TRIPLE THREAT: Kagwe Mungai

What’s your English name?

I don’t have an English name.

Really? You sure it’s not one of those embarrassing names?

Really, my ID, birth certificate, passport, everything reads Kagwe Mungai.

How long have you been in the industry professionally?

I think it’s over two years now. I started in 2012 when I’d just come back from the UK. I released in the middle of that year.

After that I started doing small performances here and there, working with some new artistes and here we are today.

You are fairly young in the industry but you have sort of made a break through already?

I think it’s a combination of many things, consciously being at the right place at the right time, you know? You treat your music or craft like a product, you study other products and figure out how yours can be better.

Would you say your music is commercial?

I don’t know, in my music nothing is the same and that’s because I don’t like to be put in a box. I wouldn’t call myself commercial or underground. But commercial in the sense that I am making a living out of it? Yes.

You write your own music, record, produce and package it, isn’t it a bit too much for one person?

It can be a bit ridiculous sometimes in terms of workload and time but the trick is not to sleep. You don’t need that much sleep, you have 24 hours in a day and if well planned, you can do a lot.

It’s about being efficient and effective. I also have a really good team that helps me on the different aspects but I mainly oversee what goes on.

Would you say you are a perfectionist?

Maybe a perfectionist or a workaholic, I think I love what I do and I don’t want it to come out like a half-baked cake. It needs to have that taste that I have in my head.

The song Creeper is upbeat and fresh, let’s talk about the sound and beat.

It’s a combination of dancehall, R-n-B, and Hip Hop. I’ll just call it Afro Kagwe, no one knows it but let’s just call it that. “Biggest Fan” is also another Afro Kagwe thing because it’s a combination of House, some South African influence and R-n-B.

Have you ever been cheated on?

I have. I think most people have, it’s a very relatable story. I read somewhere that 80 per cent of people over 30 have cheated and not just men. It’s something that a lot of people can relate to, not just me, so I thought let’s talk about it.

Is there a particular sound you favour in your music?

Everything I do has to have a touch of Africa in it and not just Kenya because Africa is a part of my life history, having lived and studied in different countries in Africa (Uganda and South Africa) and the UK.

Would you consider yourself a nice guy?

I don’t know, maybe I’m a bad boy; you have to ask some other people about it. But I’m a romantic, and if that makes me a softie then I am. I like love, talking about love, being in love and I like showing other people love.

Have you ever geeked out on a star like in the video Biggest Fan?

Once, it was Vanessa Mdee but we are good friends now. The first time I met her I was so starstruck. I couldn’t even compose a sentence. But now we are good friends and we have worked together.

The line, ‘you’re the only ten I see’ in Biggest Fan is borderline corny, do you use such lines as pick-up lines?

No, that’s why I put them in my songs, I’m not the kind of guy who’ll say stuff like ‘you’re the only bubble in my Sprite’. But it’s funny and if it’s funny then it’s kind of cute.

Have you ever had a fan go crazy on you?

A few, some people threw bras on stage.

Well that’s good for your ego

It’s great, but not so much when your mum is in the audience. But I appreciate it. I think people express themselves differently. Someone cried once when we met and it was very touching for me.

How much effort and time do you put into your image in terms of fashion?

I think it’s important to present yourself in a way that you would like to be perceived. If you show up in a building in pajamas and slippers people will treat you differently than if you were dressed in a suit and tie.

You produced Sauti Sol’s “Nishike”, what was your own reaction to how it was received?

We knew from the beginning when we were sitting down with Sauti Sol that the song was going to be controversial and it was going to get a lot of people upset, but also going to change a lot.

We knew it would be big but we didn’t think it would get that huge and obviously that’s thanks to the video that Enos did so big up to them.

In terms of it getting banned, there are double standards with that because we’ll play American songs by artistes like Chris Brown at 4pm when kids have just come home from school, holding half naked women and its fine because that’s them.

But as soon as someone from Kenya does it then it’s a problem, which is not fair.

Who else have you produced for?

Taio Tripper or Thee MC Africa as he goes by now and Miss Karun’s first solo album out of Camp Mulla called “Sun and Moon” with Jazz Odongo.

I produced Eric Wainanina’s “Selina” and “TKK” with Madtraxx. I’ve also produced for Nick Mutuma, Shaa from Tanzania, Vanessa Mdee and Jackie Chindaru from Uganda.

Would you rate yourself as one of the biggest music producers in Kenya?

I wouldn’t say I’m the biggest but I would say I’m the best and I will tell you why; Not because I’m full of myself but because this is my work and product, I’m not going to say someone else has a better product than me, no, my work is the best, I am the best producer in Africa at the moment.

Have you ever Googled yourself?

Sometimes, maybe once or twice a day, no I’m joking.

Do you find it weird?

It is, because I remember when I was just starting out and I would call a lot of people for interviews and they would shut their doors because they didn’t know me. I’m now getting calls for interviews which is great and it’s something I’m grateful for.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on the next few singles for this year; there will be a single coming out every month with a video.

No one does that in Kenya

The only person who is consistent and comes close to doing that is Rabbit. We have the singles lined up so it’s just a matter of making sure they are ready and aligned for the right time because it’s about timing as well.

Michael Jackson and Pharell, are some of your inspirations, are there any Kenyan artistes that inspire you?

I don’t know if I get inspired by any specific Kenyan artiste but there are songs that inspired me when I was younger. Like I really loved the beat for the song “Jibeba” by Flexx, I used to DJ in high school and I used to play that song all the time. Clemo as a producer is someone I used to listen to as I was coming up, I’ve always thought Nameless as a writer has such a unique writing style. Rappers like Abbass, Bamboo and Esir are people that I grew up listening to; some of their songs have inspired me.

So is there any specific Kenyan artiste you would say is your favourite?

Kagwe Mungai, I can’t get enough of him.