Wakimbizi

Featured Group: - Wakimbizi                    Country: - Kenya                                  After two years of trying, Wakimbizi only emerged recently, a year after Bedrock Studios unleashed ‘Hallo Hallo’. Today, the trio has accomplished a feat that most musicians take a lifetime to achieve. And they are finding it hard to believe. "This is unbelievable. I don’t know what to say," says 22-year-old Andre, unsuccessfully restraining a smile. His partner Henry, also 22, sees this as a chance of a lifetime. "It’s not everyday people get their song voted Song of The Year," he says. The trio is glad that the public recognises talent. They began recording their music two years ago but radio stations shunned most of their songs. "In 2002, we released six singles — ‘Fire’, ‘Mashore’, ‘Dondosa’, ‘Sugar Mummy’, ‘Ndani ya Fani’ and ‘Honey’ — which did not receive much airplay. ‘Honey’ hit the number two slot on Capital FM charts but the rest were easily forgotten," says Henry. Interestingly, the Song of the Year, ‘Hallo Hallo’, was not an instant hit. Mariko says that they gave copies to FM stations last year but it began playing early this year, when they presented it to DJ Pinye who in turn handed it over to KISS and Capital. Now that they are the best hip-hop group their leader, Mariko, 23, is lost for words. He just stares blissfully at the skyline. Henry recalls that when they started singing they could not figure out a stage name. After juggling with several, they decided to use Wakimbizi, Kiswahili for refugees. Why did they choose a name like that? "We came up with different names but felt they were not good enough to match our image. We decided to do something different from what other Kenyan artistes have done — to run away from the normal Kenyan one beat, one style," explains Andre. "Lyrics may be ‘bad’ but it all depends on how you relay the message," explains Andre Mariko and Henry are brothers, while Andre is a friend to whom they have been bound by their love for music. "Music has been part of our lives," says Mariko. The brothers began singing as members of a church choir in Uganda, during their school days at Bumwangu Primary in 1994. They later joined Kakamega High, where they completed their studies in 1998. The brothers met DJ Stone in 2000, and were joined by Andre, last year. ‘Hallo Hallo’ has become a favourite tune among all the age groups and now they are astounded by the direction their career has taken. "We are amazed by the way ‘Hallo Hallo’ has appealed to Kenyans," says Henry with gratitude. The song is based on a personal experience which DJ Stone had while working at a local radio station. "There was this lady who kept calling me each time I was at the studio and at one point I decided to ask her out on a date. We agreed to meet at Kenya Cinema. While she waited, I sent a friend who pretended to be me, just to check her out. To my surprise she turned out to be a grandmother and when I was informed of that I decided to disappear completely," says Stone. For their success, the trio pays tribute to God, their producer Jessy Bukindu and executive producer DJ Stone. Mariko who was a milk agent and Henry who was a waiter at Parklands, have now quit their jobs to venture into music as a full time career. Andre recently cleared college in Mombasa.