DJ Suuna Ben, the Munnamasaka that stole Fireboy's show [Profile]

Well, you are not alone, but probably after today, DJ Suuna Ben may become a household name in the entertainment industry of this country.

So far, all you know is that he is a young DJ who electrified a crowd of thousands at the Fireboy show at Lugogo Cricket Oval on Saturday, with his versatile personality and now he's the talk of the town. It is safe to say that Suuna overshadowed the Nigerian star whose concert it was that people paid to go to. That is what they call stealing a show.

Suuna Ben Pulse

Who is Suuna Ben?

Suuna Ben's story starts from his father's love for the entertainment industry. His father, John Kayondo was a Masaka entrepreneur best known for running a popular Mobile Disco called Smart Sounds. Kayondo fell ill and died when Suuna was in P3, barely ten years old and because he was the breadwinner of the family, things took a turn for the worse.

While Suuna's father was in Masaka town running a mobile Disco, Suuna's mother was a housewife living in the village home, with almost no source of income. Upon the passing of Suuna's father, Suuna and his two siblings, one older than him and one younger, left Masaka town where they were schooling and went back to live with their mother in the village and find a new school there.

After P7, Suuna would be sent to a technical school to learn motor vehicle mechanics because it was a lot cheaper than sending him to secondary school. Suuna says he hated being in technical school and he was not too heartbroken that he dropped out for lack of school fees. The 14-year-old had had dreams of being an electrician and had only gone there to please his mom.

Suuna Ben Pulse

While he sat home with his mother with no way forward in sight, a friend to his late father suggested to his mother that if she didn't mind, she could equip the teenager with a few of his late father's PA machines and set up a little music shop for Suuna in the market.

"My mother reluctantly opened the store and we picked one loudspeaker, one mixer and one amplifier, and off I went to town to start a business selling cassette tapes. The only problem was that there was a powerful competitor in the same market that I barely made any money selling tapes," he says.

As the slow business bored the teenager, he sought solace from a group that taught young people how to play traditional music instruments and trained them in different cultural dances. One thing led to another and the trainer picked interest in Suuna and sent him back to school on the request of Suuna.

Two years after rejoining school, Suuna would part ways with his benefactor because of his own teenage cockiness and off he went to live with a friend called Jamil Ssentongo who happened to run Karaoke shows around Masaka nightclubs.

"I would go with Jamil to these nightclubs where he held Karaoke nights and one night I asked him to allow me do one Karaoke song. I needed money to pay school fees after throwing off my benefactor and this was one of the ways I felt I could make money. The first night I did Karaoke, I got shs7000 from my fans and got paid shs4000 by the club manager. And I knew this was the door I was looking for," he says.

This is how Suuna paid his own school fees between S3 and S6. A performer by night, a student by day.

After S6, Suuna was approached my someone after one Karaoke performance. The person thought Suuna could use his comedic public speaking skills on radio. He connected him to Equator FM in Masaka town and Sunna started working with a radio DJ on air. He gained popularity in a short time and in two years, he got a job opportiny in Kampala to work on Bukedde FM and TV.

His specialty even in Kampala is playing remixed Ugandan songs, marinated with his comedic voiceover. While many dispise his 'local' style of DJaying, a lot more love it and throng to his special DJaying concerts, concerts where the performer is the DJ; Suuna Ben himself.

Suuna comes off as respectable, grateful, and a people-lover. He's a man with special performance capabilities, comedic tendencies, and a charismatic public speaking style.

DJ Suuna is more than a DJ and this is most likely only the beginning.