THE TRACK: Samina – Hellen Lukooma

Hellen Lukooma

You have got to give it up for Uganda’s music producers. Because, they try. They are always pushing themselves, and their artistes for that matter, hard to stay up to date with international trends, even if those trends are not necessarily the trend back at home.

You will sense that effort in this new song by former HB Toxic member, Hellen Lukoma. Electro pop or dance as some people call it, has, for the past two or so years, been the music genre of choice, forcing even mainstream Rn’B acts like Usher and Chris Brown to get drafted in. Ugandan musicians have not watched by idly as the rest of the world follows suit, as seen with songs like Jackie’s Agasi.

Hellen’s Samina tries to follow a similar path. The plus on the song is its production. The beats will whet your appetite from the start, putting you on the journey that anticipates a powerful energy-packed chorus like all good electro pop songs do.  Except that, the high-energy chorus just never comes.

Hellen sounds even less energetic than she does on the verses. And that feels a little anti-climatic. The song’s start also has that not very original part where Hellen sounds like Jennifer Lopez does on the start of On The Floor.
In the end, you have to appreciate the effort that gets off an electro-pop song like this. Hellen will get you dancing, regardless of the faults.