allAfrica.com: Uganda: Radio And Weasel Pair Up (Page 1 of 1)

LET'S reserve the introductions to one man called Radio. Mowzey Radio. Who needs introductions to Weasel? We all know him as Jose Chameleone's kid brother that the Leone Island boss fondly refers to as "Weasel ma nizo" in many of his songs - whatever that means!

Weasel has been his brother's sidekick in Leone Island through thick and thin, fighting some of his wars and then some, even when this was through song, as was the case in Bomboclaat. Does the adage "service beyond self" sneak to mind? That's right.

Well, we know that much about Weasel already, but how much do we about the man with whom he has just bounced back to the musical limelight and with whom he is ferociously tearing down the charts? Nakudata, the song that instantly became a club anthem in Kampala and indeed East Africa no sooner had it dropped, in January, has left a trail of questions from music lovers about the song.

Where was it produced, and by who? Is it Bongo Flava, Kidandali, Ragga, fusion what style is that? For the less keen followers of musical trends, however, the question is: who is Radio? Who is the guy teaming up with Weasel on this big tune?

It is not easy to believe that Radio has been in the Leone Island Crew for just about as long as it has existed. Many people will find it even harder to believe that his voice is behind a couple of songs with which they are quite familiar. For instance, while many people know the song Jennifer, which Radio did way back in 2004, they link it to some mysterious Moze, whom they believe to be different from Radio. Blame it on the swagger and musicality that this lad's name has since assumed. This wedding song made its rounds on the local party scene, albeit without the accompaniment of the singer to lend his face to it.

Then there is Sweet Lady, which everybody knows. This was a big hit in 2005 when it dropped, and a handful of people got to know that the voice behind it was that of a one Moze. Problem was, this man remained faceless. Its distinguishing mark soon became the fact of the singer's vocal similarity with that of soca musician, Kevin Lyttle, whose song, My Love, it sounded like. Does that settle the question of where Radio has been? Well, partly.

"When I joined Leone Island in 2004, I had no time to market myself because I was at campus. I had just enrolled at Makerere University for a Bachelor's degree in Community Psychology. By the way, I just graduated in January this year!" he says, seeming surprised at how far away the date now looks.

He goes on: "I could not even think of a collabo with Weasel, because then he would have to perform and promote the song alone. Otherwise, right from day one, we always knew we could do something together. Actually I did Kiluma (It Hurts) with him last year. It came on Chameleone's Sivio Ndivyo album, although it faced the same problem."

"From this song," Weasel chips in, "me and Radio decided to do away with our solo careers. Actually, of the six songs on the Nakudata album, five are duets between the two of us. We shall be doing all our songs as duets, but under Leone Island."

"Like K-Ci and Jojo," Radio adds cheekily.

Nakudata was one of those accidental songs resulting from a casual stroll the two made to visit a friend, Suuna, at his home-based studios in Najjanankumbi, a stone's throw away from the duo's abode. "We just imagined a situation of a man who loves his girl so much, he wants to get paint and inscribe the words on her body for the world to see. It was not happening to any of us, but of course there are many people out there in such a situation. What matters is the situation being real," says Weasel. The two each wrote their verses, with the producer, Suuna also throwing in a verse.

The original Nakudata is done in an R&B format. However, the verse done by Weasel sits on a heavy bass line with kwaito-like snares. But the Kampala party-goers' musical tastes are defined by a heavy bassline, kick and snares. With this in mind, a dancehall version of the song was made to cater for this. They were released at the same time, and are alternately played on radio.

People who are not well-versed with the concept of remixes tend to get confused here. The bubbly version of Nakudata is obscenely bassy! A typical Kampala sound. "We did the first version in smooth R&B style, but Weasel's verse, which he did in hardcore ragga style was 'stealing' the show, which is why we decided to redo the entire song on the beat he uses in his verse," says Radio. What makes this song irresistible on the dance floor is its R&B base, the ragga drums, and the kwaito snares that lend it a peculiar semblance to the Tanzanian bongo flava style.

"I used an R&B voice on a ragga tempo," Radio says, breaking into the intro of R. Kelly's I Believe I Can Fly to illustrate his point. "For Weasel, the voice is a bridge between hardcore Jamaican and melody." You are tempted to call this song the ultimate union of a raggamuffin (Weasel), and smooth vocals (Radio and Suuna.)

Ever the talkative one, Radio says: "It's the kind of song most people won't easily define. Up to now, people walk up to us to admit they do not know what exactly they like about Nakudata. That's all because of the variety we employ. I believe that the beauty of a garden is how many types of flowers are in it."

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