Bryan Ngala Mwendwa aka B-Reign,The Hip-hop Doctor

 

By Geoffrey Korio

Rocking a black and yellow designer T-shirt, some black jeans and earrings on each ear, the rather majestic rapper steals the attention across the office as he walks to the Pulse desk.

Behind him is his manager Allan Githinji. I wonder how such a guy qualified to become a medical officer intern at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). But then again, looks can be deceiving! Even before we begin the interview, I anxiously ask how he managed to handle himself at this particular time. Taken rather surprised by this, he asks: “What do you mean?” “Well from your Facebook post, you lost a child while on night shift yesterday. And you went further to confess that death is haunting you,” I clarify. “Yes, around midnight, a two month-old-baby was in distress; we did our best to resuscitate but… (takes a deep breath and composes himself) it was the first time I lost a kid under my watch and it was an eye opener. As for the haunting matters, the date I lost this kid is also the same one I lost my mother two months back, and it brought back mixed emotions. But that is life,” he responds.

“Here we are now, so tell me, Medicine and music! How did it all come about?”

He narrates: “Music started first, obviously. I used to listen to music listening to rap hip-hop, but never in my life would I have concluded that I would pursue it. When I was 12 years old, my parents and I moved to Botswana. Hip-hop was big there.

 “This was bolstered by my poetry and writing skills. I used to write those ‘love’ letters and show them to the ladies and my friends. Then one of my friends suggested I should try and sign those words. For the heck of it, I tried it out. And amazingly, it was a success. That’s when I started rapping. At least this way, it kept me preoccupied from bad teenage stuff like crime and drugs.”

What he considers as his musical breakthrough and the start of his 15 minutes, started later on during his high school days when he participated in then the popular radio on-air Sprite Rap Battle. His lyrical prowess earned him a finalist position later that year; battling it out with South Africa’s former Big Brother contestant Zeus — who recently performed in the Big Brother Africa: The Chase. With a cash prize of Sh100,000 at stake plus a plethora of other opportunities on offer such as co-hosting a radio show, he won the rap battle competition.

“That’s when it hit me, that maybe, I have a talent in music,” the Throw a Party rapper adds.

“One year later (2004), I completed my high school and went to Russia to study Medicine. I decided to do some side hustle and this included club emceeing, curtain raising and performing,” he says. He flashes back when he opened up for hip-hop legend the late Guru of Gangsta Squad as a humbling moment in music life.

“I have curtain raised shows for Busta Ryhmes, MOP, Onyx and Naughty by Nature,” he shocks.

At this point, he confesses to being at crossroads with his life; to pursue music or Medicine? Luckily, he got the right advice from Naughty by Nature’s Vinnie. “He advised me to complete my education and not to leave Medicine. Music will always be there,” he explains.

Ironically, these are similar sentiments that Fredro Starr of Onyx, echoed to him but that was a time when fame, money and girls got the better of the Welcome to Nai singer.

“That aside, my music has been influenced by NAS and Jay Z,” he proclaims.