If there is an era that will forever give Ugandan music lovers fits of musical nostalgia, that is undoubtedly be the 2010- 2013 era where the industry witnessed the “sickest” collaborations the decade ever got to see, from Mr DJ, Locomotive, taxi money, to the magic anthem among many other tremendous works of art.
Among all these awesome collaborations, three stood out like a sore thumb; Mr DJ, the magic anthem and taxi money due to the effortless artistry of the opening verses orchestrated by dancehall sensation Sizza Dictionary. He stood out because he did not try too hard, it came almost effortlessly to him and those who have worked with him in studio say he is as spontaneous as the word itself gets.
Let us briefly reflect on what particularly made these verses fire.
Mr DJ
On this track, this underrated legend simply sets the mood for the track by name dropping various industry game players. He tells fans to keep calm and enjoy their own poisons of music and gives comparison between two popular sodas Fanta and Sprite, cigarettes Rex and Sportsman, and by the time Navio gets on the mic, the track has already picked up heat.
Taxi money
Call him a pace setter, a creator of the vibe and most importantly a storyteller. Sizza tells one of the decade’s most memorable stories on Taxi money and he keeps the listener glued. He gets into character of a taxi driver who is fleeced of his fares by a birdling only for him to get his revenge through a threesome with her best friend.
Story telling in dancehall was a craft only Sizza cold execute with a unique effortlessness.
Magic anthem
This verse was the magnum opus of Sizzaman and boy oh boy, he took no hostages. He opens the song with a bar that looks easy but was unheard of, saying, “Tetulina competitor tulinga blueband” loosely translated as “We don’t have a competitor we are like blueband.” And rightly so, blueband has no serious competitors, so was Goodlyfe those days.
He fused a certain breed of lyrical idiosyncrasy only Moses Radio was accustomed to with hard-hitting similes and metaphors, carelessly name dropping players from his camp and despite the song having had other monstrous artistes on it, it simply could have ended with Sizza’s verse.
Sizzaman contributed immensely to the game and despite having gone off the scene for a minute, we should never forget that he gave us three of the “illest” verses of the decade.