Ragga Dee’s celebration of 37 years of doing music spotlighted a man who has crafted a career around entertaining audiences through dance, cheeky and mind-tickling lyrics layered on largely palpitating Lingala rhythms.
His stage delivery was a fair three-hour serving of his music catalogue that evokes yester-year memories patterned along social issues: from songs such as Cissy, Bamusakata, Oyagala Cash, Stranger, Ndigida, Ssemusajja Agenda, and more.
The audience related to many of the songs he sang and some fans could be seen singing along and dancing. And that was largely in the last segment of the show.
What he could not deliver like he did in his more agile years, the audience got in the back-up dancers whose choreography was as entertaining as engaging, similar to how the king and queen dancers in your favourite upbeat Lingala song do it.
The notable highlights of the night included a performance by veteran artiste John Kaahwa, the former leader of Kads Band, who did a country cover song and one of his original ones, rousing music fans who went on stage to give money to the artiste who harmonically belted out in his signature baritone voice.
This was after a brief documentary of the star, who has been off the scene and suffered physical and emotional setbacks, was screened. Thanks to businessman and board chairman of MTN Uganda, Charles Mbiire, Kaahwa is slated to get a new start.
Ragga Dee also introduced his daughter, Shivon Dee, who serenaded the audience with a tune titled Kiboko Fire before going to give the audience a freestyle track with her father.
He also introduced Babaluku to do Nkabongere, a rhyme rap song in which Babaluku did a freestyle rap, giving flowers to Ragga Dee for giving him an opportunity to perform on his first stage when he was only 14 years old.
All through, the instruments were in harmony, thanks to Jazz Band’s Ssewa Ssewa on the Janzi and later on the drums and Hakim Kiwanuka on the congas then the guitarists and back-up singers.
Kenneth Mugabi never sells himself short; he put up a spirited performances that commandeered chorused sing-alongs as he effortlessly lingered and hit the high notes. Ragga Dee severally thanked Steve Jean, proprietor of Fenon Events for the great sound and awesome visuals, his sponsors for the career-long support, his designer Dicerich for the fashionably beautiful clothes and the fans for the love and support. This after he said he had taken a moment to look at social media where people had reportedly said he barely attracted a handful of people in the audience. Well, Serena was not half empty.
