Many people know him as the singer with a lady like voice. He came to prominence with his track Mama Brenda. In 2004 he won a Pearl of Africa Music Award under the category of new upcoming musician. This makes him the youngest musician in the Ugandan Music Industry to win a national music award at the age of 22.
His name is Moses Sserwada but he is popularly known as Sweet Kid.
"He is the youngest musician to receive the award," says Isaac Mulindwa who is the Chairman of Pearl of Africa Music Award.
Sweet Kid has been one of the rising names on Uganda's music scene. He sings afro music with dancehall beats and his music has found plots in the hearts of many music lovers in Uganda.
Sserwada was born on 13th September 1982 in Kawempe to Sulaiman Mulinyira and Robinah Nasaka. He is the 3rd born of nine siblings.
He started singing in the school choir at Malcolm X where he attended primary school. "I used to mime Mariah Carey songs in primary," he says.
Sserwada says that since his nursery and primary school days, he admired Mariah Carey and Brandy whom he says are one of the reasons why he was attracted to the music industry. "Their music is special to me and I still believe they are the best in the world," he says. He went to Malcolm X Primary on Entebbe Road and then Alliance Modern School for both Ordinary and Advanced levels for Secondary education from 1997-2002.
In 1998 when he was in senior two, his friend called him to go and they perform together at Ecstasy Club in Kireka, a Kampala suburb. When he was miming, girls in the crowd were murmuring, calling him a "sweet kid." "From then on I adopted the name Sweet Kid," he says. After discovering his talent in music, Sweet Kid started composing songs and he took them to Mariam Ndagire (another musician) to make corrections. He was in his Senior Six vacation by then. He says Ndagire has made him what he is today. "I give her a lot of respect because she is my mentor," says the shy and soft-spoken musician who despite his current fame believes Ndagire and Titan Takuba (another of his mentors) have greater respect.
The music lessons he received from Ndagire have turned him into a music star in Uganda and he has now composed one album and the second one Nze wu wo is in the offing. His first Album, Tobesiga was released in 2004 with tracks like Maama Brenda and Kankutwale that won him Pearl of Africa Music Award that year. His track Mama Brenda hit Kampala streets, homes, clubs and is played regularly on FM radio stations. It is undoubtedly one of the number one hit songs. While the song endeared him to many Ugandans, it devastated his girlfriend, who got annoyed every time she would hear the song. "She never wanted the name Brenda in the song title because she thought I was singing about another girl. She got angry and we parted," Sweet Kid says in a sour tone.
Sweet Kid says he tried to explain to her that it was just a song title to no avail. "I was hurt and friends tried to reconcile us but things never worked out. She was my first girlfriend and I loved her so much," he says. That was some time ago. The 23-year-old is now happy again with his new girlfriend whose names he declined to reveal. Other than performing live on stage, by the time we spoke to him in February, he worked as an MC at Club Silk on Tuesdays and Fridays. He presented Ragae and Ragga music shows in Club Silk, on of the most popular nightclubs in Kampala.
He is also pursuing a career in Journalism. He is currently studying for a diploma at United Media Consultants and Trainers institute but he has applied to the Institute administration to halt his studies for sometime to concentrate on music and resume later. "I have now temporarily suspended my studies but I will resume later," he says. He says the music industry is developing and people in are earning a lot of money. "You can now rely on it (music) for income generation," he says thoughtfully during our interview. This probably confirms his growing status because at 23, he is among the richest youths in his age bracket in Uganda. He has a car, rents his own house and can spend over UShs1 million of his own money on recording a song and making a video.
He says many Ugandans have a talent in music but the problem is the lack of promotion of Ugandan music. He wants the government of Uganda to concentrate on developing talents in order to improve incomes of the people. "America gets 30% of its total earnings from talents. So why don't we also try it?" he asks. After he has retired from music, which he says is increasingly becoming competitive, Sweet Kid wants to join journalism. And yes, he will maintain the name Sweet Kid he got when he was 15. "Because it is my brand name."
He thanks God / Allah for he has made him a successful artiste, music producer, song writer, parent and also a business man.
