Singer Winnie Nwagi says that despite the backlash that has come with her lifestyle, her brand has given thick women the courage to be confident in their bodies.
The Swangz Avenue-signed singer who shot into the limelight after the 2014 Coca-Cola Rated Next singing competitions, says she has been attacked several times by sections of the public for dressing inappropriately. She couldn’t care less, though.
In her opinion, by being highly choreographed in her music videos, she changed the way everyone perceived curvy women.
“Since I started singing, people would always judge me. ‘How could you dress like that?’ ‘That’s too short’. ‘A mother like you!’ All those depressing things,” the singer said on Sunday during Swangz Avenue’s maiden ‘Conver Session’, a virtual music experience with Tusker Malt Lager.
“They [people] used to think a thick person can’t dance. We used to see those skinny girls dancing in music videos. When I came in the music industry, things changed. I came and I brought fire in the industry. I brought that energy,” Nwagi said.
Because of her, “people no longer feel uncomfortable in their skin”.
For her stage performances, Winnie Nwagi has always used dancers that are of weight similar to hers. From what she said on Sunday, this could be her deliberate attempt to pass on a statement.
“For me, the thicker ones are better. I love to see women love their bodies and flaunt their bodies. That’s what I do and no one can stop me. Just be you.”
However, dancing has not come without some serious controversies for the singer. In 2019, Swangz Avenue was forced to publicly apologize on behalf of Nwagi following public uproar after a video of her dancing erotically with students of St. Mary’s College Kisubi (SMACK) went viral on social media.
The record label said the actions of Nwagi were a “huge error in judgment”.
The incident also prompted the singer to be summoned by the Pornography Control Committee whose members considered her actions at SMACK “unlawful and a breach of the cultural and religious norms of the Ugandan society”. She later apologized personally, acknowledging she had gone overboard in trying to entertain.
Empowering women to be confident in their skin was not all the ‘Musawo’ singer had to credit herself for during Sunday’s ‘Cover Session’. She also spoke about how she has championed the folk song sound in a music industry that’s highly urban and contemporary. And she explained where the inspiration comes from.
Her folk sound in ‘Kwata Esimu’, ‘Kano Koze’ and ‘Sasi Ku Nyama’ is rooted in her background back in St. Augustine Nagalama primary school where she often performed solo folk songs.
“I’m so used to that and when I came to the music industry, I just wanted to bring it back to life. People think it’s local to sing folk music, but no, this is music. Ugandan cultural music,” she said.
She also revealed plans of releasing an album that entirely has a folk song sound.
