JOE MOPERO: KENYAN MUSICAL SUPERSTAR

From right: Moreno Batamba, Joe Mopero, Muhindi Joseph :behind Muhindi, on rythm is Kiarie extreme left Moses khayesa.


"Slim Ali and Kelly Brown are undoubtedly Kenya's all-time finest musicians," Joe Mopero told Jabulani Radio. "When a giant points in a direction and tells you that's a giant, then what you are being shown must indeed be a humongous mammoth."

The founder and bandleader of Zambezi Band is easily one of the country's most glowing musicians, given his consistency and the popularity of his songs over the decades.

His heavy baritone booms through the hall when his band is performing. Coupled with his composing prowess, guitar skills, and mastery of the Lingala language, Joe stands tall in the hall of fame comprising Kenya's musicians.

Who is Joe Mopero? The musician was born Joseph Kariuki in Kipkabus, Uasin Gishu, in the 1960s. However, his family relocated to Kikuyu, in the former Central Province, during his childhood. He thus attended primary and secondary schools in Kabete and Thika.

The music bug bit him early in life while he was a student at Equator High School in Thika. In those days, the Cavacha earthquake, with its epicenter at the Veve Studios in Kinshasa, sent shockwaves reverberating across the continent.

Nairobi shook in response to this tremor, and songs by Lipua Lipua, Orchestra Cavacha, and Orchestra Kiam were wildly popular in Kenya, both on the radio and in nightclubs. As a teenage admirer of Mopero Wa Maloba, the singer and guitarist with Orchestra Cavacha and later Orchestra Shamashama, Mopero entertained his schoolmates by singing his songs to them, which he did with dedicated proficiency, singing in Lingala.

This earned him the sobriquet "Mopero." He became the school's Mopero, and immediately after completing school, he embarked on the journey of becoming Kenya's Mopero. In the company of his friends from the Lucky Summer Estate, he created a musical band, which was sponsored by businessman Lucky Boy, after whom Lucky Summer Estate was named. The band was called Lucky Boys Band.

The band's membership included a solo guitar wizard named Janjo, a singer named Mario, and others. This team recorded their debut "Nyina wa Mudu" in its early days of existence.

Janjo would become the man behind the magical solo guitar in Mopero's hit "Heri Nirudi Nyumbani," which turned out to be one of the country's most successful songs in popularity, enjoying immense success on the radio and in clubs. The song, recorded in 1993, featured a galaxy of stars in the studio for the recording session.

Among them was Kawesa, who had been a drummer/vocalist with Nairobi Matata of Juma Muhina, rhythmist Kiarie, who was one of the most lethal in the era, the drummer Franco, and the legendary Twahir Muhammed on saxophone.

Although Mopero says he never earned much from the songs, owing to piracy and a music copyright society that isn't very honest, the song remains his trademark. He later created his own Zambezi Band, named after the mighty Zambezi River, which flows through Angola, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique before finally emptying its waters into the Indian Ocean, perhaps to suggest might.

He has also sung with many Congolese musicians, including Moreno Batamba in the album that contained the songs "Vidonge Sitaki," "Mapenzi," and others. The album featured Onyango Raringo on solo guitar, Zengela Saida, and Pierre Kabamba on rhythm.

Mopero has composed and recorded dozens of albums that, among others, contain songs like "Mama Wa Kambo" and "Kibibi." Mopero, who sings in English, Swahili, Lingala, and his native Kikuyu, also has a new album ready for release. The album contains a sentimental Christmas carol, with a saxophone introduction by Barasa.

The song will most likely excite the country music scene, especially those with a keen ear for soothing ballads. The album also contains a remix of the hit song "Heri Nirudi Nyumbani," done with a reggae touch.

Mopero has certainly cultivated a niche for himself and created a legacy of commitment and creativity in the country's music scene.

By Jarome Ogola

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