Daddy wa Power hit maker speaks out

Mention the name James Maina Karanja, and not many people know who that is. Yet his song ‘Daddy wa Power’ since release last year 2012, has been a mainstay of Kikuyu radio stations for the artist popularly known as Jimmy CB Sir. The song is a fans’ favorite across Inooro FM, Kameme FM and Coro FM the three main Kikuyu radio stations in Kenya.

Early Starts

At 26 years, CB Sir is in a new breed of gospel musicians taking the mantle of Kikuyu gospel music and introducing an ooze of divine pop to it. For CB Sir, music was natural to him; from a young age he sang and composed songs sung in school competitions and his church. As a tenor he was the soloist in competitions organized in his home area of Kigumo, Muranga County in Central Kenya.

CB Sir’s foray in the recording industry was made possible by his home Sub Chief who loved the way he sang at church. The Sub-Chief wished his own children would end up in music but they hated it. So he turned his attention to CB Sir, encouraged and introduced him to the late Njoroge Muiri. Njoroge, had connections to production houses in River Road, Nairobi.

Debut Album

His first album was ‘chibicha’ in 2005 where his stage name CB Sir was coined from by fans. Contrary to his expectations, the album wasn’t a hit and didn’t get much air play from the media. He felt the songs were great but looking back three albums later, he attributes the great reception ‘Daddy wa Power’ received to being GOD’s timing and favor. The album was fairly well received in his home village among friends and family. His second album, ‘mutikorwo ni hinya’ (don’t lose strength) suffered a similar fate despite his efforts to market it aggressively.

Breakthrough

In those “dry” times he soldiered on composing never considering quitting believing he was created to make music. “A talent is a nag until you accomplish it,” he said beaming. When he released “Daddy wa Power” in 2012 the song ‘’marketed” itself. “It was like an act of GOD I never spent a coin marketing it,” he said. He expected “siku yangu” (my day) song to strike a chord with fans not “Daddy wa power.”

The positive reception to the song in the three Kikuyu media stations awed him. Friends when they heard his song on radio. It wasn’t until he passed by a shop and heard the song on radio he stopped to listen and believed it. “God has given me loyal fans,” he says. The song’s popularity melted away his father’s skepticism on CB Sir being a musician. A career meteorologist he wanted his son to study and be career scientist. “There was conflict initially, he supports me now my songs are hits,” he said smiling.

Composition Process

CB Sir’s composition process as he describes is straightforward, yet he can’t describe. “I just feel a melody and put words and message to it,” he said smiling. On average he composes a song in 20 minutes and over several days, he corrects and improves it. Composing for him comes from an overflow of his heart, like a preacher, preaching his message past his time limit.

Influences

His biggest musical influence is Henry Waweru a fellow gospel musician from his village. Waweru has songs like “Ningiraga ngaita maithori” (I contemplate and cry). Along the way notables like Kamande wa Kioi and Emoro have played guitars for his songs. Njoroge wa Keyboard who produced Muigai wa Njoroge’s Kigutha album also produced the first album for CB Sir. His drumming has also been handled by a guy called Mwangi wa drumset now in America.

Piracy

Still he changes his production tastes to suit what currently is popular in music market. Though happy with his current success, he admits piracy has crippled him. To date he estimates to have sold 20,000 albums but says could be a million but for piracy. Piracy standards have also risen and fake CDs look real and fool even the musicians. “We even are confused by what’s real and fake, pirates make most of the money,” he said. To try and stem piracy tide, most River Road musicians hire cars with public address systems and hawk music around estates. They sell a CD for Shs 100 just over a dollar. “If I rely on sales from shops I will be impoverished by pirates,” he said. He also laments lack of government support.

Diaspora fans and performances

As he puts finishing touches on his new “winner” album, his next avenue is to target Kikuyu music Diaspora fans. Though fuzzy on the starting points, he aims to utilize internet technology, to connect and sell his music to them. He also urges them to invite him to perform. Though preferring to sing live, with instruments he uses a CD and DJ due to costs of hiring instrumentalists. When organizers demand he sing live, he charges more as he has to pay instrumentalists, vocalists and a roadie.

CB Sir is booked the most in the festive periods, political campaigns and when schools close. Then he can rake 12 times monthly. On handling female fans, he admits the ring on his finger helps when they get too close for comfort. “If you are not married it can be difficult,” said the father of two. His wife also appears in all his 3 VCDs to confirm his marital status musically and publicly.

Mentorship

Back home in Kigumo, he mentors upcoming musicians and assist them record. CB Sir organizes talent searches and fundraisings to sponsor new talents to record. Currently he has five musicians under his wing recording their music. He urges society to give budding musicians chances to sing at events to up their confidence in their ability. He encourages those striving to have their music recognized, to not give up hope. “I was there once and you can feel low and doubt yourself,” he said pensively.

He is ever grateful to his fans support and his home church ACK Kariaini, who fund raised for him to go into music production. “They never let my talent go to waste,” he said smiling. He has his own video production house dubbed Peace Films. Enjoy "Daddy wa Power" video below.

To buy his music contact him at +254 727 747006 or Kikuyumusicians@gmail.com

Kikuyu Musicians