Norway-based Kenyan music collective Matata of Freddy Milanya, Festus Mwenda, Richie Mathu, Marcus Ojiambo, and Ken Kimathi has been on a steady rise since 2019, when they burst onto the scene with their breakout single ‘Denge’.
Known for their electrifying blend of music and dance, Matata’s sound a vibrant mix of Sheng and Swahili rap infused with elements of Kenyan street culture, has earned them a loyal following both at home and abroad.
This year, the group made headlines once again, not for their viral choreography or catchy hooks, but for a copyright dispute surrounding their hit ‘Mpishi’ featuring Bien-Aimé. Yet, it has also been a year of transition as one of their members parted ways with the collective.
Music and dance group Matata entertain revellers at Super Morio Experience at TRM on December 30, 2022.
Photo credit: Thomas Rajula | Nation Media Group
No. Ken is still very much part of Matata. He is just taking a short sabbatical for personal reasons. The way we’ve structured Matata is that it’s not just a group, it is a company. So even when one of us steps back, the engine keeps running. What people see on stage is only one side (the artistic side), but behind it, Matata operates as a full-fledged business where each of us holds a stake.
We met as students in Norway. I was studying media, Ken and Festus were both in dance and theatre, Marcus was doing environmental studies before dropping out midway, and Richie too. We started off as a dance crew then evolved into making music.
Before fate brought us together in Norway, we already knew each other. We were all part of Kenya’s vibrant dance scene members of the FBI and Titans dance crews that competed in the Sakata Dance Competition. In fact, Freddy was part of the FBI crew that won the show’s second edition in 2011, taking home the Sh1 million prize.
When we won that million, we had to go into hiding. The estate goons were after us. Remember, we were just young adults from the hood, and that was a lot of money back then…still is. Plus, Sakata was one of the most-watched shows in the country. It actually took us six months before we received that payout, but everyone thought we had that money all the time.
We faced real challenges trying to make Kenyan music while in Norway. I remember one studio session where we pooled together 20,000 Norwegian kroner (Sh254,000) to record at one of the most expensive studios in Oslo. We assumed that the higher the price, the better the quality. But when the Norwegian producer sent us the final track, we knew we had wasted our money.
The sound was completely off. The team was mad at me because it had been my idea to go there. That experience taught us if we wanted to make music that truly resonated with Kenyans, we needed to work with at least African producers who understood our sound and cultural rhythm.
