Tarrus Riley, the Jamaican reggae singer known for his ‘Just the Way You Are’ hit has expressed his love for Uganda in a new song recorded on his visit to the country. He arrived in Uganda on Wednesday ahead of a music concert on Friday (yesterday).
He revealed to thousands of revelers who turned up for the Swangz All Starz concert held on Friday at the Lugogo Cricket Oval that Uganda was special, which is why he decided to release a deidicated song.
The singer took to stage a few minutes to 11pm after a host of Ugandan musicians including Benon & Vampino, Navio, Maurice Kirya, Winnie Nwagi, Maddox, Vinka, Mun G, Michael Ross, Kent & Floso, Rabadaba, Ziggy Dee, A Pass among others.
Tarrus Riley perfomed alongside the legendary saxophonist, Dean Fraiser and the Blak Soil band from Jamaica.
Among the popular songs he did was Wild Fire, Sorry is a Sorry Word, She’s Royal, Just the Way You Are, Blessings and Don’t Come Back.
“It’s a pleasure being in Uganda. It’s a dream come true in reality,” Tarrus said at a point amid his showcase which lasted one hour and 20 minutes. He opened with ‘Gimme Likkle One Drop’.
“Now I know what it means when they say Uganda is the Pearl of Africa. I was in Jinja at the source of River Nile. This is my third time in Africa. I have been to Kenya, Zimbabwe,” the singer told revelers.
“But tonight is special. Uganda is the source of the Nile. I also loved African food. I have made a special song for Uganda”.
This is when he introduced his fresh-out-of-studio song titled ‘Uganda’ that he later performed with a local traditional dance troupe.
In the fast paced song, Tarrus repeatedly praises Uganda as the pearl of Africa, and names a couple of towns.
The audio of the song was recorded at the Bukoto based Masters Music by Nessim and Benon Mugumbya, according to Julius Kyazze, one of the Directors at Swangz Avenue.
“We are going to call the song Uganda. How it came about, Tarrus wanted Swangz to produce a song for him and he wanted it to be about Uganda,” Kyazze told SoftPower News on Saturday.
“Nessim worked on the track at Masters Music. He worked with Benon”.
The video was shot in Jinja, at the source of the Nile and a couple few other locations in Uganda. Kyazze says that the video was done by Swangz and will be ready in the next two weeks.
On what such a project by a singer of Tarrus Riley’s stature, means for the music industry in Uganda, Kyazze said: “It’s an honour for us to be involved in this”.
“We had an option of having him do a collabo but we said let him do a song. It works for us – if you work with an international musician. It’s his song, produced by Ugandans in Uganda, he owns it and promotes it,” he added.
Now Uganda and the world can wait with bated breath to have a feel of the song which in a sense is a perfect way to promote Uganda and its endowments.