Celebrity childhood nicknames

'Kadolly' was Brenda Wairimu's childhood name.     PHOTO:COURTESY

DJ Mo — Sisqo

He grew up listening to his favourite rapper at the time and his friends coined his nickname from what he was into while growing up.

“I used to listen to Sisqo a lot when I was in high school. Because I couldn’t dye my hair white or red like he did, I would wear those rabbit like kofias he wore, so guys started calling me ‘Sisqo’. Like him, I also used braid my hair. My childhood friends in Rongai still call me Sisqo,” he says laughing. To his other friends and industry peers, he passes off as Mo.

Hopekid — Mich

To many, he is now referred to as ‘The General’ but growing up, his family and friends knew him otherwise. “Guys in the hood including my mum — until now — still call me Mich. It is a short form of my grandfather’s name that I don’t like sharing,” he says.

Anita Nderu — Gacheri

The bubbly radio personality was once nicknamed MC Anita by her friends because she spoke too fast, but her family and cousins know her as Gacheri, which was her name before she was christened Anita. “Now my boo and friends call me Booboo because I guess, I call people that so they started calling me.’’

Octopizzo — Changa

Born as a very tiny baby, his father started calling him Changa because as he puts it; “nilikuwa mtoto mchanga’’. But growing up, it became a different name altogether as he went by the name Fadiga. “I was called Fadiga after the African soccer player (Senegalese Khalilou Fadiga) who was once accused of stealing a chain because I used to steal guys chains and sell them,” he recalls.

As of now, artistes know him as Ule Msanii. “Artistes call me that,” he adds.

Prezzo — Ngechu

To date, some call him what everyone knew him during his younger days.

“Guys used to call me Ngechu. My mum still does. Most people, however, now call me Mr President because I am a leader not a disciple,” he explains.

Brenda Wairimu — Kadolly

Her colleagues call her ‘B’ while her close friends call her Bren, short for Brenda, but for some time, she has also been known by her third nickname Kadolly.

“It started when I was two years and I had just taken a bath when I fell asleep on the table naked. My mum’s friend came and asked why there’s a naked doll on the table,” she says amidst laughter.

Khaligraph — Onyi

From his toned frame, no one would have guessed he was a big kid growing up, prompting his friends to call him Onyi like the prisoner in Jimwat’s Sitoi Kitu Kidogo song. At the moment, he is Khali, short for Khaligraph. For the longest time, he was known as Makaveli.

“That was back in high school. I liked the name Makaveli so I picked it up. Even now, some teachers still call me that,” he says.

Mejja — Okonkwizi

He goes by different names. While growing up, his mother would sing for him and call him Mejjasticky because he would refuse to eat and it stuck.

In high school, guys called him Okonkwo or Okonkwizi, which his mother uses to-date.  “My brother calls me Jame yani Mejja backwards,” he says.

Marya — Shiro Baiby

“I used to be known as Shiro Baiby because I was katoi kasupuu when growing up in the hood. Some guys still calling me that, especially dudes who are hitting on me,” she says.

Known as Wanjiku or Shiro to her parents, her father and uncles call her ‘mum’ because she is named after her grandmother.

Kristoff — Hammer

His schoolmates called him Hammer because he was so hardcore in school.

“I used to be beaten and never felt anything that’s why guys started calling me that. But my mum calls me ‘baby’,” the soft-spoken Kristoff explains.