Last summer, the African Perspective Magazine met up with one of the biggest music artists in Africa and an East African Legend "Bebe Cool" during his Canadian tour. Real name Moses Ssali, a.k.a big Size, Extra Large, Titanic, Mr. Showbiz, Big is Big, Munene Munene is a house hold artist with numerous HITS such as Agenze, Boom Bark Bogolako, Kasepiki, Ceaze and Sekkle, Dogolyo Sanyu Lya Mutima Gwange, Ntuyo Zange and more and more.. Throughout his long career, Bebe Cool has been nominated and won a number of awards both local and international. This awards include  the PAM awards, MTV, Mobos, Kisima, and Koras Awards. He notes that his biggest concert yet was the 46664 Mandela concert in Hyde Park London. The man is also a 46664 ambassador. Bebe Cool is also a man of unique character. He does not mince his words one bit. Thus, his political, social and philanthropic views are both sound and worth sharing.

TAP; Introduce yourself to those who aren't familiar

BEBE; Most people know me as Bebe Cool the singer, but my real name is Moses Ssali. Ugandan born and I've been doing Music for the past 20 years. I went to school in Uganda till form six, after which it was just my decision to become a singer because half of the time in school I was pretty much doing Music.

TAP; How exactly did you get into music or did music just come to you?

BEBE; Hmm music didn't come to me, in my time, it wasn't there in Uganda but for a small scale, so i saw an opportunity to become the biggest music maker in East Africa especially since technology was catching up and i took it. It also helped that i had good brains to interpret what the teachers were teaching us at school regarding our future and success. For example, one time our Physics teacher said something that got stuck with me, he said that "it was so important for someone to be self employed". After that, I became very keen as i didn't like waking up every morning and being told what to do. I knew that if I was going to be that stubborn, I had to be my own boss. Hence, I went to see this teacher after school one day and i asked him what he meant by "self employed"!! His answer was that "if you have talent, then your self employed". From that day on, I made the switch and got into music full time.

In those days, it was not easy being accepted, you had to prove to people that you can do something better. Also, it wasn't just about putting food in your mouth, you had to carry the flag for the country. Things have now changed from those hard days, I've now travelled countries, I've done concerts, my biggest one being the Mandela concert at Hyde park London. I've made singers, I've made friends, I've made enemies but all these things come with the big package called success. That said, its my first time in Canada and i feel like its the beginning, I've been putting up roots and i feel that the flowers are starting to fall now; even though I'm a veteran.

"I have hundreds of songs but no albums. I count no songs anymore, if i can't sale CD's because of piracy, then why make albums? I release music every week, i flood the market"

TAP; Its nice that you bring that up; most people do not know that you are a veteran in the industry and one of the founding members of Ogopa Dj's…

BEBE; Yes, I was in Kenya in 1997 and yes I'm one of the old guard. Actually, I'm the first ever Ogopa Dj's artist. I came in first, then Redsun, Chameleone, then the late E-Sir, Nameless, Nonini and others.

TAP; You mean you'll be working on a hit song or an Album?

BEBE; Yea, there's an Album that will be out for the bashment crew. East African reggae fans should be excited.

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TAP; Your also working with the East African Bashment Crew, whats the deal with that?

BEBE; Well EABC is Bebe Cool, Nazizi and Wyre, a group of artists who are all strong individually but who thought that if we need some togetherness to break new boundaries, that we would make the right combination. We are still the right combination. Right now though, we haven't done anything as Bashment for two years because our individual projects are doing well, the three of us. Also, my counterparts have had babies of late so they have turned into family people and needed a little break here and there but i think by the end of this year there will be more projects because there's more walls that we need to break; internationally, for East Africa we good to go.

TAP; Great news. Now tell us, you've been in the game for 20 years and you don't seem like your going to stop! What's pushing you? I mean, on the ground, who is cooking?

BEBE; Hahah, I'm not going to stop. Basically, i cook, I can't really say that someone else is cooking because my rule is to make friends. If you  make 10 friends you don't lose one. Its these friends that I've been making since my days in Kenya and in Uganda before that keep spreading my name and making my name bigger everywhere around the world. This is how you last long in this business and thats the way i run my business. I haven't lost a single friend in my business environment all these years because i know if i lose one friend, I've lost 10 fans. I respect my business and I respect my people in the business industry.

TAP; Right now Uganda is booming with new music and musicians. In fact, there's a new hit everyday! what's happening, how are you guys doing it?

"If we go another 20 years like that, Uganda is going to have the best music industry ever to exist in Africa".

BEBE; Well, typically, there's a lot of competition and I credit Uganda because even six years ago Uganda wasen't in the top six in Africa and now i can rate it to be second. South Africa has taken the third and Nigeria comes first at the moment because of numbers, not that they are that better than us! With all this passionate competition, we are trying to keep it to just positive competition and to avoid negative competition, to try keep it at a level where guns cannot apply!! Otherwise, that kind of crush that we have that i call competition has kept a lot of people on their toes in Uganda and in East Africa. It has kept the press attentive, it has kept government paying attention because governments know that when we talk, people listen. At the minute, the whole of the East African community is paying full attention because of these crushes. Actually, its not just East Africa because what is going on in Uganda is now on youtube and websites and a lot of people who live in Canada, US, Europe are following. Take it or leave it, you must pay attention; so we created something, personally i know i did and maybe Chameleone and lastly Bobby Wine that you wouldn't miss. Now the music scene is so tight that you don't sleep, I'm now in Canada for only three weeks but i know little boys are cooking to shoot on me, you get on the concert and when you get back all of a sudden there's a new song and the people are like "that guy is burning fire, what are you doing, sleeping"?? I think if we go another 20 years like that, Uganda is going to have the best music industry in Africa ever to exist! Why, the people have accepted, if you give them quality, they will pay for it any figure, if you give them quantity but no quality, you'll never get anywhere.

TAP; As a veteran of 20 years in the industry, what is your advice to the up and coming artists both at home and in the diaspora? Give us two things that tops them all.

BEBE; The main two things is one, trust in God. Two, always have a plan, focus and always have a goal at the end. Plan, focus and goal are one. You have to know the end point, what you want to achieve, then make a plan for it, in that way, any artist can be made. You also have to be patient, its not just making money, you have to be patient, people take time to like people. Its also important to respect the industry, no drugs and things like that.

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