Musician Prossy Kankunda
When musician Fred Maiso (RIP) composed his famous love ballad, Ekimuli Kya Rosa, the powerfully emotional lyrics appeared to have been directed to someone special in his life.
Prossy Kankunda, once upon a time his close partner, says it was just a random song written to celebrate love and, perhaps, capture the imagination of a musical audience driven by love.
Kankunda says she met Maiso when he was already in the process of recording Ekimuli Kya Rosa. That was early in 1995. At that time, Kankunda was in her freshman year at Makerere University. She was pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Music, Dance and Drama (MDD).
Juggling both studies and music
Kankunda had found her footing as a back-up artiste. She vividly remembers the time Maiso dropped by the late Tony Ssengo’s studio to record the song that would go on to hold local music aficionados spellbound.
“The song was amazingly beautiful and when I asked him what inspired him to come up with those lyrics, he said he liked writing about love. He also said love music is what the audience liked at the time,” Kankunda recalls.
It is safe to say that even Maiso did not expect the ballad to be as critically acclaimed as it turned out to be. The song, Kankunda notes, literally became a household tune, enjoying airplay on radio stations, in bars, clubs and wedding functions.
“The moment the audience would notice the kick, they would pay attention,” she told Saturday Monitor, adding: “Every time we performed, it was a moment to remember.”
A rose by another name
It would not be inaccurate to come to the conclusion that Kankunda was never the rose but she blossomed into. While she did not originally do the back-up vocals during the recording, she was a de facto back-up vocalist whenever Maiso performed the ballad, which was usually most of the time. Maiso, Kankunda adds, extended the opportunity to back him up whenever he got gigs to perform. The performances were literally given a theatrical touch to create an emotional touch.
“I could show up on stage, roll my eyes in a much more gorgeous way to directly gaze into the audience,” she remembers, adding: “Everyone would go mad.”
Kankunda says she would show up on stage the moment Maiso would start singing the first verse of the song. The audience was convinced that the song was literally dedicated to her, never mind that this was never the case.
With time, Kankunda came to terms with the fact that the audience perceived her, and addressed her, as the ultimate Kimuli Kya Rosa (Rose flower).
Eventually, Kankunda dated Maiso, anyway. In her final year at Makerere, the two lovebirds welcomed a child—Derrick Kamba. The lad recently embarked on a career in music.
Always part of her journey
Kankunda traces the roots of her music journey to when she was still in lower primary school. She notes that she would often get picked as the lead for her school choir. She hastens to add that she excelled at the musical assignments.
Musician Prossy Kankunda
In her quest to have a breakthrough, Kankunda applied to join Bakayimbira Drama Actors, who had a base at Pride Theatre in Kampala. While she gave a compelling auditions, Micheal Kakande asked her to join his band. That is how she joined the New Generation Africa Band, eventually catching the eye as a back-up artiste. She also worked with a number of stars at that time, including legendary Elly Wamala and Jimmy Katumba.
A star from the audience
On a random day when Kakunda had paid a ticket to enjoy the performances of Kaads Band at the back-end of 1999, a vocalist on stage invited her to join the stage. Her voice would go on to sway William Kamukama, the band founder. Kamukama’s wife was equally impressed, and the two asked Kankunda to join the band.
It is in Kaads band where Kankunda was challenged to compose her own music. She picked inspiration from the likes of John Kahwa, Akiiki Romeo, among others. Ndibulaaya is the song that Maiso wrote for Kankunda, but it was never received well by the audience. To Kankunda, this was an indicator that it was not her time yet.
During her early days as an undergraduate student at the university, Kankunda had worked on two unrecorded projects—Ngabwa and Akalulu. She says Ngabwa was the song that opened doors for her solo music career, earning her a nomination in the prestigious Kora Awards. It also earned her a maiden trip to the United Kingdom, where she performed at the Kora Awards concert.
“Ngabwa is a song I wrote myself and it is the song that I submitted as part of required projects to graduate at the university,” she explains, adding that even today, people still book her to purposely perform the song.
In her opinion, though, Ngabwa was overshadowed by Akalulu—a love ballad that was appreciated by her audience in the central region.
Kankunda says both songs—Akalulu and Ngabwa—were inspired by her grandmother’s teachings about the girl-child. The songs have, for years, defined marriage functions in both central and western Uganda.
Where is she?
Kankunda says on various occasions, people use her name to perform and earn from her music. She notes that a number of people are illegally earning royalties from her music on various digital platforms.
The collapse of Kaads Band in the 2000s pushed Kankunda to venture into business while silently pursuing a solo music career. She now runs an arts troupe dubbed Prossy Kankunda Cultural Dancers in Bushenyi. She also doubles as a businesswoman in South Africa, where she is a home owner. A wearer of many hats, while in Uganda, Kankunda teaches music in Uganda while also undertaking farming projects.
WHO IS KANKUNDA?
Born on June 9, 1975, Prossy Kankunda is the firstborn in her family. She is among the children of former legislator Francis Bantariza (RIP). She went to Aga Khan for nursery and primary school, and later to Nakasero Primary School where she completed her primary education in 1988. She then went to Kings College Budo for O-Level and Kololo SS for A-Level before pursuing an MDD course at Makerere.
