Uganda’s Disun Future is crazy about dancehall music

Though his African peers focus on Afrobeats, Australia-based, Uganda-born artiste Disan Emanuel Mubiru, otherwise known as 'Disun Future', is keen on dancehall music.

He fell in love with the genre from his youth.

"The late Bob Marley inspired me. His music is communal and representative of where he came from. That is what I do in my music. Some of my music is about unification, support and community. There is also the dancehall side, which is all about celebration and enjoying each other," he said. His late father, Mubiru Disan, inspired him to become an artiste.

"He used to sing a lot. He sang in the Mutundwe Church of Uganda and was a member of the choir. He loved Lucky Dube and Peter Tosh, and so I grew up exposed to a great deal of reggae. My father died when I was around seven years old. After he passed, I kept listening to reggae to remember him. When I was a young teen, my sister, Grace, recorded a song in the studio and it gave me the push to step forward into music," he said. Disun Future is quite excited about his latest single, titled Give Me A Try.

"It's all about putting yourself forward, and having the confidence to ask people to see you and give you a try. It's a massive dancehall track, big vibe. It's going to be hard to miss," said Disun Future. The song was released on December 3.

Disun Future moved to Australia three years ago as a political refugee. He grew up in Kampala, Uganda, where the culture is strongly based on community living with an extended family.

"Here, life is very social and this is represented in my music. So, my music is community music, remembering who we are, representing oneness, love for the people and unity," he said. "It is, of course, Afro and dancehall, but with reggae flavours and undertones. In our community, we share times of sadness and of joy; and in the same way when we have music, we share the party."

Australia has some of the strictest COVID-19 protocols and this has reduced his physical presence in the entertainment scene.

"Due to the extended lockdowns here in Australia, it has put a lot on hold. I tried to take it positively and use the time to reorganise and finish up some ongoing projects. At times, it was hard to keep the fire going, as things were shut down for a long time. But thankfully, it's now coming good; venues are reopening and festivals/public events are being scheduled," he said.