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| Poxy Presha |
By Mkikuyu Mjaka
Ever walked into a club and suddenly the music goes off ?Thats exactly what happens when musicians die.We grieve them for life much as we have their music to listen to but will never get the opportunity to hear from them again.
Taking you back to the rise of Kenyan
Showbiz and it’s pioneer artistes, some of whom have since departed ,a few of
whom have also quit music for other ventures and others still going strong in
the lucrative world of performance. Today we take a good look at these three
legendary artistes .Much about them is already on the public domain though
there might be a section of their life story either masked or erased from the
public eye. ...... I have hardly taken two spoons of my usual
chapo mandondo ,as you all know this combination is my favorite , not because am
a struggling Kenyan but because my money ends there .Ten these two noisy guys decide to join my table. I expect them to be
chanting either football of politics but hell no. They are discussing something very interesting. On their way to my usual small restaurant seems
like they must have bumped on an old hit song , probably
of a legendary Kenyan musician. The names Poxy Presha, Wicky Mosh and Mighty
Kingkong keep making rounds in their series of chants and so I get more and
more interested.The mention of the songs Otonglo Time, Atoti and Unbwogable
makes me attracted to the story even more.This time I choose not to contribute
but ask questions after the other.I realize much as am very farmiliar with the
three fallen heroes,I still miss a part of their lives.They then begin to tell it all after promising to spoil them
with one more chapatti each.I’d rather kasirisha the nduthi guy and walk home
than miss out on this important information. Story begins as the one time famous hit song “Atoti “ is
playing from one of the electronic shops just adjascent to our micro-
intercontinental stop over .This time am keen enough.
´Poxy Presha was a South Nyanza born and
raised though he began his music career in Nairobi.He was buried at a place
known as Nyabisawa .I remember very well how the Music Copyright Society Of Kenya (MCSK)
raided major music shops and Computer rooms at his backyard soon after his burial. That day
anyone found to have vilated the copyrigtht law or whatever the lawyers call
it,was charged a fine of ksh 20,000.I think I was one of the business people
who were involved with the computer services business. Back then we used to burn
music CDs and do a lot of typesetting
leave alone these days when movies and betting have shed more light to
the business.The operation was one of a lifetime I swear.
For once I thought it was a noble idea ,I
mean musicians need to earn from their works but then again on the other end I
felt like it was a plot to cover up on Poxy Presha’s death.We had all the
rights to mourn our fallen son Poxy but MCSK
chose to inflict more pain into our
wounds.
During the last moments of his life
and career he strongly advocated for the
rights of Musicians however few
,especially on the side of royalties and falling victims of bad promoters and
managers .Poxy Presha died penniless
despite the amount of effort he put on his works.His music were on
immense rotation on Kenyan radio stations until the unexpected happened .He
would then fall out with his promoter
over the a few vital issues he advocated for some of which were strongly spelt out in
the lyrics of some of his songs. A scenario which saw poxy fall from the top
all the way back to the bottom.His music was withdrawn from all mainstream media
ensuring that he had meager royalties to take home besides being blacklisted
from major shows. Other than just having a feeling that someone took advantage
of his desperate situation before his last breath ,as a person I have a feeling
his promotional team back then may have known the cause of his death even if they did not participate directly .Lemmie
not call it murder since it’s not confirmed yet. This is something that has
since left us with many unanswered questions as to weather someone really had a
hand in his death or did Poxy Presha just die a natural death after things went
from bad to worse for him. I am not making accusations or rather insinuating and we are not going to mention names here. We
lost a star indeed .His contributions into the freedom our performing and
recording artistes enjoy today will forever be remembered. Poxy Presha might
have died poor but a here for sure. I remember also how he was vocal about the
very bad promoters who had a tendency of eating up artiste’s moneys up to 99%
leaving the musicians to take less than 1%.So sad.”
Then comes a sudden silence with a worrying
facial expression from both. Maybe I had
not met my end of the bargain. Their mandondo plates were begging for more
chapatis and I have to act fast for me to get the second part of the story. Here
we go again, this time with the second jamaa who decided to talk with food in
his mouth but I had to persevere.
