For a long time, upcountry artistes, especially from northern Uganda have always claimed they are talented but event promoters in Kampala and back at home in the north have failed to accept it.
Recently at the Purple Party event in Gulu, celebrated northern Uganda singer, Bosmick Lucky Otim refused to step on stage because he claimed that the organisers were only letting Kampala artistes step on stage.
This has forced some of the northern Uganda artistes led by Easy Bash aka Bashir Maacha to form an association of northern Uganda artistes to find a way forward or else boycott the Kampala artistes from getting crowds when they go to the North. “We (Upcountry artistes) are the ones that give the events hype before the Chameleons, Bebe Cool and Bobi Wine step on stage,” Easy Bash said, adding that they therefore deserve some respect and a pay raise when they are booked to perform. He said that it is hard for an upcountry artiste to get chance to perform in Kampala and when they get chance, they are paid four times less than an artiste in Kampala. The same applies to TV or radio where presenters ask for about Shs150,000 to play a song.