Qritiqal: I would work at a quarry during the day and record at night

When he received a call that Nigerian-based music label Chocolate City was interested in him, Qritiqal, born Eric Onyango Omollo was living in Embakasi, and working at a quarry in Ruiru.

“I would work at a quarry during the day, and record at night. Sometimes I was so tired and drained, everyone thought I was aloof. Even Motif (whom he lived with and recorded his music at) did not know what I did during the day,” Qritiqal says, a smile on his face, almost amazed by his own secrecy.

We are at Cahcenti Productions, a home studio in Ruiru, off the Eastern Bypass, on the section that connects to Ruiru-Kamiti Road. As we chat, dancehall bangers and melodic Afrobeats from his upcoming EPs, two, play on loop. 

Qritiqal has had highs that many artistes would dream of, and lows only he sees as a blessing. He is extremely positive in his outlook of life, extremely kind, and almost too ‘soft’ for an industry that is super cutthroat and aggressive. 

At 19, when he released his first single, Weak Inside, he was living in Mombasa, where he was born and raised. The dancehall jam was huge, he won Best Video of the Year at the 2010 Nzumari Awards and the Best Video of The Year Coast Music Awards.

From Mombasa, he was asked by the famed Lucas Bikedo of the equally famed Ogopa Deejays to come to Nairobi. 

Unlike most, who warmed the bench for days or weeks, he was in the booth the first day he went to Ogopa and revealed he did songs for Avril and Lexxy Kinyua, among others. Most were never released, “But I learnt to be patient, to work harder and never give in,” he says.

In mid-2012, Qritiqal was featured in Colonel Mustafa’s Kupe, an insightful track about bad friends and family, in what was his second ‘big’ single. He was also placed under the tutelage of the former Deux Vultures artiste, who would change his address for an extended stay in Tanzania.

“As you can imagine, I was left stranded. The mentor was in Tanzania. But again, I choose to focus on the lessons rather than the disappointment,” said the artiste, who revealed that Lucas gave him lessons he would never forget.

“Wise man that one. And very purposeful in how he approaches the business. ‘Not yet there’ was his feedback, and you just had to try harder.”

Forced to survive in Nairobi, where he felt closer to his lifelong dream of music, and at the same time take care of his younger siblings, Qritiqal worked odd jobs and slept in whatever space he got. In between, he had worked as an unpaid event coordinator at Wattle Blossom Lodge in Athi River. 

“I do not focus on the unpaid part. Look at it this way, I learnt all my event management skills there.”

It was while at Wattle Blossom that he met a plug who loved his melodies so much that he linked him up with someone who had connections to Chocolate City, the one-time home for Victoria Kimani, M.I Abaga, Jesse Jagz, Ice Prince and Femi Kuti. 

How much was the deal worth? 

“It was not an advance deal, but an investment deal,” Qritiqal skillfully explains the contract he put pen to paper on in 2016, “a 31-page contract.”

“It was a perfect deal because it only required me to work, which I have never had any problem with. Working is what I am about,” and Qritiqal went into it, receiving a beat from Nigerian producer Reinhard Tega through the label and recording  Malkia with Motif, which cemented the interests he had generated in Nigeria.

In one year, he went from a dusty quarry to a swanky continental label, sweetened by a three-month tour in Nigeria and a stay and mentorship programme with M.I Abaga. He also bagged a nomination as Best Male Musician from East Africa in the 2017 AFRIMMA Awards.

“That is why I am never bitter or disappointed that the deal was cancelled after one year (it was a five-year deal). What I gathered was invaluable. I was exposed to a different way of doing things and looking at the industry, and at the feet of great men and women,” says Qritiqal, who, as a teen, was mentored by Risasi (of the Suzuki na Risasi duo).

“It was a business decision to part ways, and I respect that.”

Besides Malkia, he released  Won’t Tell, and  Hello  with Nigerian star CKay, the guy who is running our dancefloors with Love Nwantiti. 

“Through Choc City, I still get calls from my Nigerian brothers to drop verses. It is a blessing!”

In the meantime, the musician has found a higher purpose with Qritiqal Ventures Enterprise, which runs Film House, a warehouse-size space for creatives in Karen, a location for a number of recent video shoots.

“Thick Thighs (Bensol & Bien), Papa Wemba (Khaligraph Jones and veterans), Bounce (Otile Brown and Lexsil), Kitenge (Nviiri), among others that are in the pipeline,” says Qritiqal, as we wind up, the Saturday evening sun dashing the west. 

When I leave, and the quiet kicks in, he will be recording for a better part of the night. He never sleeps. 

“I alternate between Cahcenti, which he partly runs as the manager, and the Film House. Put in time for church and that is how my days are structured.”