Myafricanmusic.com - African Music News

Bebe Cool

When Mick Jagger sang about sex, drugs and rock and roll, nobody doubted his credibility. When Johnny Cash sang "Walk The Line," people knew he'd had trouble walkin' one. And when Emmylou Harris sang about heartbreak, audiences felt her ache. Authentic artists share a gift for communicating truth; truth mined from their own life experiences and expertly spun into three-minute, melodic vignettes (Source: http://www.myspace.com/joeyandrory).When Bebe Cool sang "Agenze", a song about his marital troubles when Zuena left him, some artists whose names I hesitate to mention attacked him for putting his "private matters" in music. If it was someone else who sung about their life that would be intrusion but if the man decided to grab his guitar and records a song which in my opinion is a hit, I guess we leave it to him and his estranged wife. Let's face it, there are so many artists who sing about real life experiences but what makes Bebe Cool and Zuena unique is that the "Bafudde" superstar boasts so much about his "beautiful" wife and his affairs are more or less public domain. I doubt there are many people out there that know Bebe Cool but have not heard about, let alone know Zuena. Take an example of the highly dramatized R Kelly's "In The Closet" which is based on a theme millions of people experience at least once in a life time (cheating or being cheated on); Over 4 million views on youtube, 20,000 ratings and over 10,000 comments! The bottom line is that the best way to get into people's hearts is singing about life experiences they can relate to. Bebe Cool took a bold step and put his real life experience in this song "Agenze".

Lots of time we flock the movie theaters because the movie is based on a true story. True story: because it happened to someone in real life. In addition, these days reality shows are commonplace. In my opinion, this song "Agenze" is a virgin manifestation of the man's state of the heart affairs. After all even Zuena knew very well that the man is an artist. I hope the critics realize that as an artist, he decided to deal with the situation that way and I bet this song might become the standard for lots of men out there who lose their loved ones due rumors surrounding their relationships! From a stand-point of a listener, I watch out for a few of these things in a song:

Is the song meaningful?

Does it have a good melody?

Would I listen to it again and again or is it disposable?

I think the song passes these simple tests and is likely to be here for a long time! Finally, I am not personally a big fan of Bebe Cool but I think he deserved respect for putting his emotions in this wonderful song. Besides, the man commands a huge following in Uganda, East Africa and beyond. The future will tell whether the man is taking his career to the next level or songs like this one take him down

By: Cindy Tshola