Nameless, the East African music Superstar who will be giving Kenya-Stockholmers and other fans alike, a run for their money tomorrow at Redline disco, is an accomplished musician who needs no introduction in the world of music. His real name is David Mathenge and he is known as a down to earth artist whose niche is “Genge Music”.
- Nameless
Born in August 1976, Nameless’ long match to stardom begins in 1999 when leading Kenyan Radio station 98.4 Capital FM staged a “Star search” contest profiling “Urban music” which was easily scooped by Nameless through his “Megarider” composition.
After he captured attention at the contest, he was signed by the popular producer, Tedd Josiah, who recorded Megarider which proceeded to become an immediate hit in Kenya. The song tells the story of a poor young Kenyan who is in love with a girl whose lifestyle is far beyond the reach of her admirer who can only afford a Kenya Bus ride in Nairobi.
In 2001, Nameless signed with the label, “Ogopa DJ’s” and this deal opened the way for him to link up and work with other artists like the late E-Sir who was also emerging as one of the most serious artists in Kenya. E-Sir died in a road crash in Kenya, a sudden death that robbed the country of talented and ambitious young musician.
Although his Stockholm show will be the first here, Nameless has performed in many countries and regions including East Africa, United States, United Kingdom and several European countries. His debut album, which was released in 2004, is called “On Fire”. When the album was released, it underlined the artist’s position in the world of Music and for many Kenyans who had been following his development, a star had been born.
During the same year when the album was released, Nameless married Wahu Kagwe, herself an Artist and authority in the music industry by virtue of having been in the engine room of Ogopa DJ’s, one of the biggest music formations in Kenya at that time. In 2006, the couple was blessed with a daughter thereby converting Nameless into a father. Wahu had been Nameless’ long standing sweat heart and it was not total surprise to those who were in the know that they eventually tied the knot!
Among some of his hottest numbers are “Boomba Train” and “Ninanoki”, the latter having dominated the Kenyan music charts for 110 days when it was number one thereby breaking the record on the charts. Other well known songs in his collection of compositions include; Deadly, Mambo Sina, Najidai, On Fire, Mannerless, Majitu, Sunshine and Obama O. In 2006, his hit single, Sinzia, earned him a nomination for the best MTV African Artist thereby registering his name as an Artist to reckon with in the East African region.
It will be a pleasure listening to Nameless performing some or all of these songs live. It promises to be a memorable occasion in Kenya-Stockholm which has not been treated to a Kenyan artist of his caliber for a long time.
Nameless is not just a musician. He is an educated Kenyan who graduated at Nairobi University. He is an Architect by profession, Genge musician by genre and family man to boot. In 2007, he was picked up by the East African Standard Newspaper who named him as one of the top 100 “most influential Kenyans” in a controversial list that sparked hot debate in Kenya.
Apart from the profiles already mentioned, Nameless scooped the Kisima Music Awards in 2004 for the best Boomba Pop Artist while in 2006, he scooped Kisima Music Awards for the best Male Artist, Best Afro Fusion and Best Music Video which featured Sinzia, a sensation by any reasonable measurement .
That was not the end. In 2007, the Artist scooped the Kilimanjaro Music Awards in Tanzania for the Best East African Single (Sinzia) while in the same year, he bagged the Channel O Music Video Awards for the Best Video which also featured Sinzia. Still on the scoops, this year, he took home the trophy for the Best East African Single at the Tanzanian Music Awards with his song “Salari”.
For this reason, it will be “a big shortage” of fun if he fails to play both Sinzia and Salari to the galaxy of fans who have been charging for the last few weeks soon after news broke out in Stockholm that Nameless would be in town. KSB takes this opportunity to congratulate Sound of Blackness for having wired up this great black son of Africa to come to Stockholm to show his fans “Live” how he does his stuff.
The evening promises endless and uninterrupted reveling at the Redline Disco in Sätra with the real action kicking off at midnight. As a bonus, Midi, Freezing Point and Vqee, music groups will be curtain raising making the evening “packed with action” and registering it as a “no miss date” with “Sista fantime”, both in Kenya Stockholm and beyond.
Okoth Osewe
About the Author
