Benga Tales and Stories of Songs

Today, I have gone back to visit the granaries of the past and next to them, I have met some of the greatest Nyatiti, Ohangla, Orutu, and Onanda instrumentalists and singers who kept life happily livable those days. Three of these people are special and I listen to their works almost each day. They include Ogwang' Lelo, Oguta Lie Bobo and Omollo Obumba. I do this in no particular order. I do this for the stories that are told in these compositions and what they imply about the life that was there, then. I don't think many of our current-day songwriters are good enough with the art of storytelling as was the norm among these Nyatiti legends. We all may have heard about Oguta Lie Bobo's Rujina Kalando and the agwata that was stepped on with boots or Omollo Obumba's painful dirge to the slain Chief of Kano,Onyango Daudi Matengo, a friend with whom they smoked cigarettes. But to be fair, Ogwang' Lelo may have taken the lead in many ways because of his unparalleled ...

We've finally put a face to Bongisa! Here is a footage in Boyieta's video showing someone who looks like the mysterious Bongisa leading the way while behind him is Boyieta with his one goa t .  Bongisa and Odongo Swagg In the first post we did about Bongisa , we described him as an ideal advisor to a musician, the type that may not be professional but has a great influence on them. But he lies too much. Bongisa as popularized by Odongo Swagg is a friend, a man in whose words he trusts.  Odongo, who we learn has known Bongisa for some time now and friends, sought his counsel when he first betrothed Nyambita. But it appears Bongisa may have lied to him. Bongisa told Odongo that the only way to win over Nyambita, is to lie. To lie, was the lie here.  So in Nyambita Mama ( Nyambita Part One ) Odongo went ahead and promised Nyambita big things. He promised to pay an aeroplane for a dowry. He promised her a car. And you see, by the time Odongo was promising Nyambita all these, ...

Amiso Thwango may be unknown to many but you may have danced to one of his biggest hits. Like many (upcoming Ohangla artists), he may just be a victim of the sudden rise in the consumption of Ohangla music that has seen hundreds of names, some you are yet to listen to or may never, rush to the studio with mics in hand ready to venture into the genre.  It appears Ohangla has become the easiest way to start a music career but still, it is clearly not for everyone. A few who have the "natural gift" and just the right creative instinct have risen above the crowd and have become household names. The world now is talking about Odongo Swagg, he of the  Chwade gi Nyundo  or  Nyambita  fame. But just before Odongo stole the show, it was Amiso Thwango that was on the lips of many.  Now, it is Amiso Thwango who composed and rendered some of the most controversial lines in praise of his girlfriend, Cynthia Akoth Nyar Jogina. In  Cynthia Thwango,...

Mourning Himself  Before his actual death, Okatch Biggy, had died so many times and had the rare privilege of summoning people to his own funeral. He was himself there to mourn with them. He had died on the lips of his competitors who, overwhelmed by his ever-growing fame, resorted to sending panic in his camp. A man, he tells us in Okatch Pod Angima , gathered his friends over alcohol to spread false rumours of his departure. There were many reasons someone could have wanted Biggy dead but he did not until late 1997.  No musician ever pulled crowds in his time like he did. Even when a strange disease, what many (and these were false priests of his departure) believed to be the deadly HIV/AIDS virus that swept through the music industry in the late 20th century tried to pull him down, Biggy sang on. Towards his last days, one of his fans said during his burial, he was too weak to get out of his car but once he had the mic in his hands, he sent his fans crazy like he did a...

In my yet-to-be-written book Friends Who Took Them With Water: The Musician Advisor s, I will focus on people like Bongisa. These are never the main characters in the song. If it is a praise composition, they are not the friends of the person being praised. And they are not some of us who throw in something small M-pesa when Jathum is recording so that we are mentioned. No, I am not talking about Oyoo Mboya who was mentioned by his friend Ndogo Jaraha or Berick Jawaseda who, I have not told you, has been chogod by Javan McAjudo in one of his best this season. I don't know what he (Berick) told the boy but looks like he put Javan under duress to mention all his three names like they appeared in the register at Chianda High School. All, just so that he is not confused with other notable Jo-Waseda. And they are not, in the modern organizational structure of (Ohangla or Benga) Bands, part of the management tasked to provide professional advice. But they may be part of the team. O...

I'm up late to catch up with an interview that Bongisa's friend and Luo Ohangla sensation, Odongo Swagg, had with Simy Kenya this evening. I was eager to know more about this man. And for many reasons. One is that I've always had a thing for composers or musicians who sing or write about their own stories, or stories they are very close too. Those who are strong enough to tell the stories of their own lives. So that if something has gone wrong, it is (with) their lives. Experiential knowledge, wisdom. Not some stories of no one. Stories of air. I knew from the first time I came to love his work, that Odongo Swagg was singing his life bare. That if Nyar Agweng' was a hit, it was a story of his life. That if Madharau was a breakthrough, it was his life breaking a ceiling. And that if Nyambita must be put in some position, it is Odongo putting her. Not some empty story. After watching the interview, I have confirmed that it is true. Odongo's life is in every line of hi...