Lovy Longomba: I’m living my dream

While his soft spoken, laid back and considerably shy demeanour presents the perfect camouflage for Lovy Longomba’s preferred private lifestyle, his confidence overpowers anyone who may mistake this for weakness.

In many ways, the Kenya-bred father of one can be said to be living the American dream. But you will never catch those words rolling out of his tongue.

“I am living my dream,” he quips. “I however, have taken inspiration from the American exceptionalism that if I play by the rules, work a little harder and keep the faith, then there is nothing I cannot achieve here.”

His words carry a lot of weight coming from a man who left his home in pursuit of an uncertain future in “the land of opportunity”.

With a buzzing career and all the fame Kenya could offer, Lovy and his brother Christian chose to give it all up and start a new life in the United States, leaving behind a string of back-to-back chart toppers not to mention the legion of heartbroken (female) fans.

For Lovy though, his exit from the Kenyan music scene couldn’t have come at a better time. “It was easy for me to make the decision to move,” he explains.

“By the time I was leaving Kenya, The Longombas were on top of the food chain-musically speaking. There were not many musicians doing what we were doing.

We got fans of all ages and backgrounds to listen and dance to our music and it was just time to move on to other projects!”

Eight years down the line, it’s easy to tell he found his happy place from his studio office overlooking the lush Hollywood neighbourhood.

But even his clear eyes and easy smile cannot hide his frustrations with the industry he left sprouting back home. Palm on cheek, he says, “There is so much talent in Kenya. However, there are no structures.

There are no solid foundations to anchor these musicians. It is only recently that artistes started making money.”

Was this the motivation behind his sudden move? He chuckles at the assumption and clarifies: “I was ahead of myself in terms of making music and sometimes when you have a bigger vision, a larger dream, people tend not to believe in those kinds of dreams,” observes the singer behind hits such as Vuta Pumz and Makofi.

“Back in the day I could see my contemporaries do so well, yet their thinking remained local.

I had an international vision and mentality. I wanted to pull my strengths near artistes with larger dreams. Needless to say, my roots are spread across the world.

I have lived most of my life in Kenya; most of my siblings are in France and Belgium. As such, I had to find a way of making music that would be heard in all these places.

When a musician broadens his thinking, doors open. That is why Nigerians are doing well in music today. Their thinking is not Lagos.

They are now global icons of African music who have caught the attention of the godfathers of world music.”

According to Lovy, it was the efforts of his generation of Kenyan entertainers that made Africa’s pop music scene what it is today.

“Looking at the music being made in West Africa today, I can confidently say the Longombas made this type of music 10 years ago.” He adds: “If you listen to our single “Queen” you can feel it has a special touch.

It allows someone in Japan to appreciate such kind of music but still in the process ponder, ‘who sung this song’ because our voices indicate we are from a certain continent.”

But life abroad has been kind to his dreams. While the Longombas have been silent on the Kenyan music scene, this has not stopped Lovy from making headlines across the globe. His most recent venture saw him produce the hit single Change My Life by rapper Iggy Azalea, which also features hip hop icon T.I. 

Over 45 million views

The music video currently has over 45 millions views on YouTube not to mention a Grammy nomination that has cast the spotlight on Lovy’s impeccable production skills.

Yet even with this achievement, Lovy remains modest when commenting on his work with such Hollywood’s A-listers.

“I have a working relationship with Iggy. She is a hardworker and very determined. People don’t know that there are 11 versions to this song.

Only one version, the one being sung out there is known. Iggy had to work patiently through the other 10 until we got to perfection and everybody felt this was it. You see, patience pays!” Unfortunately he’s yet to meet T.I of whom he says, “He is really a nice guy. He recorded his part of the song in Atlanta. We sent him what he had, he liked it and just said we should carry on!”

Seemingly unfazed by all the hype around him and the song, Lovy prefers to let his work blow his trumpet for him.

“What people do not know about me is that I am a quiet, conservative guy who likes the product to speak more than my mouth. As such I only interact professionally with such artistes.

I do my job, they get happy and I end up happy. However, for someone like Akon whom I have also worked with, he is like my big brother. He sometimes calls and says, ‘hey little brother, come over to my house.’”

To Lovy, this recognition of his work is a reminder that he is talented and his hope is that this validation will propel him to do even bigger things. And it shows through his hints of a potential upcoming project with Rihanna. Buzz can now confirm that the two have met and a working arrangement has been discussed.

His success has not been without its challenges though.

Lovy admits that learning how to produce American music has been a mountaineous task but quickly adds that his determination and the will to be the best have seen him overcome this obstacle. He also sounds apologetic about his planned comeback to Kenya in 2014, which he notes was delayed by the need to finish The Longombas’ 11-track album which is expected to be out soon.

While Lovy thinks of himself as the production guru of The Longombas, he credits his brother Christian with being a lyrical genius.

“We are inseparable. Our music would not be what it is without Christian. When he sets to write music, he can change the world.

He would also not get anywhere without me because I have the skills and capacity to arrange those lyrics and give them a beat that people will always remember,” he notes with a pompous feeling.

He admits that sometimes it is difficult to keep up with what is going on in Kenya but thanks to Christian’s ear on the music scene back home, he has developed into somewhat of a Sauti Sol groupie himself. “These guys have an international appeal, it is difficult for many musicians to do that. They have the potential to take the world by storm,” he quips with a little Sol dance.

The best is clearly yet to come for Lovy Longomba. But in the meantime, we can only wish him all the luck he needs as he prepares to attend the Grammy’s on the 8th of February in “a Tuxedo designed by fellow Kenyan, Muna Yemane!”

But Lovy seems to have placed his luck in much more capable hands. “God gave me talent, I am going to be the greatest God wants me to be. If He wants me to produce Grammy and Oscar winning songs I will produce Grammy and Oscar winning songs.”