Every grey cloud has a silver lining that brings hope, and that is what gospel singer Audiphaxed Omwaka, or Guardian Angel, is now celebrating with the release of his new album, “Victory”.
The album, he says, is a coronation of many things, the triumphs of his music career and life in general.
The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted many lives, including those in the creative industry.
“This is my second album and my inspiration was to give people hope especially with what they have gone through during this Covid-19 season,” Guardian Angel said.
“We all feared for our lives, so I wanted to create something to express gratitude to God that we are still surviving.”
“Victory”, one of the songs on the album, is a collaboration with fellow gospel singer Moji Short Baba. It speaks about victory with God, that if you trust in God, you are guaranteed to win.
He also collaborates on other songs with artistes like Solomon Mkubwa (DRC) and Goodluck Gozbert (Tanzania).
His journey to music stardom has not been a smooth sail. An only child growing up in the Kibera slums, life was hard for him and his mother.
He once ran away from home and lived on the streets for almost a year. He was arrested by police and taken to an approved school for one month. He was later released to the care of his mother and continued his education.
His breakthrough in the industry is a well-known story. Although he claims he has been around for a long time, his talents were noticed in 2017 with his rendition of the song “Nadeka”, which became a megahit.
“Before Deka, I was mostly in the background and I have been in this industry for more than 10 years. And by the time I released ‘Nadeka’ I had been in the industry for seven years. Before that, I was just doing what every artiste did before becoming popular, struggling behind the scenes, paying the price,” Guardian Angel explained.
An artiste faces many challenges when trying to find their footing in the industry. The biggest of them are finances and getting to know how systems are wired.
“We are taken to school and taught how to become a doctor, engineer, lawyer. Schools never used to focus on what a child really wants to be, especially if it is a career in the arts,” he said.
“If I want to be a musician, I am not nurtured from a young age into being able to understand how I can earn a living from music.”
For the longest time, he says, music was usually perceived as a hobby. This becomes a challenge for many artistes, who end up becoming broke because they can’t convert music and fame to money.
“Being an artiste is not just all about going to the studio and producing music there is a lot more to it. This is the reason most artistes do not know how to package themselves,” he said.
“One day you record a song and it becomes a hit and some money starts flowing in, your name starts getting popular, you start getting the attention of girls, all this can make an artiste end up confused.”
Not knowing how to handle the money coming in and the fame, he says, the artiste ends up living “an extravagant life”. “At the end, you end up losing everything. The girls go away when you have no more money and your career is done,” he said
His own experience could be seen to follow the same script. In 2017, when he was among the top rising gospel artistes in Kenya, he went through an emotional breakdown. Everyone was talking about him, radio stations were playing his song, but he was still broke and unable to make any money.
“I had not yet understood how to make money from my music. I had not yet understood what it means to be a brand, what it means to be able to make money without having to sing. This is the season I went through,” he remarked.
Gospel singer Guardian Angel (right) and Esther Musila.
Photo credit: Pool
But he says he is now in a better place with his career, regardless of the current drama rocking the gospel industry.
“It is wrong to say we have a gospel industry, because we do not have it. What we have is gospel musicians and gospel ministers. What qualifies it to be called an industry?” he said.
But music is not the only thing that has Guardian Angel making headlines. Last year he became the talk of the town when he made it public that he is dating Esther Musila, who happens to be 20 years his senior.
The news provoked mixed emotions, with Kenyans online mostly expressing animosity and noting the age difference between the couple.
“The whole experience taught me that it is important to put yourself first. Anyone who follows me on social media is recognised as a fan and they can either decide to follow me or unfollow. And I made a decision that no one was going to tell me what to do with my life,” Guardian Angel said.
The misconception people have about him, he says, is that they think his relationship with Esther is about money.
“People would always see what they want to see. But if they would look closely they would see a huge difference in the person I was before and after she entered my life, and the difference is for the better. I have been with her for three years now and if we were faking it, then we would have broken up by now,” he.
Musila, for her part, explains that she does not regret anything. But she has had to pay a price.
“I lost friends, people whom I had known for years, and for me I actually felt sorry for them because I thought they meant well for me but it seems our friendship was not all that meaningful to them,” she said.
“But their rejection has helped me because I have now realised the kind of people they really are. And I am that kind of person who when I welcome you to my circle I expect you to be loyal, because I am loyal, but I am now fine, as long as I have him, my children and my family.”
Guardian Angel challenged her to start living according to her own terms, and that, she says, was all the assurance she needed.
“In the beginning it was tough, like what Guardian said people accused him of being after my money. I was accused of wasting his time since he will not be able to have kids with me,” she said.
She offers that she never would have imagined finding herself where she is right now, and she is loving every single moment of it.
