Chameleone attacks medical association head over costume

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Last week, the president of the Uganda Medical Association (UMA), Herbet Luswata expressed his disgust at the use of the medical coat and other apparatus (a stethoscope) as costume and props in a music video of Gravity Omutujju and Shakira Shakira.

Luswata urged the industry regulator, UCC (Uganda Communications Commission) to ban the video.

Jose Chameleone (who often adds the title of Doctor to his stage name) has responded to Luswata. He believes that Luswata is undermining Ugandan art and creativity. During a performance in a club in Nabweru, Wakiso, Chameleone took a break to address the issue.

He criticized the various organizations that perturb musicians over their choice of attire, stating that such actions do not support Ugandan art but rather bring it down.

"People are busy fighting creativity in art. During our early days, fellow Ugandans always supported us with resources for our videos, such as clothes and locations, which enhanced the songs. Churches and hospitals provided space and attires for the Tubonge song, allowing us to work with their teams,” Chamelone revealed.

The pencil-thin but rough voiced singer, said that such complaints limit their creativity. “In other countries like the United States, artistes receive support from their country with all the materials they need for production because they represent the nation,” he argued. Mistakes may happen during the course of work, but they should guide and correct the artistes instead calling for bans,” he advised.

He says that a good universe should be thematically universal and that is why he produces both message-driven songs and merely party ones. “After the Banana collaboration, I released Nzigulira where I dressed in church attire because I was delivering God's message, and it was filmed in a holy location, a church. People need to understand that artists dress according to the message in the song. However, they add some art and creativity to make it entertaining and differentiate it from the real context,” he said.

Typical of the singer, he ended his address on a bragging note. “I know what I am doing and no one will stop me,” he said.