Quite a force

With a debut album Shamba La Wanyama, K-Force’s Ndoch-Ace and Bobby Slic are set to spice up the hip-hop scene. DAVID ODONGO tracked them to their base

The fluorescent tube overlooking the room sputters inconsistently, reminding one of cheap Chinese neon lights that flash brightly for a few seconds, only to go off. "I hate this… I hate unpredictability," says Elias Ndung’u aka Ndoch-Ace as he hits the light switch hard with his palm.

The fluorescent tube flickers and suddenly, its alive. It’s eight in the evening and we are in a warehouse in Nairobi’s industrial Area. "This is where we rehearse," says Robert Ochieng’ alias Bobby Slic, the other member of the group K-Force. "We have to do it at night because, Ndoch-Ace and I and have day jobs, but we can’t neglect our music, it is an unforgiving mistress, you have to be with her every day, treat her right, otherwise, she neglects you and soon, you will get out of sync." He adds.

For the next three hours, I watch them perform, polish their stage presence, criticize, correct and praise each other before finally winding up with a session of freestyle rap delivery.

The duo

These guys mean business. Ndoch-Ace at 26 and Bobby Slic, three years younger form the rap group K-Force, the group whose single, Egobe, featuring Sudanese singer Nyaruach, has managed to snake its way up the Kenyan music charts. "We formed K-Force four years ago" narrates Ndoch Ace "We were both at Kenya Polytechnic, pursuing creative design. It took us quite a while before we found our path, and we have never looked back," says Ndoch-Ace, with high cheekbones, sharp intense eyes and a lazy mouth, his look is reminiscent of a cowboy in the old western movies. Bobby Slic, if a shade lighter, can pass off as Ndoch-Ace.

"I have loved music since I was a kid, and over the years... have grown to love it even more. I had friends around me, who all sing constantly, and an amazing mother... who attempts to sing… Music is something that is so powerful, and I believe it can change the world... hopefully I can do my part and change a bit of it," says Bobby Slic.

Ndoch-Ace, though outspoken, is a down to earth person with a positive outlook on life. "I will never forget the 2007 post election violence. I was born in Kibera, and I saw my friends, boys I grew up with, loot our house. I saw my friends cart away my prized computer and television. A friend held a machete to my neck, because I didn’t ‘belong’ to Kibera. I was saved by true friends," says Ndoch-Ace with evident pain.

"But it never affected my music life. I still have the confidence to convey my thoughts on the microphone. I love the finer things in life.

Fine things

I love beautiful things. I love the female body, it’s great art that only God could create. I love women, but I hate anything permanent, that’s why I’m yet to settle down," says Ndoch-Ace, egged on by Bobby Slic he continues. "I mean, a man must have some weaknesses, since I don’t drink, and I stopped smoking... you can’t fault me".

On their hit song, Egobe, the lyrics are not the usual yappy stuff that many a rapper are fond of regurgitating.

"We bumped into Nyaruach’s manager and she gave us samples of her recorded vocals. We liked what we heard and we hooked up to do Egobe," explains Bobby Slic who draws inspiration from hip-hop legends, Mos Def and Nas.

"We will be releasing our debut album, Shamba La Wanyama, in six months", Dilvuges Ndoch-Ace.

K-Force has come up with two astoundingly diverse versions of hip-hop artistes. Ndoch-Ace is a medium to celebrate achievement, a master of audacity, mirth and simplicity; Bobby Slic, on the hand, is a vessel of recalling their roots, a representation of challenges well conquered.

Listening to their 14-track album, Shamba La Wanyama, feels like a rescue from all the bad local hip-hop being peddled around.

The song Pretty Face, a collabo with Wyre is melancholy love song at its finest. Ditching the predictable 32-bar structure for a short but intense verse, Bobby Slic drops genuinely emotional lyrics while Ndoch-Ace makes it trendy to declare syrupy affection for that ‘special girl’ without losing credibility as a hardcore rapper. Wyre wraps it up with his amiable voice, making Pretty Face.

Good tracks

In Chekelea Mafala, a wicked alliance in which Alphayo actually raps, K-Force comes out as a group that has no time for haters.

"We did the track to laugh at some people. In everything you do, you encounter some people who discourage you. We don’t get angry at them, we just laugh at them and continue with our hustle," says Bobby Slic

K-Force stage presence is engrossing and it is a product of hard work. "We work hard to make our performances memorable. A couple of hours daily rehearsing is a small price to pay for what we foresee.

We can rehearse the whole day, if need be," says Ndoch-Ace. "We need a manager, at the rate in which we are growing, we need somebody to manage us. We have grown too big to manage ourselves," adds Bobby Slic.

Having identified with Kibera, and as money starts flowing in; will the group change its residential address?

Ndoch-Ace pauses, looks at me then draws closer, "We are fighting to get out of the ghetto." He whispers, "What’s wrong with me having a house in Lavington or Runda?" he asks.

The clan

Although the duo is the rap face of K-Force, the group is composed of Graffiti artiste, graphic designers and other solo rappers, all from Kibera. "We have Kay-Vo, Ill Witt, RD, Master Verse, Bilari, Alphayo, all are solo artistes. We then have Cheeks JPEG and BankSlave. We are one big family," reiterates Bobby Slic.

Although, life’s trials and tribulations have tested their limits, their faith and perseverance have helped them become the group we know. K-Force is a family affair, a circle of trust, a legion of brothers, out to make good music, and while at it, make money… hopefully plenty of it.