David Amon Ssemanda Ssematimba (born 1972) known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

, Madoxx Ssemanda Sematimba is a

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

roots reggae Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of Ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and those in the African Diaspora, including the spiritual side of Rastafari, black liberation, revolution and the ho ...

musician. He is notable in Uganda for his reggae ballads in

Luganda Ganda or Luganda ( ; ) is a Bantu language spoken in the African Great Lakes region. It is one of the major languages in Uganda and is spoken by more than 5.56 million Ganda people, Baganda and other people principally in central Uganda, includ ...

, lives in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

Early life and education

Ssematimba was born in

in 1972. He attended Makonzi Boarding Primary School and Busoga College Mwiri. Before choosing a path in music, Ssematimba worked as a primary school teacher. He relocated to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in 1991, when he was 21 years old. While performing in night-clubs to pay for his computer studies, he met Kenneth "Mafo" Ssejjemba Magoye, a fellow musician, who introduced him to Aggrey Ssembatya, the proprietor of ''Small Axe Productions''. He moved to

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

where he eventually began work on his albums at Small Axe Studios. He wrote, composed, arranged, programmed, performed, co-mixed and produced all the songs on the albums while Aggrey engineered and co-mixed the albums.

Music career

Madoxx Sematimba is a reggae musician who sings in

. Released in 2000, Madoxx's first album named ''Tukolagane'' included the singles "Namagembe", "Tukolagane", "Omukwano Gwafe", "Munakyalo", and "Eddembe" . He followed it up in 2006 with the album ''Abato'', with singles like "Nakatudde", "Leka Nkulage", "Easy" and "Wansonyi". Influenced by

Gregory Isaacs Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD (15 July 1951 – 25 October 2010)Thompson, p. 127. was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in ''The New York Times'', described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".Miles, Milo (1992),RECORDI ...

and

Israel Vibration Israel Vibration are a reggae harmony group, originating from Kingston, Jamaica. Lascelle "Wiss" Bulgin, Albert "Apple Gabriel" Craig, and Cecil "Skelly" Spence all contracted childhood polio, and went on to be a Jamaican roots reggae group i ...

to name but a few. He continued to perform until 2009 when he returned to Uganda, but had reportedly left the music business a year later. Since 2014 Maddox has been performing locally in Uganda. He has two children.

Discography

*''Tukolagane'', 2001 *''Abato'', 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sematimba, Madoxx Ssemanda 1972 births 21st-century Ugandan male singers Ugandan emigrants to Sweden Swedish reggae musicians Living people Kumusha Musicians from Kampala People educated at Busoga College