It is easy to imagine a rap battle. But a wedding song battle? Move over Kayamba Roots. Step up Steve Kay. To Kayamba Roots, nothing personal. Because as far as made-for-radio-and-dance-floor Kenyan wedding songs go, not even Jua Kali Band’s “My Dear’ can hold a candle to ‘Mbe Omukhasi’.
And to the all time Luhya hit song Mulongo, we’ve had good times at weddings and in busaa powered Mulembe Nights. We carry with us those lit moments of family fun. You made us dance as only Africans can. Those Sunday afternoon nyama choma plots- that we love so much for killing two birds with one stone: slamming hangovers and redeeming ourselves to the wife and kids- remain with us.
It’s been real.
On to the new-ish. Steve Kay broke new ground with ‘mbe omukhasi’ a love story that’s more than your average Kenyan wedding song. I dare say that ‘mbe omukhasi’ plays in the league of my bukusu darling and Eric Wainaina’s ‘daima‘. At least as far as its ability to vavoom the competition and lord over the collective social space. To understand this bold claim, we head first to the dance floor, late in the night in a typical Kenyan nightspot.
FINDING A SPOT FOR MBE OMUKHASI IN THE KENYAN REVELER EXPERIENCE
Every so often circa the ungodly hour of 0300 hrs, inebriated silly and having given up on adulting, we would request the Dj to have Kayamba Roots’s ‘mulongo’ on the replay. On lazy nights we often got our wish. On popular nights, times over, the Dj would ignore our request lest s/he upsets the track order of his Kenyan Music set. We will discuss more why this perchance for ‘mulongo’ later in this article. For now, lets talk a little bit more about the “Kenyan music” Dj set.
First, the music (the Kenyan music Dj set) comes on with absolutely no warning. You’d be there dancing to the groovy Bruno Mars, next thing: the unmistakable percussion of African music blasting through the speaker.
A Kenyan wedding song here; Kenyan Hip Hop somewhere, invariably a Kenyan gospel song too. Heck! Throw in folk circumcision song. It’s all good. Provided the songs are primarily in any of Kenya’s major ethnic languages in the ration 1:1:1:1 ad infitum. One Kamba song, a Luhya one, definitely a Luo song. Perhaps a Kalenjin song and so forth. It is at these moments when we scream loudest when the Dj auto-cues: “Kama imeshika sana, wapi nduru?”
Sounds of our fathers
The sound of instruments from our ancestors is one that we find hard to resist. As a consequence, as the Dj plays the Kenyan music set, the dance floor is invariably packed. There we are: hips gyrating, hands clasping, shaking shoulders and sweat dripping. Thanks to the drink and music, for those fleeting minutes we are all Kenyan. Merrily dancing to mugithi, kambeka and others in mockery of the divisions among us, brought on by frivolous representations of our ethnic diversity.
Over the recent past, the Luhya music spot in that charade we just described belonged to ‘mulongo‘, ‘my dear or Rev. Joseph Shisia Wasira’s hit ‘omundu omulosi‘. Of the three, the former is the more popular one. This popularity of ‘Mulongo’ stems from a special quality. An acclaim that ‘Mbe omukhasi’ now threatens to own.
MULONGO: THE ULTIMATE KENYAN WEDDING SONG
What ‘Mulongo’ used to be to us, ‘Mbe Omukhasi’ promises to be. And better. Granted that in a live performance, ‘Mulongo’ remains the quintessential Kenyan wedding song. The Kayamba Roots hit allows us to Mugithi train to Luhya music. In doing so, ‘Mulongo’ allows us to temporarily abandon our tribal buffoonery as it bridges eastern and western Kenyan cultures using music and dance.
‘Mulongo’ is a luhya song commonly danced in a style -Mugithi train- rooted among the communities from eastern/central Kenya. In a cosmopolitan setting such as a wedding, it was the perfect song to get everyone mingling in dance.
ENTER MBE OMUKHASI – THE NEW ULTIMATE KENYAN WEDDING SONG?
What follows is the anatomy of the perfect crossover hit. First, ‘mbe omukhasi’ adopts a technique common among hip hop artists who pay homage to their hoods and hoomies through name dropping. Secondly, Steve Kay infuses humor and clever word pun play as a bridge between the different worlds.
