During her time in Nairobi, Dorotia, whose real name is Griet Onsea, met Chameleone; the two then embarked on a journey to Kampala.
The Belgian gave Chameleone financial support while he was in Nairobi, Kenya, where he had travelled to record a song with the Kenyan hip-hop group Kalamashaka. Chameleone was tricked, nevertheless, and was left without a way to return to Kampala and was stranded in Nairobi.
Clever J reports that Dorotia, who was paying him about Shs50k to Shs60k per month to clean her office, would gradually push him to perform extra work at home, which led to him becoming a househelp.
Chameleone and Dorotia were living in Muyenya, a peaceful area of Kampala, at the time.
There was no fixed salary, he said; Dorotia decided how much to pay each month.
Clever J and Chameleone, however, had grown up in the same neighborhood in Kawempe. J spent some time growing up in Gerald Mayanja’s home because Gerald is Chameleone’s father’s uncle.
The musician was thrilled when J heard the song he had written using the Kumobwesiga beat that Chameleone had published. J made the choice to depart from Chameleone’s residence in Muyenga in order to begin recording songs.
Clever J, whose real name is Gerald Muwonge, was raised by his father John Bukenya after being left by his mother when he was a young child. He was created in Nsambya.
The second semester was when he graduated from Nagalama Islamic Secondary School.
While residing with the Mayanja brothers and acting as the school choir director, he was first exposed to music.
He became close with Chameleone since he used to help him obtain clay for his molding work. Chameleone finally left the Mayanja household because his mother, Prossy Musoke, didn’t like him.
After leaving, he hustled about the neighborhood for a bit until finding work as a music producer in Lira.
After refusing to be paid, he took his employer’s laptop and departed Lira without more notice.
He gave Chameleone’s father the laptop when he returned to Kampala, but he was later arrested and sentenced to time in prison in Lira.
He never received instruction from Chameleone personally, but while living in the same house with him in Muyenga, he did learn production skills.
His first three songs, Celina being the first, were created with help from Leone Island and Chameleone.
When he prohibited Chameleone from singing at the Fire Base vs. Leone Island music competition, he broke up with Chameleone.
He decided to stop working with Chameleone after that.
His breakthrough hit was “Manzi Wa Nani.”
His manager at the time was Jeff Kiwanuka, but the two parted ways in 2009. He met Jeff after being let out of jail in Lira.
