Sunday school songs inspired budding musician Titus Ngichiri aka Rapalias
Titus Ngichiri, aka Rapalias or Tact, during an interview at Nation Centre recently. He has produced a song titled “Feet Do the Talking” and promises more for his fans. PHOTO | HUGHOLIN KIMARO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Titus developed an interest in music when he was in lower primary school.
- He discovered his talent and decided to develop it, though he deviated to the secular music that he now sings.
- Early 2013 Ngichiri recorded his first song, titled “Feet Do the Talking”, whose video came out in December 2013.
- He says he plans to produce more songs in the near future.
The young and talkative Titus Ngichiri, aka Rapalias or Tact, 23, was born in Nairobi as the last-born in a family of two — he has a sister, Beth Nyambura, who is also in the arts, though not in music but fashion and beauty contests.
Titus developed an interest in music when he was in lower primary school, but it was not until he was in Class Five that he started taking it seriously.
The Sunday school songs he used to sing in church gave him a good foundation in music.
He discovered his talent and decided to develop it, though he deviated to the secular music that he now sings.
While in primary and secondary schools he wrote his own songs.
He says he just wrote and kept them, as he did not have anyone to advise him on how to produce them.
STUDIED GREAT MUSICIANS
When he completed his secondary school education in 2008, he took a lot of time to study about great musicians like Eminem, Canibus, Nas, Jay Z, and a host of other gifted rappers in an effort to improve his word play, similes, metaphors, and alliteration.
Ngichiri, at the same time, started moving to hip hop and instrumentals so as to develop his own style, and in 2011 he was ready to go to a studio for serious recording.
It was in May 2011 that his debut track was produced by Babz.
The track fronts the Underdog production label.
“This encouraged me so much that I continued composing more songs though not for commercial production.
“However, in early 2013 I recorded my first song that I felt was worthy to be produced commercially. It was titled 'Feet Do the Talking' and features Mercy Ndege, aka Gist (Miss Mass 2013), on the hook part of it. I shot and released its video in December 2013,” said Titus.
The video was directed by Ricky Becko of Click Media and the song was produced by Sappy, who was introduced to him by Rabbit during the launch of his video.
He coincidentally met Khaligraph Jones, who dropped by for a surprise performance while on his way to a show.
They talked and struck a deal a few months later and it worked in April 2014.
They came up with a truck, "100", produced by The Homboyz, which is expected to rub many the wrong way because of its message, though he says he does not mind it.
Titus says, “It is a brilliant track that I am sure will take us far in the music industry.”
For this young artiste, the sky is the limit in the arts world.
FILM AND VIDEO EDITING
He is also into film and video editing, the course he is pursuing at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) in Nairobi and which he is about to finish.
He says upon completion of his studies he hopes to open his own music-production company that will also shoot films and documentaries, as well as directing and producing music videos.
“As I wait for my graduation later this year, I confess that I draw a lot of inspiration from talented and experienced artistes like Eminem, Crooked I, Lupe Fiasco, Kendrick Lamar, Canibus and 50 Cent,” Titus says.
He is also looking forward to working with Sage, Wyre and M1.
He adds, “I have other music projects in which I hope to release a number of new songs later this year. Some will be singles while others will be collabos. I have a lot of surprises in store for my fans,” Titus says confidently.
