DJ Bush Baby passed on early this month but his legacy will live on. East Africa’s creative industry lost one of the most resourceful brains that had witnessed the entertainment industry evolve yet he successfully rode the wave. PLUGGED interacted with Bush Baby, on three occasions in 2023 and 2024, and here are five attributes that sum up the legendary producer, DJ, TV, and radio host.
A visionary
As far back as fifteen years ago when the trajectory of the social media phenomenon was not yet as vivid in many people’s minds especially in Uganda, Bush Baby had peeped into the future and had a hint of what this new wave meant for the media industry.
“I remember I told Robert Kabushenga, ‘At some point, you might have to shut down this channel because where the industry is headed, there’s something called the second screen and a time will come when audiences are going to migrate and go towards that angle’. Back then, it was the second screen but today it’s the first screen. I’m talking about smartphones, tablets, the PC and all that,” the veteran deejay and TV producer, DJ Bush Baby exclusively told PLUGGED in an interview in 2024, looking back at sentiments he held over a decade ago regarding the broadcasting landscape.
“He (Kabushenga) didn’t really buy into it back then or perhaps it was not necessary at that time,” Bush Baby added.
A conduit through which Ugandan art got East Africa’s attention
In 2024, PLUGGED spoke to Bush Baby in an in-depth profile that captures the making of Ziggy Dee’s popular hit Eno Mic.
“I was among the very first few people to put Eno Mic on rotation. I had a show (Uganda Central) that aired Saturdays on East Africa Radio. And that show is what really introduced Ugandan music to the region (East Africa). Soon, Ziggy Dee became a problem,” he said.
When Ziggy Dee physically delivered a CD with the song to East African Radio in Dar es Salaam, it wasn’t the first time Bush Baby was seeing him. The two had inevitably met initially, thanks to Bush’s prominence and the many hats he wore at the time. One of them was – the DJ served as the de facto ambassador of Uganda to Tanzania. Not that he was officially appointed.
Bush Baby depended on DJ Shiru from whose shop he regularly shopped for all the new music released in Uganda. And Bush never sieved these collections. Good and junk, he took it all. Ironically, many Ugandan songs deemed rejects in the Ugandan market only blew up upon Bush Baby putting them on rotation on EATV and East Africa Radio.
“The song was a success due to the powerplay. For every second on EATV and the radio, there was an eyeball or an ear. I still meet people and they tell me ‘Man, you did this. Remember when this happened?’ Guys tell me ‘We were in school but we would smuggle in radios.’ EATV at the time wasn’t just a media house. It was an institution, it was a movement, a culture, it shaped the narrative,” is what Bush Baby said of the influence Channel 5 and East Africa Radio wielded across the region.
Promoting a song in the brick-and-mortar era was tedious. Bush Baby recounted a message sent to his Yahoo mail by Benon informing him that he had sent a CD on a bus (from Kampala) to be expected in Dar in a couple of days. That song came to be Nsazewo (featuring Vamposs).
An authority in Uganda’s creative industry
On all occasions when Bush Baby spoke to PLUGGED, it was very evident he wasn’t someone that was clueless, as long as the conversation pertained to the creative industry.
He had plyed his trade at IPP Media Limited, one of East Africa’s leading media conglomerates that owned East Africa Radio and East Africa TV (EATV). He was Head of Radio and Head of Programming at East Africa Radio, and at the same time, a presenter on EATV (Channel 5). Before becoming an independent TV producer and later joining Vision Group as radio host (XFM) and Creative Director, brand manager and station manager (Urban TV).
Bush had also under his long spanning career been creative lead at Next Media Services and founded other production houses. If you mentioned any influential media entity in East Africa, he had made a contribution to it.
On a trip Bush took to Nairobi together with members of VG’s exco including Kabushenga himself, he was surprised to hear Patrick Quarcoo speak highly of Urban TV and the impression it was making in Kampala. Quarcoo is chief exec of Radio Africa Group, the Kenyan media conglomerate that owns Kiss 100, Classic 105, Kiss TV and The Star newspaper among other subsidiaries.
“Patrick asked Mr. Robert Kabushenga ‘I’m told in Kampala there’s a wave called Urban TV. What’s this thing and what have you done with it?’ and Mr. Robert told him ‘This skinny guy seated right here, I don’t know what he did but that’s the man you should be asking’,” Bush recalls.
“I mean, it was amazing.”
A critical voice
Uganda’s creative industry tends to be overshadowed by voices that lament more than they offer logical solutions, let alone be objective in their assessment of the state of the industry. In fact, some would argue, it is this very attitude that explains why Uganda’s art no longer commands respect beyond the borders.
While weighing in on the state of affairs, he told PLUGGED; “It just comes down to the fact that artistes don’t want to be knowledgeable and inform themselves. They don’t want to read. This whole hullaballoo I hear about copyright is nonsense. These things are provided for in our laws. One only needs to consult intellectual property lawyers.”
The onus is on them to enlighten themselves about issues pertaining to protecting their intellectual property, he argues.
“You need to be intentional. If you can afford to surround yourself with 7 people (entourages that often accompany artistes), why can’t you put a lawyer on retainer or an accountant? These are basic things. When you have your first single, imagine your next ten singles and plan for your next 10 years. Some of us have learnt the hard way,” he added.
Always had more to offer
At 50, it was easy to consider Bush Baby a veteran that had given all – ideas, sacrifice, passion – he had in him. Yet at the beginning of 2o24, he had unveiled yet another project that sought to add value to the arts. A talent search that would not be business as usual.
He disclosed to PLUGGED that Wazo Dazo Nexters was an innovative platform dedicated to make a difference and “to offer a range of opportunities for talented individuals including talent showcases, mentorship programs networking events and access to resources to support their journey”.
“I am sure we are going to come across very interesting talent. The onus is on us to exercise continuity. We will begin to think of having professional management services for these people and empower them to produce an album. But most importantly, to offer them placement. To give them the exposure so that Any other production house or label maybe able to pick them,” he said in an exclusive interview.
He couldn’t veil his frustration with some of the previous talent competitions which according to him “were not wired to deal with products of a talent search” at the heart of which was a problem of brands’ interests clashing with the interests of the talent. With the vision bearer now gone, it remains to be seen how far this dream will go.
Until he passed on, Bush Baby was among other things a co-host of a podcast – Kreative Chaos – which he launched with his longtime business partner, Josh ‘The Fixer’ Mwesigwa. They saw this as a way of contributing towards knowledge sharing and thought leadership.
