In what seems like a case of ineffective stage management, singers Azawi and Ray G had a scuffle during a show in Mbarara on Saturday over who should perform first.
The show organized by Comedy Store at Mbarara University Inn Gardens featured names like Ray G, Azawi, Mesarch Semakula, Alien Skin, Mariachi, Madrat & Chiko, Truth 256 and T Paul among several other performers.
Video clips have since surfaced online showing singers Ray G and Azawi both on stage with Azawi pleading that she performs first. An unrelenting Ray G would not leave the stage and Azawi was not willing to hand him the microphone.
Plugged has since established that the altercation was prompted by failure on the part of the organizer to follow the program. As per the program, Ray G was scheduled to perform at 11:05pm, Azawi at 11:25pm, Mesarch at 11:35pm and Alien at 11:45pm.
However, rarely is the initial program followed to the dot, due to unforeseen circumstances as well as performers who might shoot beyond their time. As a result of this, as late as 2am, Ray G had not yet stepped on stage.
When it was time for him to go on stage, he says Azawi’s manager Jaylor pulled him as he was making his way to the platform. It was during this scuffle that Azawi took to the stage and started singing.
Ray G told Plugged that he had already waited so long and he saw no reason why Azawi, who was scheduled to perform after him as per the program, would abuse his patience.
“It was my time to perform. The organizers had notified me to go on stage. The DJ was even playing my song. I was going up the stairs when Azawi’s manager pulled me. The stairs were slippery so I was being cautious not to fall,” Ray G told Plugged on Sunday.
“In the process, I was denied the mic and it was given to Azawi.”
Asked whether at any point Azawi’s team approached his team to request for the change in precedence, Ray G said this never happened.
“Had I been notified in time about the change, I would have let Azawi go first”
Videos available online show the two artistes on stage engaged in an inaudible verbal exchange as Azawi asks Ray G to let her perform first. She then put it to the audience seeking their approval. Then Ray G asked her for the mic but she would not yield.
“I told her I didn’t know about this. And I just wanted the mic to clear the air and then walk off stage. But she refused. I just wanted to tell the audience ‘I can come after her’. She actually even pushed me,” he told this publication.
He wonders why organizers normalize this tendency – leaving access to stage to the discretion of performers – in total disregard of the program which guides the flow of the event.
On their part, Comedy Store say the confusion stemmed from some of the unforeseen developments including performers who needed to rush for other distant gigs, others who were initially not scheduled to perform as well as performers who did longer sets than initially they had allotted time for.
There were other last minute switch ups in the program. For example Mesarch performed before all the other musicians as he had arrived much earlier and lost patience.
Efforts to get a comment from Azawi’s management were unsuccessful as they would not respond to phone calls.
This is not the first time the Omusheshe singer is expressing displeasure over how organizers and Kampala-based artistes disrespect their counterparts in Mbarara whenever they hold events in the West.
In September 2022, he lashed out over the same issue. His outburst followed an incident at a Purple Party Tour event at University Inn in Mbarara.
During the event, Western Uganda’s most acclaimed rapper, Truth was interrupted during his performance to usher in another performer.
This prompted Ray G to go on stage and vent to the organizers of the show. He said he had had it with the tendency of undermining artistes from Western Uganda and tagging them as ‘Western’.
He condemned the act of disrupting Truth 256’s performance saying the rapper is not an underground act and as such deserves respect.
“I was just complaining about the manner in which organizers run their shows. It was so unprofessional telling an artiste the time he is supposed to perform and when he gets on stage, his performance is interrupted because another artiste wants the stage at that moment. We should learn to respect contracts,” Ray G commented in an interview a month after the Purple Party incident.
