Spice went down on her knees in Kampala this week, and Ugandans noticed. The Jamaican dancehall queen knelt to greet Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga at Bulange, the seat of the Buganda Kingdom, following the traditional Kiganda custom of showing respect to elders and leaders.
It was the kind of gesture that turns a promo stop into a cultural moment. Spice, born Grace Latoya Hamilton, sat down for talks with Mayiga and senior Buganda ministers ahead of her “Let’s Get Spiced Up” concert in the capital.
The show isn’t a typical tour date. It’s organized by the Uganda Tourism Board and the Buganda Heritage and Tourism Board, with the clear goal of marketing Uganda as a top travel destination to a global audience.
Mayiga leaned hard into the shared history angle when he welcomed her. He described Ugandans and Jamaicans as “one people,” tied together by African roots, culture and heritage.
“People in Jamaica have African blood and many similarities with us,” the Katikkiro said. He added that a visit from someone of Spice’s profile puts Uganda squarely in the international spotlight.
His pitch for celebrity tourism was refreshingly blunt. According to Mayiga, stars like Spice draw global eyes and more visitors because “people cannot visit places they have never heard about.”
He didn’t stop at foreign visitors, though. The Buganda Premier praised tourism as a source of jobs, income and cultural preservation, and he urged Ugandans themselves to make more room for leisure and domestic travel.
UTB CEO Juliana Kagwa, who accompanied Spice to Bulange, framed the visit as the start of something bigger. “We are ready to partner,” she tweeted afterward. “When global talent experiences Uganda, the world discovers it. Let us showcase the best of Uganda, one event at a time.”
That “one event at a time” line hints at a longer strategy. Tourism boards around the world have increasingly used musicians as ambassadors, betting that a viral clip from a famous artist can travel further than any traditional ad campaign.
Spice is a natural fit for that kind of play. She has spent nearly two decades as one of dancehall’s most recognizable voices, with breakout hits like “So Mi Like It,” and her 2021 album “10” earned a Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album.
Her reach also stretches beyond music. American TV audiences know her from “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta,” and her social media following gives the Uganda Tourism Board exactly the kind of audience it wants to reach.
For local fans, the bigger question is simpler. Dancehall has deep roots in East African clubs and street culture, and the chance to see one of the genre’s biggest women perform live in Kampala has already stirred up plenty of buzz.
The handshake diplomacy is done. Now all eyes are on the stage, and on how the world reacts to what Spice shares from Uganda once the music starts.
