Tshila

When we look at the news cycle - conflict, oppressive regimes, natural disasters resulting from climate change - it's easy to wonder, is the world in a crisis?

Ugandan musician Tshila thinks so, and she says it is about time ordinary people stop waiting for politicians to sort things out and take matters into their own hands to create change.

World in Crisis is the title of Tshila’s new album, but the real message is about empowerment and a call to action.

Newsday's Alan Kasujja spoke to Tshila about the message behind the music. - BBC World Service

Sarah Tshila didn't grow up in a musical family in Uganda.

Tshila has lived in the US since 2014, but she discovered music through listening to the radio, and in 1998 one of the biggest artists was American musician Lauryn Hill.

Looking back at that time, Tshila says, "Her music was very different from everything else playing on the radio ... listening to Lauryn Hill was just very, you know, it was transformative for me."

The album was "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," and it was one that helped change Tshila's direction in life. This college graduate with a degree in computer science decided to become a musician.

And like Lauryn Hill, Tshila wants her music to say something important. "Music can be used not just to have a good time, but it can be used to make a change. It can be used to touch people's hearts, and it can be used to educate and let them know what your situation is like," she says.

Tshila's latest album is about "the current state of affairs in the world." It's called "World in Crisis" and is "basically [about her] experiences with the world being in crisis at the current moment."

One of the earliest songs written for the album was "Revolution Now."

"That's a song that speaks about, you know, all ills of society today. I found that by rapping or rap singing, I would probably have a better chance of saying a lot more and properly expressing myself on those issues than just singing a melody."

"World in Crisis" is a carefully constructed album.

There's an arc to it. "The way I laid out the album was that I wanted to first, you know, speak my mind ... lay out all the issues, and then as the album progresses, you get a sense of 'OK so what do we do about it?'" explains Tshila. "The album progresses into a more hopeful note ... into a more melodic, more soothing, more calm feeling of 'OK, there's hope.'" - PRI's The World

Ugandan-born singer-songwriter Tshila stops by the WDIY studios to talk with host Silagh White. They listen to some tracks off of Tshila's new album, World in Crisis.

Tshila's album addresses the social and political challenges the world faces, particularly from an African woman's perspective. World in Crisis, her second album, was recorded here in the Lehigh Valley and has been receiving a lot of international attention.

World in Crisis is available to stream or download at Tshila's website. - WDIY

Tshila is interviewed by Arne Berg on NRK (Norwegian Broadcast Corporation). She discusses her album "World in Crisis". The interview features the songs "Khube Atwela", "Not Alone", "Water" and "Medicine" from the album. - Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation

Eleven years since her last album, Ugandan musician Tshila has followed up Sipping from the Nile with World in Crisis. World in Crisis was released on Saturday, December 01, 2018.

The twelve track album available for sale on Tshila’s website https://www.tshila.com/music and Apple’s iTunes store is the fruition of years of labor for the multi-talented songstress. World in Crisis is a radical departure from the mainly Ugandan themed concerns that dominated Sippin’ from the Nile.

Long based in the USA, Tshila’s concerns have broadened beyond narrow nationalist outlook. World in Crisis is the cry of a singer with strong Hip Hop roots calling on all people of color to value themselves, not to sell out and find their place in the world on their own terms.

In under four minutes, the song World in Crisis Tshila takes on a money obsessed set of values that encourages everyone to try to find a way to sell, “what is priceless.” The pressure to put monetary value to every transaction throwing the world into crisis as more and more people do not value human connection unless they can commercially benefit from it.

Few musicians would dare to reference revered Bruce Hornsby and the Range’s The Way It Is. The most famous cover of that song was by American rapper Tupac Shakur. Tshila does as she updates that iconic musician’s sad lament about how the world never seems to truly change thirty two years later. The Way It Is on World in Crisis has the Tshila twist as she raps hard.

Tshila says she had to scrap this project and begin again. She explains, “One day I played one of my new songs that I had recorded at a very high end studio in NY for my friend Joanna and she was like this is not you Tshila. It was tough to hear that because I had spent lots of time and money on the project but with a bit of self examination, I agreed that I was not inside the music I was about to release to the world. I had to take a step back and realize if I was to do this music thing, it was going to be on my own terms, like I did with my first album, Sipping From The Nile.”


