Isaac Ssegawa, better known as Izhuru, has walked away from a 24-year music career that never produced a hit, after once dreaming of following in the footsteps of Jose Chameleone by mastering both Luganda and Kiswahili.
Ssegawa began taking music seriously while in Senior Two at Kisozi High School, a sister school of Buddo Senior Secondary School, where fees were about Shs70,000.
Inspired by Chameleone’s success across languages, he set out to learn Kiswahili so he could perform in both languages.
At school, he even called himself Isaac Banton while nursing a crush.
Over the years, the names kept changing. He was Isaac Musanyusa while performing in a band, then Sweet Kati after releasing a song of the same title. Later, when he began studying land management, he adopted the name Doctor Grapher.
In all, he estimates that he used six different names during his musical journey.
The persistence, however, never translated into a commercial breakthrough. “I was in music for 24 years but a hit never came,” he says.
Eventually, advice from people he respected in the industry helped him reconsider the path.
GNL Zamba advised him to prioritise his studies and consider returning to music later. He also told Ssegawa that he had “no chair in Lugaflow” — words that stayed with him.
Broadcaster Jacob Omutuuze offered similar counsel.
Ssegawa says he had never allowed even members of his family to talk him out of music. But this time, he listened.
Today, the former singer works as a land manager, having exchanged the dream of becoming the next Chameleone for a profession outside the entertainment industry.
His journey captures a quieter side of Uganda’s music scene: the story of an artist who spent more than two decades pursuing a breakthrough that never came, before finally deciding that it was time to move on.
