Kalamashaka — meeting my heroes
This quarantine will make you dig deep. May you have depth worth digging. Because who wants to be shallow? I have been thinking about how interconnected things are. I have been walking down memory lane and connecting the dots of all the random yet connected things that I have witnessed and experienced in my many years of life.
I recently saw that adage about never meeting your heroes and It took me 13yrs back. Way back to 2007. I was 20 something years old and had a fire burning hotter than lava deep inside me. I was gonna make it in this life. I had against all odds clawed my way into the boardroom of one of Kenya’s original blue-chip corporate entities. A $500M plus brewery company that is known and respected as one of East Africa’s biggest companies. I was sitting in meetings dishing advice to seasoned marketing managers at the top of their field.
I was selling a concept of a four-city tour as a commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Kenya’s first true nationwide hit song by a ragtag group of Hip-Hop pioneers. My idea was found worthy of exploring. If things worked out, a huge payday awaited me and my heroes who by this time had spent a decade floundering to the bottomless pits where stars get forgotten. I wanted to get them and myself one big score, something only reminiscent to Jerry McGuire. But first I had to get them my heroes Kalamashaka on board.
Kalamashaka (Kshaka) is/was a hip-hop group formed in the mid-90s by the trio friends of Robert Mtumbani (Roba), Paul Ngige (Kama), and John Vigeti (Johnny). The trio emerged from the neighborhood of Dandora with hit song Tafsiri (translate). The song connected with the masses, especially the resounding message of hope that most Kenyans would relate to. “Ingawa tuko chini bado tuna tumaini” (Even though we are down we have hope). This was their biggest hit ever. One that would transform if not elevate the music scene to a different level and in turn catapulted the trio to national stardom.
So, I had not talked to Kshaka yet regarding my plans with the company. I had mapped it out in my head that this would be the easiest thing to do. I made my way to Dandora and over several days met with the group’s members differently. I was too naïve to not realize these separate meetings were beyond odd. Somehow the group and I agreed that they would perform at a British Council event titled WAPI. They would perform three of their biggest hits and I was sure the crowd would respond positively. I made sure to invite the top marketing executives of the beer company to join me in watching the performance. Though the brewery had agreed to the tour concept in principle, nothing had been signed yet and I hoped this show would seal the deal for all of us.
On the day of the show. My then-girlfriend and I drove down to Dandora. Weaving through the potholes, open sewers, and endless landscapes filled with trash to the rendezvous point. Where we were to meet and pick up my heroes and make our way together to the British Council. Two of the three members were ready but not talking to each other. Apparently, unknown to me, it was the first time getting them together. The two had not been on speaking terms for years. The third member was nowhere to be seen and he didn’t have a cell phone and we wondered how we could even locate him.
As the clock was ticking, and I was getting nervous. We drove out to the third member’s house and found him. I can hardly recall the conversation we had or the reason for him not showing up. All I know is that somehow, we miraculously managed to bundle all the members up in the car. This is after they had insisted I pay them for the performance. Something that had not come up in all my previous meetings with them. They were moot about this, until the last second. But anyway, they agreed to tag along and perform.
When we got to the British Council, the corporate executives were pregnant with anticipation and the crowd ruptured in cheers when the group was announced as next performers. Unbeknownst to me since I was sitting up in the balcony with the executives. Down at the backstage the three members had gotten into another altercation and one of them had refused to go on stage. The other two were now so high they forgot the lyrics to their biggest songs! Murphy’s law had set itself in motion and there is nothing I could do.
To say it was a baptism by fire was an understatement. To say meeting my heroes was a total burst is not doing justice to the meltdown I experienced that afternoon. I survived that setback and still went ahead to work with the brewery on other concepts. My heroes on the other hand, had successfully worked their way out of a Ksh 7 million payday. There’s gotta be connected dots somewhere in this story however scattered it seems. 13 years later and I still wonder what could have been.
May you have depth worth digging. Because who wants to be shallow?
This piece was written to educate and inspire all those aspiring for greatness, to take and treat each and every opportunity they get like its was their last breath. Always show up, always give your best, always respect your art form and stay hungry. Sometimes, you only get one shot…will you take it, or let it slip?
© Untitled’s Cut
