Don’t Dis my Ability

The brand spanking new video, Mbona by MTV-Award winner Daddy Owen featuring Denno is the talk in town. In an exclusive interview with Daddy Owen, PULSE reveals the harsh realities behind the project

Pulse: Your new hit single Mbona, featuring Denno has hit 30,000 reviews on YouTube hardly a week after the video was released. Did you expect it to receive such a huge following?

Daddy Owen: I had been running a teaser on my social Internet pages a week before the video was released. I told my fans to tune on their TV stations at 12:15pm that Sunday. I launched the video simultaneously in all TV stations. The hype was big and in hours, everyone was on YouTube viewing the video. I expect it to hit 50,000 reviews before the end of the week.

P: No other artiste has achieved that feat in the recent past...

DO: Glory be to God.

P: Tell us about the performance at Mavuno Church last Sunday. We hear you drove people to tears...

DO: It was our first performance following the video release. Denno and I were received very well. It all goes down to inspiring people and for that matter people with physical challenges.

P: The song is inspired by real life experiences, right?

DO: Yes it is. I told Denno that I would write about my own experience and he said he would go ahead and sing about himself. People came out narrating how they or their family members were undergoing similar challenges. From music celebrities, TV anchors, athletes and dancers, the stigma was shedding off. The interviews in the video tell it all.

P: What drove you to this noble venture?

DO: In 2002, I lost one eye in a controversial incident. I have talked about my past in the streets many times before...This affected my music career. I developed a low esteem believing that people would look down on me because I had squinted eyes. My singer brother and mentor Rufftone encouraged me saying God had good plans for me. It was then that I started thinking about the plight of people with disabilities.

P: How did you overcome the low esteem challenge?

DO: At first, I was in denial. I disguised my outlook by donning dark sunglasses. They were made to get people to think that I was looking cool while the fact was that I was hiding my squinted eyes. However, slowly I started moving out of my shell.

P: Is it true that the Mbona project was inspired by the young singing star Denno, who is also partially blind?

DO: Yes, to some extent. I was doing a TV interview last year when this blind boy came to the studio and told me he was a great fan. He then went ahead and sang most of my tracks. After that we kept in touch and I promised him we would do a song together one day. The Mbona Campaign Initiative is basically a charity project made to create awareness on the challenges those with disabilities goes through.

P: What is your strategy in this campaign?

DO: Disability has a very wide scope and we want to tackle issues step by step. Our first theme is dubbed Love and Respect. We will tour churches and schools and help change the public’s perceptions on people with disabilities. Our message is simple; don’t sympathise with them, give them an opportunity to live.

P: We understand you also plan to have a big ceremony for the physically challenged late this year...

DO: We will host a gala ceremony, which we have named Malaika Tribute Awards, made for the unsung heroes.

P: We are seeing a new side of you. First you kept off the prestigious Chat and Groove awards and now here you are, talking passionately about people with disabilities. Why this drastic transformation?

DO: Life is a journey. I believe I am doing what God wants me to do with my music gift and fame at this stage.