Uganda’s Bebe Cool Returns with 'Break the Chains' and a Hard-Earned Blueprint for Staying Relevant

Bebe Cool is in the middle of a full-blown media blitz.

It's a campaign that has taken him from Kampala to Nairobi, then Dar es Salaam, with upcoming stops in Rwanda, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and the UK. The Ugandan legend, known for hits like "Love You Everyday," is promoting his newest album, Break the Chains. It's his first full-length release since Mbozi Za Malwain 2018, and he views it as a potential blueprint for East African artists from the early 2000s and 2010s who are still seeking to remain relevant in a rapidly changing industry.

He is well-positioned to lead that charge. Cool's sound has long bridged reggae and dancehall with the East African music landscape. He launched his career in 1997 and quickly made his mark after moving to Nairobi, where he became one of the earliest signees to Ogopa Deejays, the Kenyan label that helped shape the region's sound. By the early 2000s, he had helped redefine Uganda's musical identity. His 2004 collaboration with Wyre the Love Child and Nazizi, under the East African Bashment Crew, brought regional acclaim, with tracks like "Africa Unite" and "Fire Anthem" receiving major radio play.

"I've always managed myself," he tells OkayAfrica from Tanzania. "So this time I said, let me find someone who can do everything for me and say… get away from the usual."

Letting go of that kind of control wasn't easy. Cool had managed his brand successfully for years, and he could have easily rested on his hard-won laurels. Why change?

The decision to adapt then became easier. "I would rather lose my ego than lose my fame, my name, my business."

Cool-handed creative control to a younger team who helped shape everything from song choices and producers to collaborators and rollout. Once he got past the discomfort, he found the process surprisingly enjoyable. He lightened his workload, and the process became a moment of self-discovery. "There's what you see within yourself, and then there's what people see within you. Most of the time, 90 percent of humans will activate what they see within themselves. But then we never get an opportunity to allow others to activate what they see within us."

Even though Cool remains one of Uganda's most prominent artists, he is now a legend in a country with the second youngest population on earth. With more than 78 percent of the population under 35, he is surrounded by producers and creatives who are often decades his junior.

The result is a 16-track album that seamlessly blends Afrobeats, Afrotech, and Afrohouse, and it works. Cool is still attuned to selecting great songs, and his voice glides over all the tracks. His first singles from the album, "Circumference" and "Motivation," have been well received. The album also features a collaboration with Joshua Baraka, one of Uganda's fastest-rising stars. The move reintroduced Cool to younger audiences while boosting Baraka's profile with older fans. Other guests on the album include Kenya's DJ Eduand Nigeria's Yemi Alade.

The process has also taught him how to stay relevant in the digital age. "Right now, 16 songs mean 16 videos. It's 16 behind-the-scenes [content]. It's 16 activities... You can use those 16 songs to run over two years."

This mindset shift and execution are already influencing his peers. In Uganda, he sees artists saying that they want to release albums again. And during his stop in Nairobi, he reconnected with East African pioneers like Nameless and Redsan, who were energized by his momentum. "They were like, 'Bebe, I think you just woke us up.'"