‘Waste no melody, waste no lyric’ – Maurice Kirya
Maurice Kirya’s latst track Sirina Time, which dropped in September, is bold and fresh, much to the delight of old and new fans alike.
It combines neo-soul with Kirya’s unique mwooyo sound.
Mwooyo, which means “soul” in the Luganda language, is a blend of Afro-soul, R&B, hip hop and jazz elements – but always with Ugandan traditional folk at its heart.
Kirya’s had a long and distinguished musical career. Like his siblings, he followed in the musical footsteps of his piano- and guitar-playing grandfather.
The artist’s solo career kicked off in the early 2000s, and he had a big hit with the song Bindamu in 2005 in collaboration with Tanzanian hip hop star A.Y.
In 2010 he won the coveted Discoveries prize, which is awarded by French radio station RFI. That led to concerts in Paris and a tour across Africa.
He’s released six albums, the latest of which was Road to Kirya last year.
That album was written during the Covid pandemic, when he was in The Netherlands.
“Everything seemed to go to shambles. Music was my way of staying sane in such a trying time.”
The singer-songwriter believes the fears and uncertainties of that time made the album a better product: “When you write music from a place of pain, you waste no melody, you waste no lyric.”
Kirya’s also an actor, most recently appearing in Netflix film The Girl in the Yellow Jumper. He’s best-known for global blockbusters The Last King of Scotland, starring alongside Forrest Whittaker, and the Queen of Katwe with Lupita Nyongo’o. His dream is to compose the soundtrack for a film that he acts in.
In 2021, Kirya launched his own coffee brand – The Sound Cup – in Uganda and The Netherlands, just one of several business ventures.
And, inspired by his own humble background, he also does humanitarian work with young people and refugees.
By Edu
