Ugandan music king Eddy Kenzo talks about new album ‘Made in Africa’, challenges, and love (Interview)
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It’s no secret that Eddy Kenzo is one of the hottest artists out of Africa, with BET and Nickelodeon’s awards under his belt. So it’s no surprise, and indeed a pleasure, that GRUNGECAKE got the chance to catch up with the renowned artist promoting ‘Made in Africa’, his recently released project. With more than fifteen potential hit songs on ‘Made in Africa’, featured songs like ‘Weekend’ are already getting traction on social media. Learn about how Eddy Kenzo started his music career, his favourite foods, making ‘Made In Africa’ and, if you’re lucky, a bit of his love life.
GRUNGECAKE: Feel free to skip this question if you find it uncomfortable or inappropriate because the last thing I want to do is offend you: However, I have to ask because the fans want to know, and rumours have been going around: Has Eddy Kenzo found love? As said before, feel free to keep the people guessing.
Eddy Kenzo: I think love is also looking for me and I am sure we shall find each other.
GRUNGECAKE: How does Eddy Kenzo start a regular day?
Eddy Kenzo: My day starts with a prayer every day because I never know what is awaiting ahead of me, so I put God in front of everything to lead me.
GRUNGECAKE: What is your favourite go-to food to bring you to your happy place?
Eddy Kenzo: I am fun of beans and any accompaniment when I am in Uganda, but I always look for Italian restaurants when I travel.
GRUNGECAKE: When did you realise that you wanted to be an artist? What are some of the challenges you faced?
Eddy Kenzo: I don’t remember that time of realizing that I want to be an artist because I had it in me since childhood; music and soccer was my thing. About challenges, I don’t call them challenges; I call them lessons, I didn’t have the capital to start, but that taught me how to make with friends and keep them because it was through the people I knew that I got a chance to go to studio the first time.
GRUNGECAKE: Now, let’s get into your new project, ‘Made in Africa’. What inspired your project title? What message are you sending the world?
Eddy Kenzo: The album title came from who we all are. We are all African. To me, African means humanity, togetherness, diversity, love and respect because, as Africans, that’s what defines who we are. So the title is because me, you and everybody else is African.
GRUNGECAKE: What message are you sending to the world?
Eddy Kenzo: In a world full of hate and fear, I believe that togetherness and unity are the way to go, which calls for tools that can unite people. So music being the strongest tool to unite people, I had to create it according to the world’s population. That’s why you hear many feels from different parts of the world fused in Afrobeat.
GRUNGECAKE: ‘Weekend’ is already a fan-favourite; what are your favourite songs from the new project, ‘Made in Africa’?
Eddy Kenzo: The twenty-one songs are all my favourite in different ways because I had a collection of 57 songs, and I had a task of picking the best twenty-one songs, and that’s what I picked as my favourite.
GRUNGECAKE: How has life changed for you after winning a BET and Nickelodeon’s award?
Eddy Kenzo: OMG, in a country like Uganda where few people knew about us, these recognitions made a lot, not just to me, but to the whole country. If you can check Google and search Eddy Kenzo returns with BET, you can see the joy people had for that win. It changed a lot of lives and gave hope to many young people. They also believe that they will make it and indeed they will because they are working so hard.
GRUNGECAKE: Your fans are listening; anything you want to say to them?
Eddy Kenzo: All I can tell my fans, is thank you for walking this journey with me. All the way from streets to international platforms. Now, [I] am here on GRUNGECAKE, and it is because y’all have appreciated what I do for you. And, in a special way, I wanna thank my sister Richardine for always helping almost every musician. Thank you, sis.
