Sharon Sento is among Mbale’s top female artistes. Supported by her vocal ability, she has managed to strive through the male dominated industry into becoming a recognised face of local music. She talked to Rebecca Kabuya.
Who is Sharon Sento?
Sharon Sento is an upcoming Ugandan artiste based in Mbale doing a unique type of afro soul, soul and zouk music.
When did your music journey start?
Professionally my music journey started in 2015, but have been singing since primary. I later joined the church choir while in secondary school, and after that I started singing as a backup artiste, backing up the majority of the artistes in this region.
What schools did you attend?
Agha Khan Primary School in Mbale, then Mount Masaba High School in Mbale, and Manafwa High School for “O” level. I then joined Mbale Progressive High School for my Senior Six. I later on enrolled at a hair dressing school.
What do you love about being a musician?
What I love most is that I love music; I love singing and it helps me speak out to the world. It helps me teach others what they do not know but above all music makes me discover the undicovered, reveal my emotions.
You said music helps you reveal your emotions. Do you use music to splash your anger to your ‘enemies’?
No! I do not use music to get back at those who attack, anger or do wrong to me. Rather I use music as an educative tool and direct them when I feel something is not right.
What is the hardest thing about being a female artiste?
One thing people always think is that a female artiste sleeps around with various men in order to be where we are. You do a song in a good studio they say you slept with the producer. There is also this sexist assumption that female artistes cannot be good wives which is wrong! i really do not like that.
Any nasty unforgettable stage experience?
Never ! I have never experienced anything bad on stage. Before I step on stage, I make sure that I am well prepared and in a good mood. I believe that poor preparations provoke poor performances.
What strategies do you use to market your music?
I know my audience is predominantly youth so whenever I think of doing a song, I first target the youth especially in high school. I use social media as well. I work with T.v and radio presenters too, these have really worked magically for me.
Where do we see Sharon Sento in five years’ time?
The world will see Sharon Sento owning a music school, Sharon Sento will become a music promoter especially for artistes from my town Mbale because I have realised that the biggest challenge for upcoming music talent is management and music promotion. I gonna take on that.
Your marital status?
(Laughs)
I am not single.
How many songs do you have so far
So far I have about seven songs on record but several others are not yet recorded. These I intend to record soon then embark on shooting professional high quality videos. I want to utilise the beautiful sceneries of Elgon region to shoot videos that I hope my fans will enjoy.
What kind of music do you do?
I do Afrosoul, soul, hip-hop, and zouk.
