Gospel singer J-fam: I am the best

                   J Fam affirms that he is the best dancehall artiste

Standing at a commanding 6-foot plus, one cannot fail to notice J Fam. He is a lanky lad with well-waxed dreads tied at the back and when he opens his mouth, he is funny, sarcastic and talks with a teenager’s abandon. Take the example of the recognition his highly-skilled jaw-dropper of a performance inspired at the Groove Awards.

“You saw how guys cheered whenever my name was called out? That is how highly rated I am. There was no good dancehall artiste before me and there will be none after me here in Kenya. I am the best,” proclaims J Fam, whose hit, Goso, is currently getting massive airplay in the media.

To be clear, his statement is aimed beyond the gospel scene, with established artistes like Wyre and Redsan included.

“You saw the energetic and memorable performance I gave? Who else came close?” he asks, just to ensure my doubt abates.

He goes further to explain that he has no peer and that was the reason after the release of Goso- way back in February- no other gospel dancehall song was released.

“They (other artistes) can never take the risk of releasing a song immediately after I have,” says this young man who was born and raised in Mathare, where he played football with among others, current gospel sensation and Groove male artiste of the year, Bahati.

“I will overshadow them,” he assures.

As it turns out, he does not take home any gong with him from the event, a mismatch which he explains goes down to how deep one’s pockets are.

“My competition can spend Sh10, 000 voting for themselves. I do not have that luxury. My parents and family are dependent on me so on that point, it will be hard for me to win. If a committee or request determined the winner, there would be no contest,” explains the artiste, who has a drug abuse rehabilitation door-to-door campaign dubbed Good Over Evil in Mathare.

J Fam recorded his first song in 2003, then as a class 8 pupil. He released his 17-song mix-tape, Good Over Evil, in 2010. While facing challenges that included lack of money and having to sustain a drug addiction he had picked up, he was almost giving up on music, before he met the producer of the Naswa show, who shot his first video, Get Ready.

“That was last year and the song got nominated for the 2013 Groove awards. It had not even been out for a full month. Addicted, my next song, got nominated for this year’s Groove. Who wants to compete with me again?” he asked with a smile, rekindling the old topic.

He would also appear in System Unit’s Hopekid’s remix of the song Holiday amongst other artistes. He is affiliated to Deejay Sadic’s Genius Entertainment and has not shame about gospel cliques.

“Sadic has straightened me and offered me support no one can match. From clothes to bus fare, he has believed in me. Cliques make work easier,” says the artiste, who says he was expelled from four schools for drug abuse and related cases of truancy.

During his harrowing days in the dark, he was hooked on cocaine, bhang and miraa and he explains that he lost a part of his life to drugs. “I was talented but depressed and lost. I am now clean. I have found meaning in life. The idea is to try to steer away youth from these vices especially in the slums through my campaign and my music. I might never succeed, but I would have tried,” he doggedly asserts. Setting a target of 12 singles with videos this year, the last born in a family of two insists that he will push his weight in the saturated gospel field. With his Kingdom Representing clique from Mathare, he feels he has reached the stage where his voice is more than a talent, but an influence.

“I am the last breed of Kenyan dancehall artistes. Period,” again, those are his parting words.