Saida Karoli rolls back the years

Dar es Salaam. It is almost a decade since sensational singer Saida Karoli last graced the big stage and now she is on the verge of greatest comebacks.

This is after career setbacks punctuated with bad deals that almost forced her to quit music. She somehow hanged on, and even at such times Saida’s talent and ability as one of the best in her category was never in question.

And as they say, you have to take what is yours and Saida finally seems to be ready to take her patch among the cream of Tanzania’s music.

“I think I am finally ready to give the fans what they probably missed for so many years while I was away,” she says.

At 40, despite having gone through what she calls ‘hell’, her vocal projection is still much the same as it was some 15 years ago.

At her final practice session this week she was keen to detail and often interrupting the instrumentalists whenever they got the cords wrong.

“No No, that is not it, let’s do it again,” she tells one of the guitarists.

She adds: I want this to sound just the way it is, we are not trying to do any versions here. They should be able to identify with the songs just as they did so many years ago.

To kick start her renaissance Saida released one of her latest compositions ‘Orugambo’ which some have called a medley of some of the hits sampled off her Maria Salome.

“This is an appreciation to these young men especially Diamond because I believe without them probably I would still be in the village,” she says.

To stamp her authority on the industry she is set to release her first album which she has aptly titled The Best of Saida Karoli, a compilation that includes some of her latest songs.

“I had to come up with something to show to my fans and that is why I had to release an album even at a time when everyone is saying it isn’t ideal,” says Saida.

She admits that having been away for such a long time it is going to take some real work to get back to her best.

“As you know this is an industry that is fast paced, everyone is in a rush especially with the new media in place, back then it was only a few newspapers and some radio stations,” says the mother of five.

But how did Saida end up in this mess? At her peak in the early 2000s Saida Karoli’s shows were all sold out with the show in Kampala’s Nakivubo Stadium being of her most memorable. “This was the first time that I was performing outside my native Tanzania and the stadium which is at the centre of Kampala was packed to capacity,” she says.

The next shows that took her to Mbale and later on Kenya were no exception as thousands of filled the venues; little known to her fans she wasn’t making any money. The money belonged somewhere else!

At that time she was under contract with FM Studios and her joy which was mainly born out of naivety other than monetary gains was to see the audience happy.

“During my entire time at FM studios I was like any other employee and I was paid a monthly salary of Sh350,000, it did not matter how much the show had made,” she says.

Apart from that she was also entitled to some paltry bonuses and at some point she was awarded some Sh7.5 million after the sales of her debut album. She was never paid royalties and she thinks there is no one to blame but herself for the mess that followed.

After her contract ended and she seemed to be past her sell-by date, her benefactor left her for the dead, she retreated to Mwanza.

“I had to go back to Mwanza where I set up my base and on many occasions I would perform in the rural shows during the harvest period in the Sukuma area,” she says.

Her most disheartening period came in 2015 when some strange rumour began circulating that she had died.

“I really cried that day and for some reason I thought I had really died given the situation that was surrounding me,” she says.

How does she cope with the industry?

In an industry where not so many female musicians make it to the top, Saida who performs with her two eldest daughters says the worst mistake was to let foreign music take control.

“Just look around, it is true that these guys sing in Kiswahili but that is just about it, we have forgotten our traditions, this means we have nothing to show!”

She is appalled with some of the content that makes news in the showbiz these days.

“What passes as hit songs are sometimes very flat songs but because of the promotion they become number one songs,” says Saida.

But even as some are tempted to call her all sorts of names such queen of Haya Music, she says she remains grounded because her music is for the ordinary folks and it is likely to stay that way.

Plenty has been said, several verdicts passed but there is indication that this is a new dawn for Saida Karoli.