L-Jay Maasai in dream collabo with Muhando

L-Jay Maasai has many reasons to feel blessed. He has just completed shooting the video for 'Olomaiyana' which is a collaboration with Tanzania’s gospel titan, Rose Muhando.

The young gospel musician who has not been in the in the industry for long got the unparalleled honour of working with the Tanzanian diva who is notoriously picky on who she works with. He is the Kenyan she has agreed to collabo with.

“I am very honoured and humbled that finally Olomaiyana is out. I must say the journey and the process has not been easy, in fact this by far has been the most difficult project to complete,” he told ZuQka.

The “singing moran” whose real name is James Lekishon ole Kamwaro, took the gospel scene by storm with his distinctive urban upbeat style with heavy Maasai influences is a native of Narok county.

Blending the two by singing in native Maasai language and Swahili he has received wide recognition outside of Kenya and won many awards.

He was voted the winner in the The Talanta Awards USA as the best upcoming male artiste award shortly after being nominated for the AGMA Awards London.

His hits:  Laleiyo’, ‘Iyaiyo’, ‘Tapala' and the latest hit 'MaaLeji' have received massive airplay transforming him into a household name.

L-Jay, who is born again, says he felt listless about his music and getting stifled by the local gospel scene and he sought outside influences to cure his angst.

“When I felt that God assigned me to this whole project late last year. I was really bothered by the fact that Kenyan gospel music seems to be at a dead end where our music is limited to air play in the country by local media houses.

ON ROTATION WORLDWIDE

I wanted to put Kenyan gospel music on rotation worldwide and this was a small step towards that bigger picture. This is my first cross border collaboration and I hope to do more.

“When I met Rose Muhando, I shared the idea she immediately loved it. She made room for me in spite of her busy schedule and we started to book dates for recording Olomaiyana. The song encourages everyone to always trust in God despite ridicule n criticism,” he said.

The video was slated to be shot in Tanzania but the venue was later changed to Nairobi where Muhando travelled to the country to shoot her part.

It was done by Clarence Peters, GodFather, Moe Musa directed by X-Antonio of International Textures. L-Jay says he is happy with the result.

“I feel really blessed that it all came together. I worked with people who are really good at what they do and the end product is here.

In the video, L-Jay indulges his other passion and creative side. The actors in the video wear his latest creations from Entawuo Wear, his first attempt at fashion.

Like his music, the outfits are a blend of Maasai cultural wear with urban nuances. They are a little toned down and subtle enough  to make them practical and wearable.