As Uganda celebrated 50 years of independence, we all kept our focus on what was said and done at Kololo, but little did we know that even our brothers and sisters in the diaspora where also joining the jubilations. Concerts were held a head of the October 9th celebrations and the most hyped being one in Stockholm Sweden. I won't say I attended it but I at least got video evidence of the concert and, as many shows of the kind, it was attended by Ugandans working in and around Sweden with performances by the legendary Afrigo band and very many Ugandan artistes we may not and some we may never know.
One of the various performers was a young lady clad in a sky blue evening dress, and the moment she openned her mouth to sing, nothing else mattered. They all listened, directly feeding from her musical mind, the soul in her voice was one meant to touch the heart strings of even the cold hearted and to top all that, she is insanely beautiful.
Patricia Mukanza, aka Triisha, is one Ugandan girl with super vocal abilities.
No wonder she left a mark on many that even the veterans of Afrigo band praised her performance not to mention a number of rushed interviews by various online channels.
To those that have heard Patricia sing will agree that she has a Keri Hilson and Ciara influence on her signature.
She has covered various songs by famous acts like Trey Songs, Drake and Rihanna though, it was her original compositions like Hold him down and star that caught the attention of Record producer and RnB star Mario and in a backstage interview, he's heard calling Triisha the next big name in music.
She exibits qualities of an international act just by the way she carries her self, even when she's an upcoming artiste, she knows her worth and this interview didn't come the easy way. I had to stalk her on both twitter and facebook. Even before she accepted to skype it, the young singer and rapper was keen to know how I learnt about her work, the website for the paper I write for and much more.
Patricia Mukanza, is a Ugandan artist based in the US and Sweden where she was born.
“My parents are from kampala Uganda and, I’m musoga as well. I grew up in Sweden but I’ve also lived in Uganda for one year, I experienced the Ugandan culture even closer into my life and it was an amazing and unforgettable chapter of my life,” she says.
Like all famous musicians, Patricia started out in different school choirs like the one at the Swedish Catholic school where she studied.
“I had very artistic views; i started dancing ballet and jazz. I first participated in choir when I was 8 years old,” she added.
Patricia’s journey to the stage is quite a dodgy one; it was through a friendly network that she managed to see the first producer she worked with, at 14; she wasn’t so sure of her chances. Not even that first record made her any confident but the random listener that asked her never to stop singing.
Since then, a more confident Patricia has gone on to tear up stages with artistes such as Mario and our own Afrigo band.
Much as Patricia is really passionate about music, she still plans of a future outside performing, just in case…….. She’s still a student in New York where she majors in Criminal Justice something totally different from art or music.
“Hmm I don’t want say that I want do anything else than music because that’s the only thing I want to do, but since I’m studying my other option I believe would be a detective or special agent,” she says with a smile.
Even after being out of the country for such a long time, the 20 year old is keen to keep in touch with her country. This was evident with the way she continuously slit in Luganda words in her ligua, they may have been broken and incorrect but still impressive. She fluently speaks both English and Swedish.
Patricia is currently working on her debut EP Beautiful Pain and she says, she draws most of her inspiration from within. At the moment she writes most of her music which she directly gets from her day to day experiences.
Patricia’s knowledge of Ugandan music is quite overwhelming; she refers to Afrigo band as a classic.
“When you talk about paying homage, you are talking Afrigo band,” she says.
To my surprise she knew who the likes of Lillian, Cindy, Maurice Kirya and Blu3 were, though, it’s the Goodlyfe boys Radio and Weasle she has shared a stage with in Gothenburg.
Everything seems to be taking shape for the young singer and detective, with her hold him down doing relatively well on iTunes, Patricia can’t hide her joy.
“I’m overwhelmed of the support Uganda is giving my music. The U.S has taught me a lot when it comes to music but as you know you can’t survive without the home support. Am just happy that the three countries I call home are appreciating me for what I love to do,” she says.
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