10 facts we bet you didn’t know about East Africa's biggest boy band Sauti Sol

By Tracy Gesare | 8yrs ago | 3 min read

1. They are an Afro-pop band that started out as an acapella group dubbed Voices in Light. Bien-Aimé Baraza, Willis Chimano and Delvin Mudigi went to Upper Hill High School together. They are close friends with mellow-voiced singer and radio presenter Antoneosol who was also Bien-Aimé’s desk mate.

2. They met Polycarp Otieno during their frequent visits to Alliance Française; where they would gather to showcase and practice their talent. Polycarp joined the group as a guitarist. They named themselves Sauti and later on incorporated ‘Sol’, the Spanish word for ‘sun’ to mean ‘Voices of the Sun’.

3. They have worked together professionally for nine years, a union they celebrated two weeks ago. They have two albums out; Mwanzo which was released in 2009 followed by Sol Filosofia in 2011.

Their single Coming Home won them the Best Music Video at the Chaguo la Teeniez Awards in the same year. They are currently working on a third album, Live and Die in Afrika. It will be released soon with their latest songs Sura Yako, Nishike and Still the One.

4. They were the first Kenyan act to win the prestigious MTV Europe Music Award for the Best African Act in 2014, making them the African ambassadors at the EMAs. They were battling it out against talented acts in Africa such as Davido from Nigeria, Goldfish from South Africa, Toofan of Togo and Diamond of Tanzania.

5. This year alone, they seem to be bagging accolades from every front, having been nominated for five awards so far; MTV MAMAs (Best Group and Best Song categories for Sura Yako, BET Awards (Best International Act: Africa) and Mdundo (Most Downloaded Single overall, Most Downloaded Group Single and Most Downloaded Local Pop Single for Still the One).

They were also nominated for the Best Song at the Kilimanjaro and they won. They are heading for the BET awards this weekend.

6. With their busy schedule that includes travelling, shooting videos, performing and rehearsing, they also have side hustles. Mudigi seems to be the jack-of-all-trades of the group as he is their producer and also doubles as producer for Elani.

He made his acting debut in Veve, a Kenyan movie where he played Julius, and most recently took to social media to announce his new found love, becoming a DJ. Polycarp has also done a bit of production on X-tatic’s current mixtape.

7. They all successfully completed their degrees in various fields as much as they never practiced them professionally. Baraza and Chimano pursued journalism at the United States International University (USIU) and University of Nairobi respectively. Polycarp studied actuarial science at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology while Mudigi got his banking and accountancy degree from Africa Nazarene University.

8. The boys set up the Soma Soma initiative in December 2012, named after their single, Soma Kijana, off their second album. They did this in a bid to advocate for education, inspire and mentor ayoung people, male and female alike, while targeting Kenya and Africa at large.

The project was born through two pupils of Aga Khan Mombasa who asked for their partnership through a letter. The project has since partnered with other education enthusiasts to ensure the trickling down of this powerful message for the sake of the future of the African child.

9. The quartet draws their influence from equally phenomenal artistes; Kenya’s own Daudi Kabaka and Fadhili William, Mali’s Salif Keita, Fally Ipupa, Coldplay and Jason Mraz.

10. They have worked with huge stars in the industry like producer Spoek Mathambo, Ladysmith Black Mambazo of South Africa and Clarence Peters of Nigeria, who is currently directing a couple of their music videos for their third album, Live and Die in Afrika.

Remember to VOTE for the band in the MAMA 2015 music awards going down in Durban, South Africa next month.