Collo
Who says I aint King?
He is one third of the exceptional Kleptomaniax trio. He is a cool guy but is not afraid to let loose his firebrand side when rubbed the wrong way. Armed with an admirable talent and more than 9 years experience in the music industry, Collo might have just rightfully earned himself the title King Wa Rap. He talks to HFM’s Anthony Nabiliki.
I’d describe myself as a hustler disguised as a rapper. I come from a very small family, my mum being the one who raised us. I am a big brother to my big sisters, in essence because, fortunately, I can say I always try to make ends meet at any time. I am full of joy and always happy because I believe happiness is the most important thing in life.
My lifestyle and everything that goes on around me, whatever I encounter in my everyday life. I have a problem with my girlfriend or I get money or I attend an event at the carnivore, I’ll rap about that.
How did the Kleptomanics group start out? What’s the story?
Klepto started out back in high school, three great minds came together and we said lets see what comes out of this. I must say we were very optimistic and it was not only rapping for the love of music but we strived to take it to the next level and make Kleptomaniacas a brand. That was Nyashinski, Roba and mself. We did our first song “Freak it back in 2000
It was an experience I cannot forget, we have gone through a lot to make a name for ourselves. I look back to the humble beginning when we used to squeeze in public vehcle so we can get to a show upcountry. We’ve been ripped off, we used o literally beg for gigs. But with the help of Ogopa Djs and guys like the late Issa, who was a close friend and a brother in music to us we managed. They adviced us, they helped us package Klepto with the hel of our manager Fakii Liwali, and as they say, the rest is history.
Muthoni Bwika premiered ‘Freak it’ when doing Party up on 96.4 FM and it hit number one. I also remember when Jimmie Gathu was in capital with the program “top nine at nine, we got to number one. That elevated us to a nice level where some awareness was created. When we did the single ‘Haree’, whch was in Ogopa 2 compiled album, all hell broke loose.
I love all my shows it’s a bit hard to pinpoint which was the best and which was the worst. But the performance that helped a lot in buiding my confidence as a perfoming arist as opposed to being an artist was back in high school. Another big show commercially was during Unplugged by Homeboyz. There was Issa, Nonini and us, that is when we launched the song Haree. We also had a memorable show in Nyeri during the Vijana Tugutuke campaigns. We came on stage after the Reddykyulass trio and as fate would have it, started raining. We asked guys, ‘tuendelee ama tusiendelee’ and they were like ‘Tuendelee’, and we even got to a point where we joined in the crowd. It was mad love! Big ups to Nyeri guys.
It was in Dar-es-salaam, the crowd was about 30-35,000 people.
I really admire Nameless, because he has really stuck to his image as an artiste and I believe he is a hard worked. When it comes to ego and floss, then you have to hand it over to Jay-Z. I’m also a great fan of Juacali. One person that I respect a lot and I think his rhymes are too mature for the common ear is Nyashinski. He is something else, he is a force on his own level.
Most people say this to sound sweet but honestly my Mum is my biggest hero. She left for the states when I was a bit younger. She used to tell me that in this world you are all alone. After all the partying and hanging out with friends you’ll be all alone at the end of the day, so you really have to toughen up.
The guys from US love what we do because it’s very different. The reason why most Kenyan rappers cannot perfom to a Mzungu crowd and move them, is because they are not orginal. Rappers are really stuck up n thinking that Hip hop is a beat. It is not a beat; it is a culture, a way of life. I love Jay Z, I love Pac, but cannot do what they do. I will only listen to them and appreciate. Tanzania have Bongo Flava, South Africa have Kwaito, DRC-Lingala, so you cant say Kenya’s sound is Hip hop, Hip-hop is from the states. I don’t do a song to impress a Dj or a radio presenter; I do a song because I like it. so if the song is Kapuka, at the end of the day it will help me buy a ride, get endorsements and help me live off music.
Very, very comfortably. Infact I think I will do this even when I hit my forties. It all boils down to how you manage and package yourself. I know of an artist whose songs are not very prominently given airplay but he gets three shows worth 30,000 bob every weekend, that is a clean 90.000 in one weekend. If you have a vision of what you want, and vow to get it, you will get it. Personally I tried working for radio and quit, I had to stick on doing what I know how to do best.
At the moment we as artist are doing something about it, we are working on something. I am a registered member of MCSK Personally and as kleptomaniax.
So do you receive any royalties?
No and that’s due to the crooked system we live in. If the government really put their act right and not think about the roads only, the local music industry can be larger than coffee. If the system is corrected and all this guys are taxed, even radio stations would work harder and the artist would work even harder to make their music worthy of airplay. We wouldn’t have cases of someone doing a song just so he can become a celebrity but we will have artist who are serious and understand what music entails.
It’s all in trying something different. Most kenyan music sort of have a very familiar, predicable touch to them, but as Klepto we finally stamped a statement to all our listeners that you will never hear us do something that you’ve heard us do before. We give our fans the thrill of susence so they don’t know what we are going to throw to them next. So when guys heard that collo of Klepto is coming up with something, they couldn’t predict. Many peole tend to think that jazz is boring, I you take jazz and swing it well it can be very interesting. So I am just experimenting at the end of the day.
Yes. Infact it’s in my upcoming solo album.
The album is called King wa Rap, and it will be released in mid-January after the election frenzy is over. It basically talks about Collo, youth issues and life in general. Some of the songs include “Msichana High Class, and “Piga Smile. The album will also feature some other artists such as Bobi Mapesa and Ousmane.
Jealousy is a weak emotion that one has to overcome, if you feel what you are doing, just do it with all your heart. This industry is too young to start hating each other. I believe haters simply have too much time in their hands.
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