Julius Owino aka Juliani is soft-spoken and can easily be confused as the shy type, but wait until he rocks the stage writes STEVENS MUENDO
Hits from his debut album Mtaa Mentality and the consequent sophomore release, Pulpit kwa Street, paint a lucid picture of the singer’s mental conscience.
Using ingenious poetic lyrical prowess, he samples out the real socio-political issues affecting our society and narrates them in song with such an artistic brilliance yet to be matched by any other musician in the region.
In fact, his shaking of his long dreads and energetic stage presence is the defining inner force behind his soulful musical character, which has brought with it the Juliani evolution commonly referred to as the philosophy of the street.
His sleek and unique lyrical flow, passionate delivery and electrifying performance have collectively made him become an important voice and icon of our time. It cuts him a clear niche, winning him religious following from thousands of cross-generational fans.
Though his current runaway success looks spontaneous, with showbiz analysts trailing him since his 2005 debut release, his career dates back to the 1990’s when he released two singles, as a member of the Mau Mau group.
In essence, the unmatched socio-political nous and rockers’ spiritual temperaments so pronounced in the Juliani’s stage delivery are an act borrowed from way back when Kenya’s pioneer conscious hip-hop group Kalamashaka spelt a new dawn in local showbiz by releasing songs castigating political and social ills.
Born in a humble background in the sprawling eastern suburb of Dandora, Juliani at a tender age, joined the Kenyan hip-hop godfathers, Kalamashaka and Ukoo Flani, with whom he sprung to notoriety as a rebellious musical mouthpiece speaking for the poor and the oppressed.
"I am the third born in a family of nine. Growing in Mathare and Dandora and having to toil for survival was a harsh reality and the only truth we had to accept in life. I recall how we used to make and sell buns in the streets to make ends meet," Juliani says.
Tough times
"My dad was a drunkard and with little money to support the seven of us, my mum would work her fingers to the bone for us," says Juliani. He says he could not understand why they had to work so hard and still be poor while other people like politicians were eating life with a silver spoon.
"We would feel like someone owed us and inspired the deep lyrics of underground hip-hop, which we started recording", explains Juliani.
With nostalgia, Juliani recalls how his brother bore bullet wounds as he battled with cops as he faced the harsh realities of life, which had forced him to go into crime.
"I remember my dad coming home one day and declaring that he would quit alcohol. Together with my mum, they got born-again and since then, things have never been the same again. I also accepted Jesus in 2005 and started seeing myself as an agent of change. Since then, I stopped blaming others for social evils and took the front line, preaching hope and peace," he remarks.
"It has been a long and elaborate journey to the top and winning the Kisima Award million was not a surprise to me. I have not only tried to record and sing music for money, but I have also diversified myself as a champion for peace and international environmental ambassador. Most of my income has been ploughed back into the multiple community projects I am involved in," he notes.
An ascending star of and beyond the Kenyan music scene, Juliani has won multiple awards both in Kenya and the US, the biggest being three Kisima Awards wins bagged last Friday among them the Artiste of the Year award, which came with prize cash of one million shillings.
As one of the most decorated singers in the country, the rather humble and soft-spoken singer boasts of having won a Groove Award for Hip-hop song of the Year thanks to the Mtaa Mentality single (the title track of his debut album) in 2008.
The same year, he won a Talanta award as the Male artiste of the Year. In 2009, Juliani scooped two Kenyan Groove awards, including Hip-hop song of the Year for Biceps as the Mtaa Mentality album was voted the Album of the Year. Last year, he picked up Male artiste of the Year at the Insyder CHAT awards as well as Groove’s highly acclaimed Songwriter of the Year gong.
Windfall
Besides winning three Kisima awards last Friday, this year alone has seen him take home the Best live Performer at the Insyder CHAT awards as well as the Male artiste and Hip-hop artiste of the year awards during the Groove Awards.
"Winning awards and getting famous has neither affected my way of thinking, nor has it compromised my street credibility way of reasoning. I remain true to my call," he insists.
"I have had critics questioning whether I am a real gospel singer. I tell them that I am not here to copy-paste the Bible but to pass the message in the best way my fans can understand it," he concludes.
