Vian Captain
Music in Uganda is growing so fast that there are new entrants every day. The new application Tiktok has helped expose many young talents, and some of them are already making waves. Alien Skin is a good example.
It has been a household name in West Nile regions such as Arua, Koboko, and Pakwach, and it is slowly gaining momentum in Kampala. Vian Captain, whose real name is Vian Kiwa Butele, is a dancehall musician from Kampala who began his career in school. In an interview with sQoop said he started active music while in lockdown but it wasn’t easy because it wasn’t the best timing since there were restrictions on everything to do with business and music in the music industry.
Captain says he recorded his first song in 2007 at a friend’s studio in Gulu free of charge. It wasn’t the captain’s intention to record a song, but his passion for music drove him to do so at Black De Masacre’s studio a friend he had gone to visit.
Although everyone told Captain he would end up singing, Captain always disagreed and preferred to dance while at school.
After recording four songs at his friend’s studio where he had been for one month, he shared the song with his other friends and they liked his music. Instead of dancing, he chose to take singing seriously.
Following the advice of friends, Captain decided that he wanted to be a superstar and therefore sought a promoter for his music. He says that a producer whose name he does not recall asked him for Shs 30,000 and told him that he would be a star in two days, but he failed to deliver. He then turned to his brothers for help in 2017 after he had started serious music and they were taking his music to different DJs in Kampala and the surrounding areas, some of which were located in Arua.
According to Captain, his parents were not supportive of the career path he had chosen to take so he ran away from home and started staying with his friends. Reality hit him in 2018 and he came home, asked for forgiveness, and then took a break from music.
He also refused to join university citing that he had a job that paid him well which was a lie.
Captain returned to music in 2019 and shot his first-ever video with Shs300,000 collected from friends and family. The title of the song is ‘Bulaaza’. Some TVs played it but stopped because of its poor quality. After the experience he had at the beginning, he did not seek out promoters for his music.
When he started doing music comfortably, the pandemic hit leading to a total lockdown but this didn’t kill his morale.
” After the lockdown, I went to Bad Man Records in Kawempe and Geno Records in Nansana to record the songs I had written. I also went to Jahlive in Makindye, but they asked for too much.”
In 2021, he released his first professional song titled ‘Buswaga’ which was produced at Geno Records. Since then, he has released songs like ‘No Virgins’, ‘Pam Pam’, and ‘Monday to Sunday’ among others.
Captain has performed at events like the Buzz Event in 2019, Radio 4 events, and at Okello Okello’s Silent Comedy recently at the National Theatre.
Captain’s lyrics are derived from creativity, humility, and pride. He writes music for himself and also for other artistes.
Now that Captain has settled in Kampala, he is gearing up to release his 2024 EP that will feature young artistes and some of the biggest names in Ugandan music.
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