She admits, “It was tough to get back to creativity because I also had to take care of myself and living abroad is not as cheap or easy as many people think. After saving up a little money, I was then able to buy myself rudimentary studio equipment to begin tapping into my creative zone again.”

Water, Khube Atweela, Medicine, The Way It Is, City of Lights show a revived Tshila fusing joyous musicality with the preacher’s passion to educate. World in Crisis is a $12.99 purchase that will be giving you life for many years to come. Just like Sipping from the Nile has continued to irrigate the parched lands. - Nile Post

Tshila is a songwriter, artist, social and environmental activist. Growing up in Uganda, the arts and music resided in every fiber of her being, but she resigned to focus on education. The study of reading, math and science took priority over the arts. Despite this, Tshila grew to honor her love for art, music and creative expression. She utilized these as forms of self-expression and activism for social change.

Education is very important to Tshila's family. Her mother served as a Diplomat and Ambassador of Uganda and taught her daughters social and political change is done through education and political legislation.

Tshila's mother guided her and her two sisters to study hard and pursue degrees through higher education. Tshila followed the wishes of her mother and society by earning a degree in software engineering from Valdosta State University in Georgia.

After graduating from the University, Tshila returned to Uganda and embarked on an extraordinary journey of self-discovery and exploration of Africa. She traveled throughout Uganda and West Africa visiting villages and exploring their unique cultural identities. This included music and musical instruments.

The adventure awakened Tshila's life purpose within her soul. She embraced the warmth and beauty of her homeland Africa. The act of a young woman traveling alone is considered taboo and unorthodox, but she followed her heart anyway.

Combining music, art and social justice, her unique sound is a fusion of traditional African music, poetry and hip-hop. Her travels throughout Uganda and West Africa influenced her first album and infused it with an organic feel. Authentic and motivated, she taught herself to play guitar and she found her voice.

Tshila recorded and self-produced her first album, "Sipping FromThe Nile," in 2007. The album gained global recognition and the BBC World Service named her one of the best 20 unsigned artists in the world.

In 2011 she posted the "Raw Truth" documentary on YouTube. The video illuminates the social and environmental conditions that inspired Tshila to follow her own truth. Michael Kirkpatrick, her manager and friend, came across "Raw Truth" and was deeply moved.

He reached out to Tshila via social media. They began corresponding and eventually met in person when Michael traveled to Uganda.

Kirkpatrick went to Pennridge high school and is a graduate of Lehigh University. With a passion for life and activism, he traveled the world following his own heart. When Tshila and Michael did meet, there was an immediate soul connection. They both share a passion for life and social change though artistic activism.

In November of 2017, Tshila was in Washington D.C. visiting family. Her original plan was to head to Los Angeles. The universe and fate had other plans. With her car packed with personal belongings and equipment for creating music, she headed to Pennsylvania to visit Michael. During her visit with Michael, she required an emergency appendectomy and her plans to drive to L.A. were derailed. After the procedure, she needed to recuperate. The Upper Perkiomen Valley became her place of healing and creative manifestation.

As Tshila was gaining strength, she needed an outlet for her energy. Michael set up her music producing equipment. From there, her dream began to unfold.

In December of 2018, Tshila released another self-produced album, "World in Crisis." The album speaks about the political and social challenges in the world. The voice of the album is expressed though the unique perspective of an African woman. The videos include the beautiful landscapes of the Upper Perkiomen and Lehigh Valley.

Tshila has become a part of our community. She instilled a sense of global community by performing at Make Music Upper Perk. Inspiring youth is important to Tshila. She remarked that "The greatest responsibility of a woman is to educate our youth."

Her message to them is to trust themselves and see the connectivity in everything. Young people are open and fresh to concepts and ideas.

When asked if she has a specific message for our youth, she replied, "I want them to know their inner power is the greatest power and to embrace it. I want them to trust themselves, spirit and sensibilities".

