Churchill show was the  break I had longed for

“Not in my wildest dreams had I imagined that I would be on TV so soon,” says an ecstatic Nassizu when I catch up with him after the Churchill Show on the Road, Meru Edition.  He is still excited that the show, which took place on May 1, gave him an opportunity to perform before an audience of more than a thousand people for the first time.

“I could not believe it when Churchill spoke highly of my talent and declared me a potential superstar. I was equally surprised when he made me the guest artiste during the Meru Edition,” he continues, barely able to contain his excitement.

But that was not all. Nassizu  (real name Nasir Osman Marete, who was little-known before the show, beat more seasoned musicians during the auditions to perform on stage, despite a hitch that made him  almost miss the auditions.

“When I heard that the Churchill Show was coming to Meru, I knew that was my opportunity to rise to the limelight. I had been longing for a platform to make myself known to the world and the Churchill Show did just that,” he says.

Interestingly, his intention to perform at the show nearly became a cropper when he turned up late for the auditions. He arrived when the team doing the auditions was just about to leave, but not one to give up easily, he begged them to give him “just a minute” to showcase his talent. His confidence impressed them  and they decided to give him a chance. They asked him to perform one of his own songs before doing Ali Kiba’s Mwana.

He impressed them, and that is how he got to perform at the dhow.

During the show, he was welcomed on stage and introduced to an expectant audience by the show’s host, Daniel Ndambuki, popularly known as Churchill.

“Introducing to the world, Nassizu! This is how superstars are made. This man here is now a superstar,” Churchill declared as he introduced Nassizu to the audience, which included Meru Governor Peter Munya and number of Meru MPs.

And when he took to the stage, Nassizu did not disappoint, outshining many better established musicians. He wowed the audience with his melodious voice and mastery of Kiswahili, earning himself a standing ovation. Many were left wondering whether he was truly from Meru, while others compared him to renowned bongo musician Diamond.

COME A LONG WAY

But he put any doubts about his ethnicity to rest when he switched to mother tongue.

“All Nassizu now needs is a private manager to help him hone his talent before going to a recording studio to become a superstar,” Churchill  had said after watching him perform. He promised to support the 21-year-old musician’s budding career and recalled how he had almost dismissed Nassizu as a joker when he turned up late for the auditions.

It is easy to understand Nassizu’s excitement because he has certainly come a long way. Ever since he was a child, he had dreamt of being a music superstar. Born in Majengo, a slum in Meru Town, he attended Meru Muslim Primary School, where his colleagues would gather around him to listen to him sing as he imitated musicians like the late Issa Juma of Les Wanyika,  Ugandan singer Jose Chameleon (Joseph Mayanja), Tanzania’s Mr Nice (Lukas Mkenda) and other renowned bongo artistes.

He got even more inspired to pursue a career in music after his Kiswahili teacher praised him and gave him poems to recite in class often.

“Whenever I sang in school, people would tell me that I had a great future as a musician. This encouraged me to continue practising to improve my singing, despite my humble background,” Nassizu says.

Fate dealt the musician, who had lost his mother at an early age, another cruel blow when his father died in 2011. He was in Form Three at the time, and he and his sister had to fend for themselves.

 “Sometimes we would go to school on empty stomachs. However, I managed to sit for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in 2012,” he recalls.

After high school, a friend in Mombasa invited him to join him in the coastal town, telling him that he could at least get manual jobs there to survive. 

With little choice, he moved to Mombasa, where he did all types of odd jobs, including loading sand onto lorries and working on a construction site.

But despite the rough life, his relocation to Mombasa turned out to be a blessing to his musical career, for it was there that he met producer Shirko (Awadh Salim Awadh) of Vybez Records, who helped him launch his career.

“While working as a loader at a quarry in Mombasa, I met a lorry driver who introduced me to producer Shirko. The producer listened to me to sing and just loved my voice. He then encouraged me to write my own music,” he recalls.

Nassizu says he has written more than 30 son­­­­gs, of which he has recorded only one with the help of Shirko.

Due to mother tongue influence, he could not get his bongo-style music recorded, so he took  time off to improve his Swahili.

“When I told my friends in Mombasa that I could be a bongo musician, they laughed at me because of my poor Kiswahili. But I learnt to speak Kiswahili fluently by listening to people speaking it, as well as to bongo Music. I even bought a Kiswahili dictionary to enable me to write it well,” he says.

His mission to master the language bore fruit, and he was finally allowed to record a song. 

“The producer liked one of my songs titled Sindi, which we recorded. And a video director called Lilguyg (Peter Gitau) offered to do a video of the song. However, the song did not do very well after the promoter, (Chris Gitonga) left the country tand went to Germany. After he left, I could not give it much publicity due to financial constraints,” Nassizu explains.

After losing his job as a shop attendant in Mombasa in December last year, Nassizu was forced to return home, afraid that his music career had come to an abrupt end.

In retrospect, though, he says his encounter with Churchill was God’s doing since he can now look forward to releasing his songs in the next few months.

“I thank God for the opportunity to show my talent to the world. I would like to make people realise that even Meru can produce musicians who can compete with the country’s best. I want to assure my fans that they are about to hear the best music they have ever heard from Meru and the region,” he says, brimming with confidence.

Nassizu says he intends to use his musical talent to disabuse Kenyans of the perception that Merus cannot sing or produce good music.

Nassizu is still overwhelmed that even Meru Governor Munya took time to call him to appreciate his talent.

“The governor also promised to support me after watching me on the Churchill Show. I am greatly humbled by the great support I have received from the people of Meru, and I promise not to disappoint those who have put their trust in my ability,” says Nassizu.

In appreciation of his Meru culture, Nassizu has developed his own music style he calls mebongo, a blend of Meru and bongo music styles.