Ugandan artist and songwriter Dokta Brain Doorkey has sparked a conversation about how music is received, arguing that some songs are created with a particular audience in mind rather than the average listener.
According to Dokta Brain, highly crafted songs can sometimes be difficult for ordinary listeners to immediately understand because of the way the writer packages the lyrics, concepts and creativity.
He pointed to his own song “Street Culture” as an example. Although the track performed well on streaming platforms, it failed to attract the YouTube numbers he expected, which he believes was partly because many listeners did not fully understand the song.
“I wrote it because it was to be loved more by artists or people who are talented. I over packaged it like a will,” Dokta Brain explained.
- FROM SONGWRITING FOR OTHERS TO RELEASING HIS OWN MUSIC
Dokta Brain also revealed that he has previously written songs intending to sell them to other artists, only to eventually release them himself when potential buyers failed to take them on.
One example is “Nkuwulila,” a collaboration with Kataleya and Kandle. The song was initially intended for sale, but after several artists he approached were either unavailable or did not understand the concept, Dokta Brain decided to keep it.
The song initially appeared to struggle, recording about 6,000 YouTube views within three weeks. Disappointed by the response, he eventually made the video private.
But while he thought the song had failed, listeners were quietly giving it a second life.
One fan screen-recorded the track and created a lyrics video, while another started a dance challenge around it. After noticing the growing organic interest, Dokta Brain restored the video.
He was then surprised to wake up to around 100,000 views.
The experience highlighted a lesson he perhaps did not expect: sometimes a song can take time to find its audience, and early numbers do not always tell the full story.
- TAKEAWAY
Dokta Brain’s experience with “Nkuwulila” shows that music does not always follow a predictable path. A song that appears to be struggling can sometimes find its audience through word of mouth, fan creativity and organic online momentum.
