Gloria Bugie is currently one of the most talked about artistes in the Ugandan music industry. Why? Several reasons, actually.An ability to use social media to connect with her fans. High profile collabos with the likes of John Blaq and A Pass. Some seriously raunchy music videos.
But also overt thirst traps with her songs in the background.The main reason,though,is that she is drop dead gorgeous and not modest about it.This audacity seems to rub a lot of people the wrong way but it is also the reason she is receiving more and more attention.
Recently,Bugie has been trending and the increased recognition has brought increased scrutiny.The main issue with her seems to be that she is getting attention because of how she looks,rather than how she sounds.The implication being that she does not deserve it.
It is time to make something clear.Gloria Bugie isn’t Juliana Kanyomozi.She most definitely isn’t Iryn Namubiru.Or Naava Grey or whoever the standard for vocal ability is.
Gloria Bugie isn’t even Winnie Nwagi or Desire Luzinda;her predecessors in being accused of “singing with hips”,a phrase supposed to describe female artistes who use their sexiness rather than their talent,to achieve relevance.
But that right there is where her critics go wrong.She doesn’t have to be any of them.The supposedly virtuous idea that a female artiste should rely on their sound and not their appearance is too theoretical to be taken serious in this day and age.And it is mainly a subconscious collective reaction driven by the morality police inherent in our patriarchal society.That simply isn’t how modern showbusiness works.
Modern showbusiness is all about eyeballs.The more eyeballs an artiste can attract the better it is for their brand.It is that simple.And the end justifies the means.Traditionalists will not accept that easily,which is why they are lashing out at Bugie all over social media.
Social media tends to have this thing where users mindlessly pile on a singular target because it becomes a source of clout itself.As in,to make fun of that target brings rewards in the form of likes and comments.Gloria Bugie happens to be that target at the moment.
The unfortunate thing is a lot of the people piling on her have never actually listened to the music and they don’t care.Because once you listen to the songs you realise there is a method to her madness.Again,Gloria Bugie is not the paragon of vocal ability but she doesn’t have to be.She more than makes up for it with her ability to deliver rousing lyrics that the average listener gets hooked into.
You only need to listen to “Aliwa” the booming Bomba produced collaboration with dancehall superstar John Blaq to realise it.Vocally she plays it safe,preferring provocative lyrics such as “…Ewaffe walungi n’amazzi mayonjo siri muddu,njuwa n’enyungu…” over complex melodies and high pitched delivery that expose her limitations.
Or the fact that the notoriously snobbish A Pass deemed her worthy of collaboration on the understated “Sagala”.Artin at Axtra Nation made the perfect track for Bugie’s range,and she did it justice,opening the song declaring how ready she is to be a fool for her lover without looking back.Those are the sort of relatable words that fans jump onto.
These songs demonstrate that with the right production and songwriting,Gloria Bugie isn’t just some hapless bimbo as the social media criticism would have you believe.She is a serviceable (if unspectacular) vocalist who could very well be here to stay.
Why?Because she combines a blazing attractiveness invaluable in modern showbiz with an almost mundane relatability.Literally the perfect Girl-Next-Door.People will not realise that until she blows because of it.
I am daring to buck the trend now and declare that Bugie is not just overhated.She is actually underrated.That doesn’t mean that she is flawless.It just means the discourse around her is skewed unfavourably.
If there can be a silver lining to the flak Gloria Bugie has been receiving in bulk lately,it is that they did the same thing to Sheebah Karungi more than a decade ago.And now nobody would dare to argue against Queen Karma being a modern legend.
I don’t mean to suggest that Bugie is currently on the same level as Sheebah.She is not and she cannot be.Sheebah hasn’t been on top for more than a decade to be compared to someone yet to even score a proper hit.But the potential for a similar trajectory is there,whether or not the morality police likes it.
Bugie has to put in a huge amount of work to improve if she is to become established in the same way.Sheebah didn’t stand still.She kept improving.And yet even now,after all that,there are those who still find it easier to point out her limitations,rather than focus on how she managed to rise above them.
I chose to use Sheebah because she is the epitome of a not so technically gifted artiste making the best of their gifts thanks to that hitmaking X Factor that only very few possess.I believe that Bugie has it too.But for her to use it successfully,she has to rise above the haters and keep putting in the work.Here is to hoping that she does.
