Ritah Dancehall has opened up about the emotional decision that ended one chapter of her career alongside Sheebah Karungi.
The dancer-turned-singer revealed that she stopped working as Sheebah’s dancer after Sheebah encouraged her to focus fully on establishing herself as a musician.
For Ritah, the transition was anything but easy.
She said she had genuinely enjoyed dancing alongside Sheebah and found it difficult to imagine watching the singer perform without being on stage beside her.
But Sheebah believed continuing to dance for her could make it harder for audiences to understand Ritah’s new identity as an aspiring musician.
The advice ultimately pushed Ritah toward a bigger goal — building a career of her own.
Ritah explained that her decision to stop dancing for Sheebah was closely connected to her decision to launch her own singing career.
According to Ritah, Sheebah advised her to step away from her role as a dancer because she wanted audiences to begin seeing Ritah as a serious musician.
“I’m no longer Queen Sheebah’s dancer because she asked me to stop after I kicked off my singing career,” Ritah said.
She explained that Sheebah believed continuing to perform as her dancer could create confusion among fans about Ritah’s professional identity.
“She told me that people now have to see me as a serious musician,” Ritah recalled.
“If I continued dancing for her, it would confuse fans about where I belong—whether I’m a dancer or a musician.”
For Ritah, however, leaving the dance team was emotionally difficult.
She said dancing for Sheebah had never felt like simply another job. It was something she did out of genuine passion and love.
“She showed me that we had to stop that and chase the bigger goal,” Ritah said.
“It hurt me and made me cry.”
The emotional impact was significant enough that Ritah said she eventually considered abandoning her own music ambitions.
At one point, she told Sheebah she was unsure whether she should continue with her singing plans because she found it difficult not to dance alongside her whenever Sheebah performed.
“I reached a moment and told her whether I should quit my singing plans because I found it hard not to dance by her side whenever she performed,” Ritah said.
Sheebah, however, encouraged her not to give up.
“She insisted and asked me to give it a try,” Ritah explained.
The decision meant Ritah had to leave the role she had become known for and begin navigating the music industry under her own name.
“Painfully, I had to stop being her dancer,” she said.
Ritah added that Sheebah currently performs without a dancer.
The separation from the dance team, however, did not end the professional relationship between the two women.
Ritah Dancehall built part of her public profile through dance, particularly through her work alongside Sheebah Karungi.
That association helped establish her as a recognizable dancer in Uganda’s entertainment scene.
But Ritah eventually began pursuing music herself, creating a potential challenge around how audiences would perceive her.
Rather than remain closely identified with someone else’s stage performances, she said Sheebah encouraged her to establish a distinct identity as a singer.
The transition also meant giving up something Ritah genuinely enjoyed.
She acknowledged that she struggled emotionally with the idea of watching Sheebah perform without joining her on stage.
Still, Sheebah pushed her to give her music career an opportunity.
The move reflects a common challenge for performers who transition from supporting roles into leading their own careers: establishing an identity that audiences can recognize independently.
For Ritah, that process is still underway.
Ritah’s story highlights the complicated relationship between loyalty, friendship and career growth in entertainment.
Her years dancing for Sheebah gave her valuable exposure, but continuing in that role could potentially make it harder for audiences to see her as a solo artist.
Sheebah’s advice, according to Ritah, was therefore about long-term career positioning.
The decision was painful, but Ritah ultimately followed the advice and began focusing more heavily on her music.
Her comments also show that the transition has not immediately produced a large number of bookings.
Ritah openly admitted that she does not yet have many shows of her own.
However, she continues to receive opportunities through Sheebah.
Despite the change in their professional arrangement, Ritah says the relationship between the two musicians remains supportive.
She revealed that Sheebah gives her opportunities to perform as a curtain-raiser whenever she has a show.
“I don’t have many bookings yet, but every show she performs at, she gives me a chance to curtain-raise for her before she performs,” Ritah said.
She also said Sheebah provides her with some financial support.
“On top of that, she pays me some little money,” she added.
That support appears to have made the transition less isolating for Ritah as she works to establish herself independently.
The woman who once shared Sheebah’s stage as a dancer is now trying to build a space of her own — while still benefiting from the support of the artist who encouraged her to take that leap.
Ritah Dancehall says leaving Sheebah Karungi’s dance team was painful, but the decision gave her a chance to pursue the bigger goal Sheebah saw for her: becoming a musician in her own right.