Pictorial: Female Deejays celebrate their success

In the dance music world highly dominated by men, and where music promoters, bars and club owners are likely to favour men over women, female deejays in Uganda have shown that they can break through and overcome these gender diversity challenges.

Talented and ambitious DJ MaryJo proved no less on Thursday at Nexus Lounge as she hosted and headlined the 3rd edition of the Uganda Waragi Ladies’ Affair. Stepping onto the stage a few minutes after 11pm, the deafening cheers from the overflowing hyped crowd were enough to tell why the popular deejay is one of the country’s favourites.

The Uganda Waragi Ladies’ Affair was organised to celebrate the achievements of women in commemoration of International Women’s Day 2019.

Speaking during the event, Uganda Waragi Brand Manager Agaba Tumusiime said, ‘The Spirit of Uganda celebrates all things Ugandan and has been proudly associated with deejaying in Uganda for over four years. We set out to professionalise the deejay industry and are excited to be back to support some of Uganda’s very best female deejay talent.’

The performances from the all-female deejay line-up of the night proved that the highly energetic and young deejays had risen to the occasion and fitted well into this male-dominated role.

The female deejays XZYL, Lolah, Sheila ATS, Kathy and Nelly Rwaxxy, who have all grown to become as popular as they are influential, showed off three things that they have in common – girl power, the love for the decks and not being afraid to mix it up.

On what has made her successful this far, event host, Adero Marianne, popularly known as DJ MaryJo remarked ‘I have been in the industry a little over 10 years now and I am proud to see more and more females taking on the challenge. Deejaying is known to be the life of the party. You need to be able to resonate and understand your crowd, their mood and the music they love.’ DJ MaryJo added that at the time she began, female deejays weren’t a thing. ‘Today, our hustle has become more respectable and popular,’ she remarked.

Cindy and the Band, who starred as guest performers, proved to be the icing on the cake as they lured the crowd with popular jams like Total Satisfaction, Amateeka and Onina.  

The event went on till dawn.