In this writers mind, Tshila and Michael are kind, genuine and soulful. When Tshila was asked what is her message to humanity is, she replied, "One of the things I would like to do is show people that they can create change. When people realize the power is within them, change will occur." - Town and Country

Tshila is back! Tshila has just released a new platter titled World In Crisis. Responding to the issues of today, Tshila has come up with a winner. But first, for those readers not yet familiar with the artist in question, a bit of background:

Tshila is a singer-songwriter, rapper, and guitarist, and producer. A native of Kampala Uganda, she is currently based in the US. Her artist audio efforts focus on world music with socially conscious themes. Once a rapper in the hip-hop group Bataka Squad, she later learned to play guitar in order to broaden her musical horizons.

Her 2006 premiere platter,Sipping From The Nile. focuses on a select collection of traditional African songs. This initial album helped her break into the interesting international World Music scene. Since then, she has performed live in both Africa, Europe and the US.

World In Crisis is Tshila’s second full-length studio album. Here she moves beyond the nationalist focus of her first LP, to a broader one that includes all women of color. In fact, to a certain degree it also ultimately concerns all of us. Her signature sound has grown to become a musical mix of multiple genres including acoustic soul, hip-hop, jazz, rap, traditional African music, world music and a tinge of pop.

On this 12-track CD, Tshila leads the way on guitar, keys, bass synth and vocals. She is backed by Steve Capecci on live bass. The album opener is “Intro - Never Existed” sets the stage from the start.
“World in Crisis”, the title track, deals with cash-obsessed values that often urges others to sell what’s “priceless,” Tshila warns that skewed values negatively impact society and that a growing number of people don’t place any value on connecting with others beyond trying to make a buck from it. Tshila is back and stronger than ever.

“Interlude - Keep Calm and Sell Out” is a dramatic spoken break. Her passion is as obvious as her rap roots. It provides a suitable segue too.

The next number is “The Way It Is.” This is an adaptation of Bruce Hornsby and the Range’s 1986 song about societal complacency. While American rapper Tupac Shakur technically beat her to it, Tshila’s version is more focused, current take and while it remains sad she still manages to make it somehow pretty as well despite the hard rap. It features Anton Ransome on keyboards and bass synth.
“Revolution Now” is a bit stronger and as her press release confirms, it’s her “call to emancipation from mental slavery.” It also features quick tip of the hat to one of her personal faves Tracy Chapman. Yes, it might not be an entirely surprisingly selection at this point but she makes it work well.

“Not Alone” follows. She slows things down a bit here with an acoustic piece. It’s a personal reminder that no one is alone in his or her struggle in this life.

“Khube Atweela” takes listeners to another place. Michael Kirkpatrick is introduced on backing vocals. Clearly, the melding of her love of music and political protest is apparent.

“City of Lights” is another example of that mix. It is also obvious that her signature sound--while continuing to slowly blossom and expand--remains solidly intact.

“Interlude- A Girl Has No Name” is labeled as an interlude but it deserves more attention. It’s beautiful albeit brief in its simplicity. Kirkpatrick encores on backing vocals.

Also include here is “Medicine.” It’s an early favorite of both fans and critics. It features Herbert Kinobe on kora.

“Dear God” is another revisit. This time she shares her take on XTC’s 1986 problem with religious dogma and inability to accept and understand that God often works in mysterious ways. It’s much more palatable expressed via her noteworthy voice.

The closing cut is “Water.” It makes interesting use of sound bites from Martin Luther King, Jr. It serves as an apt album endnote and one final example of her ability to blend her love of music with an overpowering need to express her personal concerns. Amadou Kouyate is featured on kora.

According to a post on her website, Tshila’s new release “is a musical message for the world that chronicles our shared challenges and offers universal solutions.” Her material speaks to “social and political challenges” she feels “the world [now] faces.” She is especially concerned “about the issues that affect Africans and people of color worldwide.” She considers it to be her musical mission “to create inspirational music as a force for positive change around the world.”

Overall, the 35+minute album is a personal plea to all people of color to seek self-value and to find their own place in the world without selling out. Despite messages that are not always all-inclusive, the music can be quite immersive and has at times musical moments that are universal and almost always extremely enjoyable. So check out Tshila’s timely World In Crisis and you might just realize that even during hard times, you are “Not Alone.” - Will Phoenix

If you haven’t encountered Tshila’s music, it’s time to get ot know this phenomenal artist. In 2008, she was named “The Next Big Thing” by the BBC World Service. Born in Uganda, Tshila was part of the hip-hop group Bataka Squad before branching off on her own. - Equanimity Magazine