Sauti Sol: Living the dream

Members of Sauti Sol band during a past interview in Nairobi.

What you need to know:

  • All along, the group has been confident that they would do great things, and that is part of the reason they work so hard. Still, they do look back to the days they wondered if they would ever play abroad.
  • But here they are now, with shows in America under their belt, totally sold out concerts in Kigali, Tanzania and Uganda, and meeting people they only ever dreamt of.

Since the success of their hit single ‘Sura Yako’, Sauti Sol, Kenya’s number one boy band, has been living the musician’s dream. Tours, sold-out concerts, topping the charts and performing for President Obama. They sat down with Josephine Mosongo and opened up on their crazy ride so far.

Before they became a sensation, Sauti Sol once sent signed copies of their first two albums to the White House in the hope that President Barack Obama would one day listen to them. The copies probably never made it to the most powerful man in the world but, years later, their dream became a reality when they performed for Obama in his Kenyan tour. Even though it seemed like a stretch, it’s something they visualised and constantly dreamt about.

“It is funny how, after shaking Obama’s hand and hanging out with him, I went to mingle with people in the crowd and I saw a lot of billionaires who couldn’t even touch Obama,” reminisces Willis Chimano about the surreal experience.

2015 has so far been the best year for the boy band. They got Obama to dance and the video went viral; they have become President Uhuru Kenyatta’s favourite band and he carries them with him whenever he is travelling abroad. They accompanied him to Italy and New York. They are, without a doubt, the biggest name in music in Kenya.

The four began the year with a performance at the Koroga festival, then flew to Vegas for another show where it finally hit them they had an internationally audience when Africans in the diaspora flew in from other States just to see them. After that, they went on an American tour that they describe as “a crazy experience.”

Good things happen to people who prepare, the band says, because try as much as they could, they could not plan for Obama, let alone Sura Yako, which took the airwaves by storm. They, however, credit their competent team for setting them up for the success they have had so far.

“If you start the year on a high, you just want to keep going, you don’t want to slow down. God has been good to us, Sauti Sol has favour, we have common dreams and goals and we don’t take anything for granted,” says Polycarp Otieno.

Their biggest achievement, even after performing for the President of the United States, is meeting parents who have let their children pursue music because of them.

CONFIDENTS THEY WOULD DO GREAT THINGS

All along, the group has been confident that they would do great things, and that is part of the reason they work so hard. Still, they do look back to the days they wondered if they would ever play abroad.

But here they are now, with shows in America under their belt, totally sold out concerts in Kigali, Tanzania and Uganda, and meeting people they only ever dreamt of.

“We watched Beyonce live when we were in New York; I won’t lie to you, I never thought I would see Beyonce live; it was always in my head though,” Delvin Mudigi says of their recent trip to New York for the Global Citizen Festival where they, too, performed for the 60,000 people present.

Polycarp recalls being numb at the sea of people in front of them. Backstage, they got to meet and see Hollywood A-list celebrities like Jay Z, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Leonardo Di Caprio, Usher and one of the richest men in the world, Bill Gates, who Bien had a chance to talk to.

But after the excitement died down, Bien says they realised that these are just ordinary people who reach for extraordinary things.

“I wouldn’t have picked him out from a crowd because he’s very humble, extremely intelligent and doesn’t look or act like $79 billion. It makes you understand why he’s worth that much. I get very disappointed when I go to African awards like the MAMAs and see how African artistes are divas towards each other,” he says.

It has, however, not been all rosy and dandy — the band did not bring home the MAMA or the BET awards. They began to question whether they were just escorting other artistes to the big award shows after activating their fans to vote for them. But that little nagging voice quieted down after realising they were competing against stars like P Square.

So, after meeting so many stars and celebrities in the music world, how come they have not emerged from the studio with a few collaborations as a show of successful meet and greet?

Delvin says that a good song does not automatically materialise. There needs to be a connection between them and, sometimes, it does not happen, even if they are good friends or artistes that they are big fans of, and vice versa.

“There are artistes who you don’t even need more than five minutes to connect with, like Mi Casa. We went to South Africa, went to their studio and talked for 10 minutes and this guy started making a beat. Bien sang the hook and they liked it. In two hours, we had recorded the song,” adds Delvin.

While most of their songs have been number one hits, some like "Nishike" and "Shake Your Bum Bum" have had mixed reactions from fans. It is usually not a deliberate attempt at riling up fans, rather a different approach for which their art is consumed. They call it an emotional rollercoaster they need to take people through.

"BILE" FROM PEOPLE

So far, their efforts have paid off, not just in fan appreciation but where it matters most — the money. The video for "Shake Your Bum Bum" was fully paid for by Tecno and EABL, which according to some YouTube comments did some not-so-subtle product placement. Though they won’t confirm it, it is said they made over Sh1.5 million for the placements.

“A lot of people have bile because the video has a lot of product in it, like it’s being shoved in their faces. But that’s how the industry works; people should warm up to it. Kenya is the only country where artistes don’t have endorsements,” says Bien, pointing out that an artiste like Wizkid has many endorsements from MTN, Pepsi, and Hennessey.

Chimano adds that they are unapologetic about it because, at the end of the day, other than them in Kenya, whose music videos are being endorsed by big products?

Fans have always been privy to their music since they were the new kids on the block with their first hit Lazizi, but what about their personal lives? Do they have girlfriends?

“What girlfriends?” They all chime in. “Where are they? We are single. In fact, we are alone, by ourselves,” they continue to jest. “We sleep with our music. Imagine how miserable you would be if you were Sauti Sol’s girlfriend. We are never there, and when we are here we are working all the time, we are either doing interviews, in studio and in team meetings. It’s very strenuous to have a relationship,”

Bien says it is very dangerous to date in Nairobi; he figures a woman might cheat on him. But that could happen anywhere in the world, right? He counters that the city is dangerously notorious for women who cheat on their boyfriends and that they are scared of being heartbroken, but eventually when the time is right…

So what else happens in their lives, have they ever had physical altercations? Do they get star struck by top African singers, even though they are stars themselves? Do they still work out even when they are not flaunting their abs in videos? Are they afraid of going broke?

Well, they have never been in a fight except for Bien, who they make fun of because he was always on the receiving end when he was younger because he never fought back.

When Bien first met Prezzo, he was definitely star struck, and he feels the same way about Bamboo and Redsan. Delvin says he would like to meet Darling P. And Chimano, to this day, is still awed by Nazizi, and Polycarp by Kleptomaniax.

And for live performances, they think Mafikizolo, Diamond and Fally Ipupa are doing exquisite work. Bien has christened Delvin “Baba Six Pack” and whenever they have to pose shirtless, he is always front and centre.

The group has always had an eclectic fashion sense and they divulge that Chimano decides what they wear. “I kind of do, but then I don’t because I’m there for consultation since they have morphed into their own style. But we are getting to the point where we don’t go shopping together because one of us will see what someone else likes and he’s like, ‘I’m going for it, I don’t care’, and Bien is the number one culprit,”  he says.

Like every other musician that worked their way up, Sauti Sol have been broke before but insist they do not want to go back to that situation. They say that the fear of going broke drives them to work even harder.

“I’ll never go back to paying Sh5,000 rent,” says Bien. “But I don’t know why people associate brokenness with artistes; there are accountants that go broke, too. It’s how well you come back from it.”

As much as this year has had a lot to offer for the band, it’s not enough. They say that next year and each subsequent year will be bigger as they continue to hunger for more.

@jmmosongo