“I got to know Wickie Mosh after he did the song Atoti .It was a major hit
.After some time Wickie Mosh teamed up with the Unbwogables on Atoti Remix
which became another big hit.I think I can compare Atoti to Bank Otuch by
Vicmass Luodollar .Both the original and Remix were just awesome.
I cannot tell where or when rain began to
beat the three but word in the streets had it that Wickie Mosh and the
Unbwogables fell out.Reason being ,Wickie Mosh must have felt played since he
never received much out of the sold out Atoti Re mix.According to Wickie Mosh
back then,he felt betrayed after purported revenue he received from the remix
seemed not to have been commensurate with the reception the remix got.This
caused a tag of war between Wicky Mosh and the Unbwogables.Soon after their
fallout Wickie Mosh decided to go his own way, performing at his own shows single
handedly and doing parallel business same way he began. He is said to have
performed last in Mombasa before meeting his untimely death in a Nairobi road
accident.Wicky Mosh, was returning home from the Chaguo La Teeniz awards ceremony at the Carnivore in Nairobi when he was hit by a bus near the Roysambu roundabout in Thika Road.He struggled for his life at Kenyatta National Hospital.
... Questions as to whether Wicky Mosh died a natural death only God
Knows.Did his death come from the hands of man? No one knows . It was however
sad to note that the two Unbwogables
never attended Wicky Mosh funeral. Why would they skip such an important life
event of a colleague and brother even if they had disagreed on certain issues.
It wasn’t going to coast them anything if they decided to. Anyway lemmie not
blame the Unbwogables much because I do not understand the intensity of what
broke them apart.About why the duo quit music only them can tell. We are happy
they are both doing well on radio as we speak.”
All food has been eaten up and so we have
to get up to leave room for other customers to enjoy their meals in the
one-bench kibanda .The two are beginning to get uneasy with my too many
questions making them very uncomfortable. I still insist I want to hear
something about Mighty Kingkong even if it means buying another round of paper
bag drinking water. Luckily for me it only costs ksh5.Meaning I have to part
with another ksh15 .All in all the story has to continue so we take a short stroll
together.
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| KingKong |
“One other
musician Kenyans regreted losing was Mighty Kingkong”, I begin .Then
they pick up jointly this time with a lot of destruction from the busy streets.
“ He not only did good music bt also played
a major role in trying to unite artistes at all times and most vividly during
the funeral of Wicky Mosh.I remember during that time other Royalmedia stations had not been born.
Citizen radio was always one step ahead of all other stations .Reminds me of
papa Nasty back then, how he put Mighty Kingkong to task in ensuring such
differences especially the one which occered between Wicky Mosh and Unbwogables
were not to occur again.I 2007 after performing live at the ODM Pentagon rally
which went down at the Nyayo Stadium,Kenyans were again slapped by the sad news
that Mighty Kingkong was no more.King Kong passed on a Tuesday at 5.50pm while undergoing treatment at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi. Sources close to the artiste clearly
confirmed that the artiste was not ill and neither did he have a serious
medical condition prior to his performance. I remember very well the pentagon
team promised him a job in the Persons With Disability docket if the coalition
was to win the elections.His demise has up to date left Kenyans asking very
many questions .Was he Killed ? If yes,who did it and why ? or did he just die
a honorable death ?. “
They sign out and we take different routes.
Am struggling with my conscience on how cruel the industry has been for some of
our fallen heroes, leave alone Wicky Mosh,Poxy Presha and Kingkong but also the
likes of E-Sir who succumbed to a grisly road accident after leaving a Nakuru
Concert. Thank God his colleague Nameless came out of it alive and lives to
tell the sad story ever since then.Angela Chibalonza’s story is another long
one ,lets end it at that
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| E-Sir |
.My question is ,did our Superstars have to die young ? Why ? Wasanii mkae rada .
send us your comments and reactions to
bonyezastar@gmail.com
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