Appearing today morning on The Fatboy Show was Celebrity Allan Toniks. Commenting on how artists benefited during the lockdown, he said it helped fans recognize and appreciate good music.
“Fans were compelled to consume music in a different way, not in the moment of enjoying the hype it gave during the club. They keenly listened to the music and criticized it while understanding good quality music in general. This led to a whole new appreciation for good music. To the artists it is a challenge, but also a good one for creatives because it’s an opportunity to express ourselves more.”
Given that most musicians' income came from live performances, Fatboy asked the singer how he survived during the lockdown period without live shows.
“It was quite challenging but we had online shows, most of these were being sponsored because we had no direct mechanism for fans to pay to watch the shows online, so artists would get money from sponsors.”
He added, “It was also good for people who could do live music because it created the demand for beautiful music since people were sober and paid more attention.”
He added that the period gave him time to concentrate on his craft and focus on adjustments in the music he was making. He also did a number of collaborations after he got feedback from fans that he had produced more singles in comparison to collaborations.
“The last collabo I had was with Fille called Falling and the one with Roja called Sunday. However, now I am going to have some releases with some beautiful people I won't mention here but they include top female artists in the country,” the artist assured.
Talking about his freshly released single Akahama which means ‘secret’ and was produced a few weeks but already surpassing 100,000 views on YouTube, Fatboy asked the musician what the ‘secret’ was behind the song.
“This song is a slightly naughty one and of course I am one of the artists that has managed to do songs in Runyankore and make it mainstream. I made it as a dare because even people that have roots in the west tend to do Luganda versions that are easier to go mainstream so I am glad that I paved the way.”
“There was a bit of pressure from fans complaining that I had abandoned them so I thought of dropping something new for them too. I have two more still in store though this is the only Runyankore song on the album.”
Fatboy then asked him if he had any plans of having an official launch of the new album since Kampala nightlife has been fully reopened. The singer said that since the groundwork of promotion and distribution of the song is done, he is hopeful about throwing a launch.
Inquiring about his relationship status, Fatboy asked the celebrity if he was taken or available.
He responded, “I am not married but I am seeing someone and we’ll see how it goes. But there's the debate that when someone’s not married they are not legally recognized so I could still become anybody’s.”
That aside, Toniks is optimistic about the future of the Ugandan music industry and from the experiences he had in the last two years. He requested Ugandans in the diaspora to buy the music available online which has greatly helped establish other music industries abroad.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, Sarah and Lesham every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.
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