This post was supposed to be a celebration. It was to be the second time Weekly Music Commentary featured an artist from Uganda. It still is the distinction of featuring Ugandan music, but as we have seen for several months, COVID-19 has high jacked original plans. Almost three years ago I had the honor of featuring the electrifying Sheebah Karungi. I knew one day I would need to return to Uganda to highlight more music. As I worked to gain information about another African artist, a different story made the music news circuit. “The music fraternity has this morning been saddened by the death of Gagamel International Singer Allan Masengere known by his stage name ShortKut.” With about a month before the scheduled post I was faced with a dilemma. I could easily feature ShortKut, who fought illness for some time before he eventually died, or I could stay the course and continue to write about Bebe Cool. With that choice, the story would definitely change. Therefore we begin with the story.
Moses Ssali (Bebe Cool) was born September 1, 1977 in Kampala, Uganda. Bebe Cool attended Aga Khan Primary School, in Kampala, Kitante Hill School, and Makerere College School, where he attended school studies, but dropped out of school one year prior to completion. At high school, he studied Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics (PCB/M). Bebe Cool (formerly Bebe Bunton) started his music career right from high school. He moved to Nairobi, Kenya, but moved back to his native country a few years later. Bebe Cool was one of the first artists affiliated with Ogopa DJs, a production house and record label in Kenya.
Once Bebe Cool arrived back in Uganda, his career began to really take off. He received accolades and awards throughout Africa. Bebe Cool is a three-time winner of the Artist of The Year Award at the Prestigious HiPipo Music Awards and won several accolades at Pearl of Africa Music Awards (PAM Awards). He was nominated for the Kora All-African Awards in 2003 and 2005. His music began to reach outside of Africa. He has toured in the United Kingdom and the United States.
He also collaborated with Halima Namakula, a Ugandan veteran woman musician, on their crossover track “Sambagala”. He released two solo albums, Maisha and Senta. His lyrics are in Luganda, Swahili, and English. Together with Kenyan duo Necessary Noize, Bebe Cool has formed a reggae group known as the East African Bashment Crew. They have released one album, Fire, and two hit singles, “Africa Unite” and “Fire”. The group was nominated at the MTV Africa Music Awards 2008.
Since the time of his collaborations Bebe Cool has enjoyed a steady rise of successful hit music and acclaim. His popularity in his Ugandan home, as well as other parts of Africa and around the world has made him a true international star.
As the title mentioned, the coronavirus has affected everyone, and certainly Bebe Cool has not been spared. Yes, he recently lost his nephew singer Allan Masengere known by his stage name ShortKut. There relationship was quite special, as Bebe Cool always referred to the younger artist as his son. The singer who succumbed to complications from COVID-19 had been in intensive care unit for close to two months with other illnesses, and his health continued deteriorating. The news of his death was confirmed in a downhearted mood Facebook post by his uncle, Moses Ssali alias Bebe Cool, “The Lord has decided my son Allan Masengere should join him in a better place, thank all the doctors and nurses who tried to save his life for the past 40 days. May his soul rest in peace.”
Bebe Cool’s history with Shortcut is immense as the two were together in 2010 when they both narrowly survived being gunned down at Centenary Park, Kampala after performing at R. Kelly’s concert. In fact, Bebe Cool has been in a few tough situations. On July 11, 2010, Bebe Cool was performing at the Kyadondo Rugby Club when a bomb set by Somali Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab exploded. According to Cool, “Most people who died were just in front of me. The blast was so loud—the next thing I saw were body parts flying over.”
Much of my conversations with others about COVID-19 have been full of emotion: especially when a loved one is lost. Many of us reading today can understand and have much empathy for Bebe Cool. Across social media fans have really voiced condolences and support for Bebe Cool and his family. That’s good to see and hear.
One thing for sure, Bebe Cool has always been a giving artist, and we can’t have too many like him. He performed for the Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Tribute in Hyde Park, London in 2008. He was also named by Nelson Mandela as one of the 46664 African ambassadors. 46664 is a campaign of raising awareness against HIV/AIDS that was initiated by the late Nelson Mandela. On August 3, 2018, at a concert called The Golden Heart, Bebe Cool fundraised to sponsor five children with heart diseases to receive medical treatment in India.
Even before coronavirus struck his own family, Bebe Cool was busy helping his native Ugandans work through health and economic problems associated with the pandemic. Bebe Cool through his Amber Hearts Foundation has donated 1,000kgs of maize flour and 600kgs of beans to the ministry of health on Tuesday, April 21. “I have brought my contribution to the Ministry of Health to go to three categories, the TB patients, DJs and journalists,” he said.
Even though those in the entertainment industry have been hit especially hard by the effects of the pandemic, Bebe Cool has provided a great philanthropic effort that was lauded by the Ugandan Health Minister, Dr Ruth Aceng.
As much as music fans enjoy the music of Bebe Cool, they can appreciate his huge heart. Remember, like most of us his heart is heavy with grief at the moment, but he still gives of himself. It has been a good thing to revisit Uganda and feature another of their very talented musicians. It has also been a wonderful time to highlight more positive efforts by someone from the music industry.