twitter: @qwelamusic

Enjoy! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes!

We devote the first SNMS of every month to Ugandan music. It's my opinion that local music does not play as much as it should on radio here in Uganda, especially on English-speaking radio stations, and we on SNMS consider it our mission to promote Ugandan music as much as possible. So (and this was actually suggested to us by Enygma) on the first Saturday of every month, we only play music by local Ugandan artists on SNMS, and that includes our Power Hour segment.

The concept for this segment is simple: I highlight a particular artists catalog by doing a live mix of their music for, you guessed it, an hour. This past weekend we featured Bebe Cool in the power hour and that’s what I am bringing you on today’s podcast. Bebe Cool has been a staple of the Ugandan music scene since the late 90s. He started his career in Nairobi, but has since established himself as one of the big cats of our local music scene.

I should warn you that this is an unedited recording from the show and I sometimes get a little carried away on the microphone as you’ll hear in a bit. (Cover your ears and forgive me)

On this week’s episode we feature an interview with Cedric Babu, the CEO of Kinetic. Kinetic has firmly planted its imprint on the Ugandan sports scnece with events like Friday NIght lights and the Uganda tennis open, and now the company is expanding into other ventures including music. We had a chat with Cedric about the company’s origins, where he hopes they’ll go and about their musical roster which includes theMith and Ruyonga, who both stopped by for the interview too. We covered a lot of ground in this interview including what “levels of efficiency” are. If your want to know more, listen on.

Enjoy!

A little under two years ago when we pitched the Saturday Night Mix Show (SNMS) to Radiocity, we told them we wanted to create a different kind of Saturday night radio show. Most stations, not just here in Uganda but all over the world feature a DJ mixing club music on Saturday nights and it works. It works because to the average 18-35 year-old (the demographic that advertisers target most aggressively) Saturday nights are for letting your hair down and partying. Saturdays are not for in-depth discussions about the South African battle rap scene (for example), but that's what we pitched to radiocity.

We pitched a show that would, as well as playing club music, incorporate things like aritst interviews, games, discussions on cultural events, etc. We pitched what we called a variety mix show, and in order to execute our vision we had to break a lot of the rules that most experts associate with “good radio”- like the rule of talking too much. We talk a lot on SNMS and we get away with it because in radio (and we’re delving into the business of radio a little here), Saturday nights are not the prime-time real estate that daily breakfast and afternoon drive shows are.

We asked for and were granted a comparatively long-leash with SNMS, and that results in and it also means discussions like the one you are about to listen to. This week’s episode of MIster Deejay Presents features a recording of a roundtable discussion I had with JB, Navio, enygma and JobieOne (who is South african rapper Proverb’s manager). JobieOne was an SNMS guest that week, and the rest just popped in to have a chat and we ended up talking for ages about music, rap, hip-hop and everything in-between.

This is by no means an example of quote-unquote good radio, but it is an exmaple of the kind of show SNMS is, and I believe it’s the reason why we’ve has grown so quickly. If you ever have some free time on a Saturday nights, tune in to us on radioity 97fm or oniline at radiocity.ug and check us out, we’ love to have you on board.

Otherwise enjoy the podcast! And forgive my gravely voice. I was battling the flu when we recorded.

On this week's episode of Mister Deejay Presents (Happy New Year by the way... and no, it's not too late to still be saying that), we play you snippets from a conversation we had with Batabazi over the holiday period.

Batabazi is a Ugandan hip-hop group based in Boston USA and made up of Tasha, Jerome aka J Bizzy, PG, Gera and Mayor. We were extremely honored to have them on SNMS (well, three-fifths of them anyway) and even more honored that they allowed us to play their debut album on the show.

Enjoy the show! And if you like the music, support Batabazi by buying their album on iTunes and spotify.

On this week's podcast I sit down with Babaluku to discuss Ugandan hip-hop- where the music has been, where it's going, what's working and what needs to change. This interview was conducted on this past weekend's SNMS and I've decided to bring it to you in its entirety because we touch on a number of very important topics to Ugandan music in general and to Ugandan hip-hop in particular.

I also get taken to school by a MC Flower, who is special in three ways: 1) she is a she; 2) she has been winning rap battles left, right and center; and 3) she is 10 years old. TEN!!

Listen to how she absolutely murdered me for daring to challenge her to a rap battle. I had to bow down.

Enjoy!

One of the more popular features we have on the Saturday Night Mixshow is the Power Hour. During this segment, I mix music from one artist or group for (you guessed it) an hour.

Last Saturday we honored the legendary GNL Zamba of Baboon Forest Entertainment in the Power Hour and I decided to put the entire mix in this episode of the Mister Deejay Presents podcast.

Enjoy!

Get in touch:

T: @misterdeejayug

W: misterdeejaypresents.com

F: facebook.com/heymisterdeejay

Episode 23 of the Mister Deejay Presents features an edited version of the interview we conducted with Maurice Kirya about his new album, The Book of Kirya. We listened to every song on the album and Maurice discussed his writing process and inspirations for each one.

If you haven't yet bought the album, correct that ovesight immeditaely by visiting all the places around ton that are stocking it (a list can be found on Maurice's Facebook page) or by buying the album on iTunes & CDBaby.

(Psst... while you're on iTunes, you should also subscribe to this podcast. It's free, don't ya know).

We celebrated the Golden Jubilee by doing a countdown of the Top 50 songs from the past 50 years on the Saturday Night Mixshow (SNMS). We couldn't fit the entire countdown in the podcast (it took over 5 hours!) but we are featureing the top 10 songs. So, on this week's podcast: Joe Tabula, Afrigo Band, Philly Lutaya, Ragga Dee, Racheal Magoogla and more. Can you guess what our number 1 was?

T: @misterdeejayUG

F: facebok.com/heymisterdeejay

E: [email protected]

A taste of Mun G's first solo concert. Baboon Forest Entertainment in the building!

T: @misterdeejayUG

F: facebok.com/heymisterdeejay

E: [email protected]