Damian Marley, Nas demands put Ugandan show in balance

Mid-last year, the organisers of the annual Bayimba Festival announced that this year’s edition would be headlined by Jamaican raggae singer Damian Robert Nesta Jr, commonly known as Damian Marley and American rapper Najir bin Olu Dara Jones aka Nas . Before you get excited about seeing them perform in Uganda, sit down! You don’t know what their requirements to perform in Uganda are.
First of all, they are coming to promote their album titled Distant Relatives, an album meant to unite all Africans in the world. Since the event is for a good cause, the singers didn’t ask for so much money. All they will bag is Shs120m each (yes, that’s little money for these guys). However, the Bayimba team might not be able to meet the other requirements, for example a certain brand of drinking water that is not available in Uganda, their own type of food and personal chefs.
When we spoke to Phillip Masembe, the PRO Bayimba Foundation, he said the singers initially didn’t want to perform at the National Theatre and instead asked for a stadium.
“We have already booked accommodation for them and their team of seven people each,” Masembe relayed.
We also learnt that Damian and Nas will only perform for 45 minutes and they will perform strictly seven songs.