Is it really the end of the beginning for Kalamashaka?

It’s always good news when an artiste that “disappears” after having a good or successful run in their career makes a comeback.

The questions that follow are whether they’ll replicate their glory days and have as much impact or if they will even make sense to the music consumers at that time.

Rarely do artistes make triumphant returns from their musical hiatus; the pressure of having to catch up with the musical trends at the time of their comeback plus having to work twice as hard to be the topic of conversation.

As much as it is rare for an artiste to consistently deliver at the highest level throughout their entire career, there is also the question of whether the artiste will make a “loud” comeback especially if they are rebounding from a disappointing past project.

“Mwenyezi mungu ni Vigeti hapa, save my soul apart from ya Tracy Chapman” – a line from “Aste Aste”, which is the ninth track off the recent Kalamashaka official release of their 2008 album "Mwisho Wa Mwanzo".

MUSIC CAREERS

For some, this album was just a compilation of tracks in a folder somewhere stored in a hard drive not sure what to label it.

Though there isn’t any proven formula, artistes take different routes when they are “reviving” their music careers, for some it’s hit singles, others will take the attention grabbing route and for some it’s full-blown cabin fever for months then an album to crown it all.

Some artistes get back to their roots, while others try as much as they can to re-invent themselves but no one method can be termed the best.

There are comebacks that dig the artiste deeper into a hole, and others that redefine entire careers all together.

This year has saw the return of the pioneers of Kenyan rap – Kalamashaka, the rap group that produced some of our generation’s most iconic body of work.

The album’s title Mwisho wa Mwanzo (The end of the beginning) was meant to be a redefining project, and as it happens, the project, which was produced by Swedish based Kenyan producer KenRing, never saw the day of light.

MUSICAL BIOPIC

"Mwisho wa Mwanzo" is like a musical biopic, it tells the From-Dandora-to-Stardom-and-back-to-Dandora tragic tale.

Stylistically the album can’t be compared to their past works, it’s a collection of bold statements, a final declaration to solidify and remind people of K-Shaka’s place in Kenya’s music history.

A lot of thought was put into Mwisho wa Mwanzo and this can be seen in tracks like Moi Avenue, it’s filled with thought provoking bars, the possibility of Moi Avenue being a coin with two different sides, the big city breaker, the marker that separates the poor and the rich was brilliant.

Johnny Vigeti – arguably one of the best Kenyan rappers of all time, comes off as the alpha male on Mwisho wa Mwanzo as he expands his breadth of rap lyric subject matter with creative, thought provoking witty rhymes coming from a dark place, a place of alienation, retreating from fame, expectations, the struggles of being the best and not getting enough accolades for it.

On "Maisha Mabovu", Vigeti sums up the whole album, it’s almost like a misplaced outro.

RAP PIONEERS
"Maisha Mabovu" is as good as lyrical abilities get, brilliant in all forms. On Lead someone Vigeti still stresses on having the crown with the line, ‘…kutoka kitambo title imekuwa ya phase 2...’

"Mwisho wa Mwanzo" is art, art that has stood the test of time, art that will be around for long.

The big question however is if a Kalamashaka comeback is necessary, being that Kenyan rap is currently not in a thoughtful place.

While currently commercial success is important to the question – and the sole reason K-Shaka is rarely included in conversations locally – it’s only one variable.

Though it might be a bit early to gauge Kalamashaka’s impact on this return, being that there are people interacting with the album for the first time, we might have to hold back on the excitement.

Kalamashaka’s comeback story is a complicated one, as it isn’t just a comeback in music, but in life. Having not released any music in over five years, while going through a lot of life’s ups and downs, it hasn’t been all rosy for the Kenyan pioneer rap group.

HITTING THE PINNACLE

"Mwisho wa Mwanzo" might not satisfy the rabid desire among fans who expect a great new Kalamashaka album as it may seem to be the old “Life in Dandora story”, but they get a pass for that, being that their body of work is flawless.

In "Mwisho wa Mwanzo", Kalamashaka imply that they’re about to hit the pinnacles they were supposed to reach when everyone thought they were done and dusted.

There has been enough buzz surrounding their comeback to give them another solid run, it’s however a tough call in retrospect, because it’s more of a declaration that precedes it.

The album has been released to a confused music consumer market that is accustomed to sing-alongs and hit singles. Plus, with all factors in place, can Kalamashaka stay around long enough?

These comeback conversations have been around before, will K-Shaka hold their end? It might have been too early to call this a comeback, but then again only time might tell, let’s have this Kalamashaka conversation again maybe in April 2015.