The fish turned rapper

Not many people on earth can say they have held the world record in swimming. But he has, even if it was for seven short-lived, but glorious minutes. He has also swam with and once beat the legendary Michael Phelps. “It was in a very low-stakes race, so it didn’t really count,” he says modestly, running a sinewy arm through the sun-kissed blonde locks.

Years ago, feels like yesterday really, when the Dunford brothers were all the rage, winning local galas and putting Kenya in the international scene. They were proof that for a country that was known for running and wildlife, we could swim with the best of them.

“Training for Olympics was gruelling. I would wake up at 5.30am, practice in the biting cold, accompanied by my brother who I would have to drag out of bed for the less-than-fun activity. When I joined Stanford University for my first degree, I trained under a no-nonsense marine veteran,” he says.

I am having lunch with the elder of the brothers, Jason Dunford, and he easily switches between English and Kiswahili, just as a typical Nairobian would. He is a fourth-generation Kenyan after all. The first person in his lineage to come to Kenya did so in 1902. He was a Jewish refugee from Lithuania named Abraham Block, who founded the now defunct Block Hotels. Hospitality is in their genes, as his father is one of the founding partners of the Tamarind Group and both his parents are the brains behind the Carnivore, an idea they got from Brazilian steak houses.

He has now taken to journalism and music. A rapper specifically, going by ‘Samaki Mkuu’. He has recorded with Romantico, a Mexican who is a former seminarian turned genge artiste. But is he any good?

Fancy yourself an Eminem now?

It’s completely mad, isn’t it?  People are shocked when they hear about the music because they think it is going to be terrible and then they listen and say it is not that bad. My parents thought I was insane and then they heard it and they were like, ‘huh, it’s not too bad!’

 How did you get into that?

My full time gig is at the BBC. I am part of a team that is doing Smart Money, doing business stories from all over Africa. So I was doing a story on entrepreneurs who are starting gyms and that day I was on Ngong Road, at the gym that Romantico goes to and the owner introduced us. He was so happy to meet another ‘mzungu’ who could speak Kiswahili and he suggested I do a song with him. This was in September last year. I told him I couldn’t sing or rap, but he wanted an Olympian on his song so I figured why not?

And the rap skills came on just like that?

Before work I would get up early and try to write some lyrics, count the beat, count the syllables, try to rap and when I thought I had gotten it, Romantico would tell me that wasn’t it.   So I kept practicing and practicing until he was happy about it. So we recorded the music, did the video and now I have my first single called ‘Dance With Me’ that I will release soon. I have done collabos with other artistes like Jua Kali, and one with Vanessa Mdee. Suddenly, we have like seven or eight songs.

  Are you still swimming competitively?

No. I got injuries and developed a back problem and while I could have kept going, I  started questioning whether I was still in your prime. Training is a grueling process to stay at that level. So I weighed my options and kept on going for two years but it was a disappointing stint as I fell way below my expectations. I was still enjoying it but then after I did the Commonwealth Games in 2014, my brother who had been a support system and my travel buddy had retired. Also, the people we would travel with for competitions were all retired and there was a fresh crop. It was about time even if it was not an easy decision.

Swimming had been your thing, until it wasn’t. Did you get an identity crisis after that?

When I stopped swimming in 2014, I was a little bit lost. I was not quite sure what to do next.I hadn’t thought about it. I had been performing, representing out country on the biggest stage for 10 years. It happens with a lot of athletes who retire. It can be a tough transition. I was lucky I had a Bachelor’s degree in medical biology and a Master’s degree in environmental science at that point. Even though I had a job then, I wanted something more.

So how did you pull yourself out of the funk?

My big change was a mentor who advised me to go check out the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He advised me to get an MBA since I was considering entrepreneurship.

But you now work for BBC. How did you get into journalism?

I found my passion for telling stories while I was at Stanford for the MBA.  The university had  organised an African business conference and I was in charge of media and marketing. Part of my mandate was to interview participants at the conference. I started to realise that I liked interviewing, so I came up with my own talk show on Facebook Live. It slowly got popular.

I came back to Kenya during a summer break with my wife, did a training internship with M-KOPA Solar. On the weekends I would interview people in Nairobi, so by my second year I knew I wanted to pursue media in some form. Lucky for me, BBC wanted to explore non-traditional people like me alongside people with a lot of experience in journalism, who might bring different ideas to the team. I was just lucky that BBC was thinking like that. I did not know that at the time, I was just putting my hat in the ring and I was ecstatic to land the job.

Dabbled in entrepreneurship yet?

Yes, my wife Lauren and I have a software company called Safi Analytics that helps factories manage their energy and operations. She runs it now, as CEO.

Speaking of a wife, when did that happen?

We have been together for 13 years now. We met as undergraduates in our first year of college, when she was 18 and I was 19. She is American. We have been married almost five years now.

Is she your muse?

Definitely. She is the inspiration for a lot of the songs I am writing.

I think meeting her was the most defining moment of my life. She has influenced the path I have taken and has been there all along the way. She has been an incredible life partner to me. She has helped me see the world in different ways. Not to say we are perfect. We are very close but we have had our moments like all couples. Being able to talk things out and problem-solve together helps. She has taught me a lot about approaching difficult conversations with an open mind to learn about someone else’s perspective. We do not have children yet, maybe in the next couple of years.

In the grand scheme of things, do you consider yourself  successful?

I don’t know! What do you think? I like to think I have done a little bit on my part and I am proud of what I have done so far, but there is always more to be done. I want to keep doing my part to build up Kenya and Africa. It really drives me. I am happy to have found a few things I really love doing right now so I want to see where they go.

What is your brother David upto now?

David now lives in America . He does financial technology and got involved with a start up straight out of college. He joined the company when it was a startup, and he has been with them since then. He comes to Kenya once a year.

What do you think is your biggest accomplishment?

Well, to get honoured with the Order of the Grand Warrior from President Mwai Kibaki right after I had won the Commonwealth gold. I had received an HSC prior to that. So just to be recognised for services rendered to the nation was good.

What are your plans for the future?

I think I have found a great area for me. I see myself staying in media and entertainment now, for my whole career.

What do you do for fun?

Right now, music is what I do for fun. I also go for swimming a few days a week to exercise and clear my brain. I really enjoy that. Or I go running in Karura with Lauren. I still like getting into the pool though because it cuts me off from the world completely. Plus I can’t take my phone into the pool.

Any regrets?

I try not to harbor too many regrets. You have to keep moving forward because I do not find it productive to dwell on them. Well there are always things I can look back and think I should have done something differently. Maybe the things I did leading up to my last Olympics, ways I trained, but at that moment I thought I was training at my best. Maybe I should have been more reflective earlier on in my academic career. I might have potentially been on a media and journalism path earlier in my life, maybe directly after my swimming career.