Date with a celeb > D-King was excited to hear a song he had
produced play on radio
music maker: He’s the guy behind many of the top hits rocking the airwaves although his main interest is farming. Producer D-King explains more to his fan Emma Makobi.
What is your real name?
My name is David Arinaitwe.
What does D-King stand for?
Truthfully, I have no idea. The name was given to me by my good friend and fellow producer Silver Kyagulanyi, but he never explained what it meant. But now that you have asked, I’m also going to ask him.
What inspired you to become a producer?
Growing up, I had a very good friend called Smick. He used to do production at village level (Namugongo) and I wanted to be like him. He motivated me.
Are you married?
Not yet. I don’t want to mix relationships and business.
How old are you?
I’m 26-years-old.
How did your production journey start?
I started at Fenon Records in 2011, basically doing adverts. After a year, I started my own production house called Neutriq Town.
Which other prominent songs have you produced besides Woman by Juliana?
I have over 50 songs some of which include Sejjusa (Mun G), Jungle and Samanya (Levixone), Deep In Love and Sitaki (Rema), most of the songs on Naava Grey’s latest album, Kasenyanku, Kumulamwa (Toniks), Prophesy by Exodus and all the other songs on his latest album, and many more.
Which artiste is the easiest to work with?
Juliana Kanyomozi because she is always prepared and spends less than an hour to record but the rest are also good.
What is your best song at the moment?
Irene Namatovu’s Kuzaala kujagana. It’s unique and was well produced.
What should one do to become a good producer?
He should do a lot of research and have a very good musical background.
Uganda has many artistes but we haven’t gone international. What do you think is the problem?
We lack business mentality.
We don’t have self-belief and we stay in our comfort zones instead of experimenting.
How do you come up with hit songs?
I’m driven by inspiration, which I get in the bathroom or in my car. After producing a song, I get people’s opinions about it and make necessary changes before releasing it. Mostly, I love producing music for my friends because we agree to disagree at most times.
How does it feel when the song you produced becomes a hit?
It feels normal these days because I have several. But back then, I would get excited. My dream was to listen to my first song playing on radio and it happened.
How would you describe yourself?
I’m a loner.
Now that you have several hits, how much would you charge for a song?
That is confidential. I can’t share it with the public.
Which artiste do you think has the total package?
I think Maurice Kirya, although I have never worked with him.
Which other producers would you recommend?
Allan Okia, Nessim, Sam Bisaso, Michael Fingers and Legend P.
From which school did you learn production?
I never went to school to learn production. I tutored myself thanks to YouTube.
How long and how much did it take you to build this studio?
I built it in a month and I used about Shs50m to start it up.
Which kind of people can’t you stand?
Hypocrites and lazy people.
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