Harry Kimani bouncing back after Rehab

                              Musician Harry Kimani Photo: Standard

Harrison Mungai Kimani does not believe he is an addict. The 2005 Kisima Music Awards winner for Best Music Video and Best Song asserts that many of the things people think they know about him are figments of the imagination. As he sat down with MKALA MWAGHESHA, the artiste who received an honorary degree from Oxford University today says he has a lot more to offer than the so-called sober artistes

The dapper-looking Harry Kimani is sharper in conversation with hands waving in gesticulation whenever he emphasises a point. Wearing a suit, sleevless sweater, striped shirt and sharp-toed shoes, he hides his eyes behind dark sunglasses, occasionally wiping sweat from his forehead. He has just come from another meeting at G-Skyye Lounge.

“There has been so much negativity from the media. These stories about me struggling with addiction have greatly affected my family,” says Harry, whose reported battle with alcoholism and rehabilitation are as well-known as his trademark cornrows.

“My family is always conscious about what the media portrays. Apart from when I was starting out, I have never been as depressed as it has been portrayed,” he adds.

So does he drink?

“Yes, and I love my drink so much. Everyone loves fun,” he responds starkly.

Harry explains that the episode that got him into rehab at the start of his career was unfortunate and prompted him cut ties with some influential people for a while.

“I was up and down and I needed a tranquil place. So I was lured into going to the centre with tales that the place had horses, a tennis court and a fishing area. Since I needed a quiet place, I went along, only to discover the place was a rehabilitation centre for heroin addicts. I don’t even do drugs,” he explains.

To Harry, his prowess with the guitar and his mellow voice has always proved people wrong.

“Take Coke Studio (2013) for example. If I was in rehab or that badly off, I would not have been picked,” Harry, who did a rendition of Fadhili William’s Malaika with DJ Jimmy Jatt, argues. The clip of this performance on YouTube was the highest ever viewed during the 2013 Coke Studio session.

His deepest regret, he says, is being too trusting. He explains that he has been lied to by many people he once considered close.

“It was all a lesson and I’ve learnt with time,”

Harry says he faced rejection from Gido Kibukosya when he went to Samawati Records to try his hand at music in 2000, straight out of high school.

“He looked and treated me with so much loathing and I believe that what's happening to him right now is payback,” he animatedly says.

Gido recently revealed how his break-up with Suzzane Gachukia led him into depression.

Also depressed and dejected, Harry was got lucky when a prominent UN worker from the Netherlands connected him to the Festival Mundial organisers.

“Going to the Netherlands with the likes of K South, Mercy Myra, King Kong and Eric Wainaina was my big break,” recalls the 2005 Kora Awards Most Promising Male Artiste nominee.

Then known for African Woman, Harry would achieve super-stardom after Haiya, which he released on January 1, 2005.

“That was a different sound and video,” he says of the song’s success.

Around this time, he met Blof, one of the biggest Dutch bands, who took him on tours around the globe under the joint Umoja project. “I have sang with (jazz great) Hugh Masekela at the SawaSawa Festival. I have also done serious stuff with Sodi Singh, Chris Adwar, Mercy Myra, Bamboo and Abbas among others. I collaborate with people who appreciate music,” he says.

Betty, also called Dodoma, the song he released with then-upcoming rapper Rabbit, was his last big project before he went MIA. According to Harry, Rabbit was lucky that the collaboration was a success.

“I did the hook in less than 20 minutes. I was quite restless at the time and it’s only because of Rabbit’s persistence that I did the song,” an amused Harry Kimani explains.

Never having attended music school, Harry has been able to release two albums, Tuishi Mi Nawe and Unborn.

“I have 74 songs that are unreleased. Starting in November, I will release a song every month. I am here to stay now,” he tells me.