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An extravaganza of the finest reggae music, and a debut performance of their latest album, Street Roots. That is what the Morgan Heritage is here for. This being their second time in Kenya, the roots reggae family seemed at home and familiar with most of the artistes and organisers they had interacted with during their last tour in 2012. Asked what they had missed most about Kenya, they all seemed to agree that fish from Lake Victoria is what they missed the most.
“We loved the safari from Nairobi to Kisumu and although it took us seven hours, the really big fish from Lake Victoria reminded us of Jamaica,” Peter Morgan recalled as the others agreed with him, before he went on to explain just how delicious the fish was.
Exuding a love for Kenya that was so visible, the royal reggae family even acknowledged just how glad they were to see Wyre, the Kenyan dance hall king, again.
“We are glad to see Wyre who is already family as we worked with him a while back under our production stable,” Gramps mentioned while talking about their successful collaboration on Guarantee alongside Peetah, that saw Wyre’s brand spread across the Caribbean airwaves. Asked whether they would be doing any other collabos this time round, the family gladly said there would be. “Yes! Kenya has a lot of talent and we definitely look towards working with them on collaborations both now and in future,” Peter said.Conspicuously missing though, was their sister Una.
“Una Morgan is the queen in our group, but also a mother whose family has to go on even with the music. She had to take her son for his university enrollment in the United States, so we couldn’t bring her along this time round but she misses Kenya and sent her warmest regards,” Peter reassured the curious audience.
All the Morgan brothers lit up when she became the topic of the conversation, each giving reasons why she was their gem in the group. Her absence would not affect the group’s performance as they were well equipped to deal with such situations.
Aside from music, it appears that the Morgan Heritage is as diverse as it gets.
“Our father may have lived in America after crossing the transatlantic from Jamaica, but that never stopped him from living the African way. He always said that he would have as many children as he could and fill the earth.
After all that was well within the African culture and he could adequately provide,” Roy Gramps noted of their patriarch who had over 30 children. Thirty children is no mean feat and contrary to popular belief that they would all be musicians, the large family has doctors, professors, pastors, nurses, sportsmen as well as many other professions to their name.
“We might all love music, but not all of us are performers. Una’s son, for instance, went to the United States on a sports scholarship,” Gramps Morgan revealed.
For the first time on their African visit, Gramps Morgan brought his youngest son Jemere, aged 21, who besides being a fast-rising musician was delighted to be in Kenya alongside his dad. “Coming to Kenya is very enlightening, I mostly hope to impact the Kenyan youth with the CTCB slogan which means that its ‘Cool To Be Conscious’. Through music, the youths will understand that they should have as much fun as they would love to, in a conscious way!” Jemere said.
Gramps Morgan will also be bringing his cuisine prowess to Kenya, thanks to his ‘Gramps Morgan Farm’ brand. Gramps is gearing up for a cooking segment on one of the local television shows in which he would demonstrate how to make jerk chicken and other types of spicy food.
“Besides being conscious about music, I am conscious about food and health, which motivated me to start the Gramps Morgan Farm product. Yet again, Kenya is lucky to be the first country where I will be showcasing exclusive seasoning flavours and I hope all chicken and food lovers will learn a thing or two,” Gramps Morgan said, adding that despite having eaten the best fish in Kisumu, Africa and the world have a lot to share in regards to cuisine.
The royal reggae family is set to perform at the KICC on Saturday with the venue having been moved from Nyayo stadium for security purposes. “KICC is believed to be a terror-free zone, and there shall be tight security to ensure that everyone coming for the show will be safe and have fun,” Big Kev of Trublaq, explained.
Regular ticket Sh500 while VIP will be Sh3000. You can get the tickets on www.jambolife.com.