Just like what marriages have been known to achieve, It’s clear that this – a bridge across real or imagined divisions – is what Steve Kay reaches for with ‘mbe omukhasi’. The effort is clear even in the mundanities such as its You Tube description. ‘Mbe omukhasi’s description embraces the song’s intrinsic qualities that make it the crossover hit that introduced Steve Kay to the world. I quote:
Mbe omukhasi loosely translated to mean – give me my wife – is a luhya wedding song packaged as a new luhya pop genre of music that fuses traditional Luhya style with modern popular genres.
end of quote.
I find the description, first, typically Kenyan and secondly extremely modest. Typically Kenyan because of its claim of yet another genre of Kenyan music: Luhya pop music; thereby courting controversy as only a Kenyan could and muddy the already arduous quest to define Kenyan music.
Modest because its simple lyrics, Swahili use, nostalgic African melody, irresistible rich harmony and dance friendly rhythm mean that Steve Kay’s ‘mbe omukhasi’ surely shakes up the Kenyan wedding music scene. In fact, despite ‘mbe omukhasi’ being your typical girl meets boy song, even artists who operate outside this space need also be worried.
The Mbe Omukhasi Video Breaks New Ground For Luhya Music
Mbe omukhasi’s video is cleverly done, therefore widening the song’s mass appeal. The effect of producing such an awesome HD quality video, in spite of the obvious temptation to go for the substandard is two fold.
First, it backs the songs legitimacy to quality above the regular. This is lofty aim is achieved through appealing visuals made possible by: a sizeable budget that bestowed access to multiple locations; use of drone in filming for killer angles; a talented cast; thoughtful costumes and surgeon like editing skills. What such fidelity to the process does is that it elevates the song from the company of those chalky VCD music videos that one imbibes as they sip local brew in the village.
Secondly, even with this ‘all out’ attitude, the director still clings onto scenes reminiscent of any other pop music video. Like the sweeping shots of the beach and indoor shots of all white majestic mansion (another African pop video favorite). This dose of familiarity is what enables ‘mbe omukhasi’ to crossover from being a wedding song appropriate for a family audience to a club banger at home with the naughtier after hours.
Mbe Omukhasi Introduces Us To Bungomawood
Moreover, this six minute plus feature has never seen before aerial shots of Bungoma real estate. It also lets us in on surrounding natural features such as the majestic waterfalls on river Nzoia in Webuye. As an ode to it’s vernacular roots, the Mbe Omukhasi video allocates huge minutes to believable scenes of a traditional Bukusu homestead, complete with appropriate makeup, costumes and round thatched huts.
Hats off to the director who expertly manages transitions pulling off what I thought only Nollywood could. The director is Bungoma based film producer Dennis Machio. Machio effortlessly layers traditional African life, modern rural Africa and contemporary urban Africa lifestyles to recreate the experience of the 21st century African.
What Machio did with the visuals plays on the heart. It endures ‘Mbe omukhasi’ to its audience as it makes the viewer to readily identify with the story lines in the video. We, those of that generation of Africans lucky to be in touch with our roots whilst still experiencing life in the 21st century. We are the generation of Africans who for instance, would gladly pay bride price, and still opt for a garden wedding.
Steve Kay became popular by way of releasing more serious music. I’m reminded of hits like ‘Bayuda’, a song on slavery in among the Bukusu. There is also ‘Wambumuli’ which is laments about a village Casanova. With this composition, the lad from Bumula might have set to go after the thrones of pop icons like Diamond and Ali Kiba. My submission is that he’s ended up with something more encompassing. A quintessentially Kenyan wedding song. A club banger. A cultural icon fronting harmony in diversity. A love song and a short film depicting courting and marriage traditions of 21st century Africa.
CREDITS
We put these talented guys out here because they deserve the spotlight. Kudos to the team, without doubt ‘mbe omukhasi’ is a seminal moment for luhya music, and you were part of that!
- The audio was produced by celebrated producer Dominic Khaemba of Ageless Studio Nairobi while the video was directed, filmed and edited by Bungoma’s renown film maker Dennis Machio.
- Special thanks to all who participated in making this video a success including the model bride Shila Nafula , Sheila Muhonja , Mercy Simiyu , Marylin Tindi, Mzee Retired ” Moi”, Mama Africa, David Toywa, Fidel and all others.
- Wedding outfit provided by Mercy Charity – Bungoma
- African attire provided by Mama Africa – Bungoma
- Make up by Mercy Charity
- Wedding venue and decor by Bungoma Sports Club
- Posters and graphics by Samuel Mabonga
- Video production by Michezo Afrika Media
