By Ogova Ondego
Published February 1, 2021
The pub is bursting at the seams with euphoric and ecstatic revelers dancing the night away on this Friday evening. The songs they are dancing to–Mirigo Thi (Offload the burdens), Mugithi (Mixed Train), Ningumenyerera Nguo ya Uhiki (I shall take care of your wedding dress), and Jesus is a winner–are Christian and you could easily mistake the dancers for worshipers at a night prayer vigil popularly known in Kiswahili as kesha.Â
But, hey; these are no praise and worship faithful and they are not ‘tarrying for the Lord’.
This is a ‘one-man guitar’ performance in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi at the turn of the 20th century. He is substituting obscenities for original Christian lyrics and sending drunken revelers into bouts of blissful excitement as church leaders and conventional music band leaders go into fits of anger. And the one-man-guitar sings not just Christian but also any hit or popular requested by the patrons. However, most of the songs requested are likely to be in Gikuyu, the language of the aGikuyu people who live around Mount Kenya and Nairobi.
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Yes, the single-man guitar phenomenon that came to the fore in 1990, is nine years later causing concern among established composers and singers who accuse them not only of spoiling their songs but also of robbing them of their livelihood in clubs in Nairobi and its environs.
One particularly concerned musician is Sammy Muraya who laments that all the one-guitar man needs to perform to an audience is a box guitar and a pick-up cable to connect the guitar to a disco system and make ‘easy money’ as he watches helplessly.
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“While I cannot accept to perform for less than Sh40 000 per night, these fellows readily take Sh3 000 and go on to play our songs; but after making them dirty to the delight of drunks,” he laments.
Muraya tells me that clubs like Hillock that are popular for live music and that have been paying musicians Sh35 000 for a night’s performance in the not-so-distant no longer pay more than Sh10 000 since the emergence of the one-guitar man performers.
Saying that someone who calls himself Sammy Muraya pulls bigger crowds in Thika than he himself and claims to be promoting him, Muraya says it is unfair for him to compose songs only for someone else to spoil them while making more money than he himself.
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“People no longer buy our music, preferring to listen ‘to the real thing’ in clubs,” Muraya says, blaming patrons for liking dirty lyrics and owners of entertainment spots for letting one-guitar man spoil their songs to satisfy their ‘mentally-skewed’ revelers.
Almost showing frustration, Muraya says in the past local musicians fought their Congolese counterparts who spoilt business for them by accepting little money before piracy took over from where they stopped.
“The one-man guitar performer has has replaced music pirates to drive us further into poverty,” Muraya says.
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Musicians Michael Lumumba, Berry Guya and Stephen Sakwa concur.
Charles Martin Nyamburu of Nabongo Success Band laments that the single-man guitar is stifling music creativity, opining that such people should be arrested and charged with spoiling other people’s songs.
Musician John Nzenze, however, disagrees.
“Music is music whether played by a band of an individual as the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) collects royalty from the clubs where the music is performed to be forwarded to the owners of the songs performed”
Music by fewer people, Nzenze contends, is clearer than that performed by a band which tends to be noisier.
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Sammie Macharia, the Administrator-General of MCSK defends the single-guitar man saying he commits no offense even if he twists other people’s lyrics so long as he does not record it as his own.
“If they record and offer for sale what they twist,” he says, “they could be arrested and prosecuted.”
He says the single-guitar man is playing a good role as he has edged out Congolese musicians who live in Kenya illegally and are based in local clubs at the expense of local musicians.
Macharia blames club patrons who listen to ‘dirty’ lyrics by the single-guitar man and thus tempting and encouraging him to sing obscenities.
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Owners of entertainment spots with single-guitar man performers—Shade Hotel in Karen, Impala Club in Parklands, Hodi Hodi Club in Maringo, Dave Corner Club in Limuru—contend that single guitar man is not only younger, cheaper and knows how to entertain patrons better but can also perform the whole night non-stop.
They argue that at Sh3 000 – Sh4 000 they pay the one-man guitar more than he would receive if he were to be performing in a band where a musician is paid Sh500. They say they are willing to work with live bands but only if the bands will swallow their pride and accept lower pay.
“What is the use of paying a band Sh40 000 when I can get the same—if not better—entertainment at a tenth of that?” a club manager posed.
Machangi Wachira who plays at Club Corner says “Most of us single-man guitar performers were originally in bands before venturing out on our own because of frustrations from leaders of those band.”
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He says unlike ‘stars’ who are used to more money and will not take anything less than Sh30 000 Single-Man Guitar artist takes Sh5 000 per night.
“Musicians who are complaining about us are doing so out of jealousy.
Talk of conventional taxi operators complaining that Tuk Tuk taxis should be pulled off the road!” he remarks.
He says his being a single-guitar man does not mean he cannot play other instruments.
In fact we are more creative than bands as we produce better music using fewer instruments.”
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Simon Gichingo, a one-man guitar artist who performs at Impala Club says owners of clubs with limited space prefer single-man guitar artists to bands because of their limited financial resources and performance space.
“As we are everything in our performance, there are no wrangles like those found in bands. Instead of musicians complaining about us , they should be grateful we are promoting their work,” he says.
“Wazee wakiwa wamekunywa na kulewa, huwa wanauliza kuchezewa Irua (circumcision songs) na nyimbo za Mau Mau (Mau Mau freedom songs),” he says. “This usually happens after midnight.”
Hodi Hodi Club-based Justus Mwendwa says he performs Kamba hits in ‘ancient Kikamba’.
Mwendwa says he was originally with Queen Jane (Jane Nyambura)’s Les Les Band.
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Margaret Nyambura, who says she did not grow up listening to ‘obscene’ lyrics, she performs to people’s tastes and requests but that she does not perform dirty music unless children have left entertainment joints
She nevertheless admits that when she performs dirty songs she is handsomely rewarded by the audience.
Jonathan Gikonyo Kamau of Swamp Village’s Frosta Soul Club boasts that single-man guitar performers are better than original song composers and performers of the songs they are being accused of spoiling.
“Tunapendwa zaidi kuliko wenye nyimbo na ndiyo sababu wana tuchukia,” he says, giving credence to Sammy Muraya’s sentiments that Kiarie wa Milka, the man at Thika’s Vibestar who, claims to be promoting him.
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Arguing that the One-Man Guitar performer is an offshoot of the Congolese ndombolo craze, guitarist Mark Kamande wa Kioi says that such people do not promote anything positive in society other than obscenity and sexual immorality.
Like Muraya, Akorino artist Hezeh Ndung’u laments that he is misrepresented by what he terms ‘immoral people’ out to besmirch his name.
Lincoln Mwaniki Kariuki, an official of the yet-to-be-registered Performers Rights Society of Kenya (PRSKE), contends that single-man guitar performers can do whatever they wish so long as ” do not twist other people’s songs and make it unpopular among self-respecting citizens.”
Oh, this article, written in 1999, is published to cast light on the one-man guitar, a genre plied by Mighty Salim (Timothy Njuguna) whose remains shall be laid to rest in Subukia on February 2, 2021. He died on January 24, 2021. Mighty Salim was among the pioneers of the one-man guitar alongside the likes of Sam Muthee, Kafel Maina, Joe Mwenda, ‘The Retired General’ Kimama, Mike Rua, JB Maina, Mike Murimi, Salim Junior and Kinyua Wamsoni.