Rita Sabiti climaxes Qwela Junction Diva show

Truth is for many art enthusiasts, Rita Sabiti is a legend, yet for millennials, she was that name without a face.
She had been called legendary, a maestro, classic and of course diva, but that didn’t really mean a thing considering the fact that few of us had indeed seen her perform and as usual, it was even right to believe that all these compliments were meant at making us feel bad about our music, which this past generation has described as bubblegum.
On Sunday though, during the final edition of this year’s Qwela Junction, code named The Divas, Sabiti proved she was worth the praise and hype that had been attributed to her.
In a crazy cast of female artists that included Sandra Suubi, Naava Grey, Mo Roots, Solome, Jamimah Sanyu and Rachel Magoola, Sabiti managed to not only stand out with her guitar.
She was sassy, gothic and electric, yet still managed to be a lady on that stage – amidst the crazy stage gladiator Sanyu, Magoola’s legend, Naava’s immaculate, Mo Roots’ surprises, Solome’s devine sounds and Suubi’s enchanting vocals that actually gave you goose bumbs every time she hit the higher notes – Sabiti’s guitar was always the climax.
And unlike the men we usually watch, this lady plays the instrument to perfection with literally very little effort.
But other girls too were good Suubi soured with Togwamu Suubi, her debut single with Banazeri, but this was a diva show so the song had been reworked to accommodate all girls on stage.
Mo Roots had her moments with Lwali Luyimba, again, done with the help of the entire cast – the way they easily merged on songs was amazing, you could mistake them for a girl group that has performed together for a long time especially with the fact that many of them are smooth but managed to synchronize with Sanyu who is a renown crazy act on stage.
The problems could have come with Naava’s songs which were mostly done on an acoustic guitar by Sabiti.
Sokalami and Ninga Omuloge being such rich songs, being played mostly on an instrument didn’t do justice to them, you felt that even with Sabiti’s immerse talent, a lot had been robbed from the songs, but the audience still danced.
The show ended with Magoola joining the girls to do a new song that the audience wasn’t so familiar with but still danced to and of course Obangaina where both Sanyu and Naava shared verses with the legend, again behind Sabiti’s powerful solo.