Carol Nantongo: I have never written a song for myself

Carol Nantongo revealed that she is not the writer of any of her songs. The vocalist for a Ugandan band admitted this in an interview with Galaxy FM, a Ugandan radio station.

Despite this disclosure, she highlighted how she actively participated in the writing process by personalizing the lyrics.

This disclosure brings attention to a frequently overlooked aspect of the music industry, where songwriters often work behind the scenes, shaping melodies and lyrics that eventually become chart-topping hits, yet they receive minimal recognition.

From Nantongo’s point of view, this conventional wisdom is called into question. She suggests that musicians such as herself can lawfully acquire ownership of the music they perform by buying songs from writers. This blurs the traditional lines of authorship and ownership.

Carol Nantongo is not the songwriter for any of the songs she has recorded, but she has amassed a number of hit singles, such as “Nyiga Wano” and “Ndabula” with the B2C, which were big hits last year.

In addition, Nantongo’s disclosure highlights a more general pattern in the Ugandan music scene, where very few female musicians are acknowledged for their compositional skills.