TAKE FIVE: OMONDI OCHUKA

Omondi Ochuka is a Kenyan poet, writer, visual artist, and thinker. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • My art has always been about human life experiences, and trying to understand why they occur.
  • I try to capture all that each time I write something down, paint or compose a song. 
  • I journal a lot, and I love keeping diaries and letters.
  • My methods of delivery have developed with each album I’ve recorded.

Omondi Ochuka is a Kenyan poet, writer, visual artist, and thinker. He is also a researcher and economics teaching assistant at the University of Nairobi.

1. What is your new album about? What themes does it cover?

Dua Ya Nafsi is my seventh studio album. My art has always been about human life experiences, and trying to understand why they occur. I try to capture all that each time I write something down, paint or compose a song. 

I journal a lot, and I love keeping diaries and letters. My methods of delivery have developed with each album I’ve recorded. When I started out, I was a lot more cryptic and I used a lot of imagery, symbolism and metaphors. 

But after the album Cures in Eulogy? in 2017, I learnt more about myself and began to open up. Then came Journey and Soul and A Cute Melancholia in 2018, which were both received so well by my fans who loved the stories told in the songs.

Some of the major topics I like to address are, history, social commentary, mystery, and unique human life experiences. 

2. Does your battle with cancer inform your art?

Yes. 

My art captures my personal experience with cancer, and those of the people around me. The disease has become such a big part of my life that it is now difficult to omit it from my art. 

Last year was tough for me because the cancer returned towards the end of the year. I thought I would not recover. I also lost my best friend, Jadudi, and two others who were part of my support system. I was so overwhelmed. I thought that I, too, wouldn’t make it. I no longer found solace in writing, journaling, music or art. I became withdrawn. 

One night, while taking my night time prescription, I counted the pills in my hands. 

A rainbow of tablets of different sizes. I felt like I was bargaining with my body for just a little comfort. I wondered if the medicine had become a lot for my body to bear with. 

I said to myself, "I have forgotten how to pray because I deviated from religion when I was a teenager and embarked on creating my own version of religion through science, philosophy, music, spirituality and logic. 

But if I am to tell myself something at this moment, what would it be? What would I talk about?"

I was deeply preoccupied with recollections of my entire life. That night, at 3am, while I was wide-awake and tormented by relentless pain, I wrote in my diary: Dua ya Nafsi. 

I also wrote a paragraph, “Midnight Thought,” which became a skit on the album. I wasn't sure about what I would do with the pieces I had written until October last year when I travelled to Eldoret. I added a tag IGYNBMS (I Give You Nothing but My Soul) to it, which later became a different album which I recorded five months later.

In the album, I share my memories and try to defy time. The songs are like my memoirs. I address themes of family, history, love, living with cancer as a young person, growing, melancholy and fatherhood. I use art as a tool for navigating life, and a source of light in difficult times.

3. What fascinates you about research?

I grew up under the wings of an academician — my late grandfather — who I really admired. Until now, one of my favourite places is our home library back in the village where I read a lot. When I was young, I wanted to be a Professor of Economics or Mathematics.

I did my first undergraduate course at the University of Nairobi, but graduated two years late because I had to take several breaks for medical reasons. As a result, I did not realise my ambition of becoming a Professor by age 30. 

I got to be a teaching assistant at UoN courtesy of one of my Professors at the School of Economics who believed in me. I had also finished second in my class. 

Research fascinates me the same way life does. It is a way of discovering ourselves in different capacities. 

4. When did you start writing and why did you choose poetry?

I have been writing for as long as I can remember. My grandma tells me that I took longer than usual to start talking, and that I wrote a lot. I find that reading and writing tend to go along together. Growing up, my teachers and peers kept telling me that my writing was poetic. And indeed, I find poetic content to be quite rich and inspiring. I grew up in a Christian family where my mother and her brothers and sisters sang in church, so I too joined in. 

We spent Sundays listening to sermons on tapes and oldies on the gramophone. It was fun. Music has always been an important aspect of my life. I recall dismembering old cassettes with my uncle trying to record my own verses in the 90s. I loved rhythm. I liked how traditional poetry could be made into rap and since then, I have grown to love hip hop and spoken word. 

5. What next for you? Where can we buy your album?

I want to keep telling my story in whatever way life allows me to. I am currently writing my autobiography and this year, I will release two albums before hosting an art exhibition. 

I plan to do more collabos rather than solo projects. I am hoping to re-record my Luo album Hembko Mag Yiko, do a live recording, and give it an afro or indigenous touch. I would like to record a series of lectures too.

You can buy digital copies of my albums at Bandcamp, or contact me on social media to get the CDs. ​