CELEB BUZZ: Nonini is the greatest Kenyan mainstream artiste

Artiste Nonini. I would say he is the greatest Kenyan music artiste. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • Many will tell you E-Sir is the best to ever do it.
  • But he left us with only a preview of his talent, not the full clip.
  • We always think of how much better he could have been if he was around a little longer but we can only speculate.

When you ask people who the greatest of all time is, different strokes apply to different folks. A person’s opinion of the eternal king is often based on who touched their heart the most when they were most interested in local music.

Mostly, it was the artiste who was popping when they were in primary school, high school or college. A person has more time to analyse music keenly when they are young. When they grow older, other life issues become more important.

This is why if you are having this debate with a random person, artistic merit will play a very minor role. They’ll definitely pick the most interesting musician in the era they grew up in.

We can agree on one thing though, despite the era you grew up in, the best to ever do it has to be picked from a sample of those who did it first.

We don’t celebrate the founding fathers of Kenyan mainstream music enough. We enjoy dancing to the Timmy Tdats and the Kansouls but we tend to forget those who paved the way.

By founding fathers, I don’t mean the likes of Daudi Kabaka. I mean the likes of Nonini, Deux Vultures, Nameless and Jua Cali.

Kabaka and his peers did classical music. Mainstream music only became popular in the early 2000s. We had a plethora of geniuses in that era. Many like to use the clichéd phrase “That’s when music was music.”

What qualifies someone as the best? To offer sound judgement, we need to use the following indicators: impact on the culture, number of hits, work ethic, ability to entertain and the presence of natural talent.

E-Sir wowed us with his skill. But he left us with only a preview of his talent, not the full clip. PHOTO | COURTESY

FATHER OF GENGE

Who is the greatest? If someone asked me that question five years ago, I probably would have paused for several minutes, racked my mind, juggled with a few names then given my answer. Even after giving my verdict, I would still have wondered if that was who I really I wanted to say.

Many will tell you E-Sir is the best to ever do it. You know what? I don’t think so.

As of today, I don’t have conflicting thoughts. My mind is as clear as pearls and diaphanous gems. Taking into account all the moves he has made from the beginning of his career to this day, I can effortlessly, assertively and proudly state that the crown belongs to Nonini.

The Genge founder is a beast among humans. He checks off all boxes on the board.

When it comes to cultural impact, Nonini opened the doors for modern artistes to say whatever they want to say in their music. He spoke his mind while his rivals played it safe. Everyone else was politically correct.

Nonini is the only one who managed to extensively push boundaries and challenge social norms while still remaining likeable. No other performer had courage like him. He enjoyed incorporating bold, shocking and hilarious thoughts in his music, at a time when our society was still very conservative.

Nonini is also responsible for creating P-Unit, the most reliable group ever after Sauti Sol. That’s more than enough impact on the culture.

Nameless releases good songs but he doesn’t tick one important box which is ‘Impact on the culture.’ PHOTO | COURTESY

His hits are endless too. He gave us a buffet of songs, including collaborations with other artistes. All we have to do is pick which one fits our current mood. “We Kamu”, “Manzi Wa Nairobi”, “Keroro”, “Moyoni”, “Vile Tafanya”, “Kadhaa”, “Furahiday”, “Haunipati”, “Kataa Hiyo”. We can fill a book by just listing his bangers.

What about his work ethic? He became famous in 2002 yet he is still releasing good music up to this day. You don’t find that kind of longevity anywhere. Artistes who ruled the airwaves with him back in the day have faded into obscurity. He is still there.

Then there’s the ability to entertain. I remember how kids would cram his songs. When I was a kid, Young Nation used to post lyrics to various songs. We would cut out those sections and stick them in exercise books. Nonini was leading in the cut-outs. Woe unto you if a teacher confiscated your cut-out book.

THE GREATEST

You know you are entertaining when even kids are crazy about your music.

You could table an argument of how E-Sir is the greatest. You could say he could have become untouchable if fate had accorded him the chance to release more music.

Such isn’t an invalid argument. E-Sir wowed us all with his shrewdness and skill. He excelled at packing words brilliantly in his verses. He was also a master-storyteller. Before his untimely demise in early 2003, he was the face of the industry.

My counter-argument as to why E-Sir cannot be labelled the greatest is because he left us with only a preview of his talent, not the full clip.

We always think of how much better he could have been if he was around a little longer but we can’t know to what heights, can we? We can only speculate. The little music he blessed us with is timeless, but his catalogue was too brief.

Jua Kali is a hard worker but his style has never evolved. He plays it safe and keeps using the formula that worked for him over a decade ago. PHOTO | COURTESY

What about Jua Cali and Nameless?

Jua Cali shares a couple of attributes with Nonini, including the fact that they both hailed from Calif. I’ll deny him the crown because I don’t think he has natural talent. He is just a hard worker, something I respect nevertheless.

His music is redundant too. His style has never evolved. He plays it safe and keeps using the formula that worked for him over a decade ago.

Nonini changed from explicit music to mature music but he still kept on rocking. Take “We Kamu” and “Kataa Hiyo” for example. Those songs are so different yet equally entertaining.

What about Nameless? He doesn’t tick one important box which is ‘Impact on the culture.’ Ask someone what Nameless has done for Kenyan music and they won’t have an answer. He is just a guy capable of releasing good songs.

That leaves us with one clear winner – Nonini.