There is something romantic about an old musician coming home.
After years away, the familiar voice returns, the old songs begin playing again, former fans remember where they were when those songs first became hits, and one question inevitably follows: Can he still do it?
For Uganda’s Kid Fox, that question is now hanging in the air.
The veteran dancehall musician, real name Steven Kiggundu, recently returned home after about 15 years in Japan, saying he had missed music and felt he had a debt to repay his fans. He has spoken about compiling new music and reopening a chapter of his musical life.
It should be a beautiful comeback story.
But there is a danger in returning to an industry you left behind: mistaking your old position for your current one.
A comeback is not about reminding everyone that you were once important. It is about giving them a reason to care about you again.
And perhaps no recent East African musician demonstrates that better than Kenya’s Nyashinski.
After making his name as part of Kleptomaniax, the Kenyan hip-hop trio behind songs such as Tuendelee and Swing, Nyashinski left Kenya in 2006 and relocated to the United States. There, the former star spent years working as a truck driver in Delaware.
The transition was dramatic. A musician who had once been recognised at home was suddenly living in a place where nobody knew him. He had to work, survive and build a life away from the attention that came with being a music star.
Eventually, the distance from home forced him to reconsider what he wanted.
Then, in 2016, Nyashinski returned.
He did not come back by attacking the musicians who had emerged during his absence or insisting that the industry had lost its way. He returned with a song — Now You Know.
Released in May 2016, the song served as an introduction to a new chapter. It was confident, personal and, most importantly, musical. Nyashinski did not have to spend his comeback explaining why everybody else was not good enough. He simply showed that the talent that had made people love him had survived the years away.
Then came Malaika, Bebi Bebi, Mungu Pekee and other songs that transformed his return from a nostalgia trip into a genuine second act.
That is the part of Nyashinski’s story Kid Fox should study.
Because Kid Fox is not returning to the Uganda he left.
When he was enjoying his best years, Kid Fox was one of the recognisable faces of Uganda’s early dancehall and ragga movement. Songs such as Love Is a Good Feeling, Rumours, Brothers and Sisters, Nimechoka and Ezinunula helped establish his name. Nimechoka even earned him PAM and KISIMA Award nominations.
He was not an unknown musician trying to introduce himself to Uganda. He had already built a catalogue and earned an audience.
Accounts from that period describe an artiste comfortable moving between English, Luganda, Swahili and Jamaican patois while drawing from dancehall, reggae and Afro-pop. He also ran Blessed Records, giving emerging musicians an opportunity to develop under his label.
That history gives Kid Fox something many upcoming artistes would love to have: a story.
But history is not the same thing as relevance.
Uganda kept moving while he was away.
The industry changed. New stars emerged. New sounds took over. Producers evolved. Music distribution moved from physical sales and radio dominance to streaming and social media. The audience changed too.
Some of the artistes Kid Fox has returned to find were not around, or were only starting out, when he was at his peak.
They did not inherit his crown.
They built their own.
This is where the controversy surrounding his return becomes unfortunate.
Rather than the conversation being dominated by a new single, an impressive performance or an unexpected collaboration, some of the attention around Kid Fox has instead centred on his comments about contemporary artistes, including remarks involving Bobi Wine.
The comments sparked backlash, with King Saha accusing him of attacking public figures in an attempt to regain relevance. Kid Fox later retracted or explained some of his remarks.
Weasel Manizo has also cautioned him about his approach, while Jose Chameleone offered his own reminder that the industry he left has continued producing new kings in his absence.
The lesson is simple, even if it is uncomfortable.
A comeback is difficult enough without making enemies before the music has even arrived.
There is nothing wrong with being opinionated. There is nothing wrong with defending your legacy. And there is certainly nothing wrong with believing that you were once very good.
But an audience does not owe a returning musician relevance.
You have to earn it again.
That does not mean Kid Fox should pretend his history does not exist. Quite the opposite. His history could be one of his greatest strengths if he uses it properly.
He knows dancehall. He understands the culture. He has lived through different eras of Ugandan music. He has a catalogue that younger artistes can only imagine having. He has experienced success, disappeared from the scene and now has the opportunity to tell that story through music.
And there are already signs that he understands where the opportunity lies.
Kid Fox has spoken about missing music and wanting to give his fans something new. He is working on new material and has expressed interest in collaborations with artistes such as Sheebah Karungi and Ziza Bafana.
That is a much more interesting direction.
Imagine Kid Fox entering a studio with a young producer who grew up listening to Nimechoka.
Imagine him collaborating with an artiste from the generation that emerged while he was in Japan.
Imagine that old-school dancehall voice meeting the production and songwriting of today’s Kampala.
That would be a comeback worth watching.
Because Kid Fox has something Nyashinski also had when he returned: unfinished business with music.
Nyashinski’s story proved that absence does not necessarily kill a career. Sometimes it gives an artiste enough distance to return with a clearer understanding of who they are.
But it also proved that nostalgia alone cannot sustain a comeback.
Now You Know worked not simply because Nyashinski had once been a member of Kleptomaniax. It worked because it gave listeners something new.
That distinction matters.
Kid Fox’s old fans can remember Love Is a Good Feeling. They can remember Nimechoka. They can remember Ezinunula.
But they cannot spend the next decade listening to those songs and calling it a comeback.
He needs his Now You Know moment.
He needs the song that makes an old fan stop and say, “There he is.”
More importantly, he needs the song that makes a 20-year-old who was not around during his glory days ask: “Who is this guy?”
That is the real test of a comeback.
Kid Fox has already made the difficult journey home.
Now comes the harder one: winning Uganda back.
And the best way to do that is not to tell Uganda that its current stars are not good enough.
It is to give Uganda a reason to remember why Kid Fox was once good enough in the first place.
Nyashinski did it with music.
Kid Fox should take note.
Welcome home, Kid Fox. Now let the music speak.
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