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Kikuyu Gospel Music scene Jeremy Damaris in recent years has proved the go to
MC, when artistes are launching their albums.
His engaging, funny, clean and unique style of MCing has landed him gigs
in Central Kenya to emcee campaign rallies of the current Kenyan President
Uhuru Kenyatta. Early Life
Yet for a
young Jeremy, growing up in a poor single mother led household in Ngegu, Kiambu
County, life didn’t offer much promise beyond completing primary school and
working in coffee plantations where his mom, aunties, uncles and grandfather worked
as labourers. That environment made a
young Jeremy lose interest in studying while in primary school but not out of
stupidity. He never aspired to be
anything in future after school, but one thing he told her mom was he wanted to
be a pastor.
Even at that
young age, when Jeremy accompanied his mom Damaris Wambui to fields, he climbed
trees and would look down on arrowroots leaves address, them and imagine their
swaying as people waving back at him. He
then used to admire Pastor Pius Muiru who broadcast on radio and TV and wished
to one day preach like him. Jeremy would
also imitate newscasters and would also love music by Hezeh Ndungu and John
Ndungu of mwitio wa mwiri fame.
High School Life and wearing Ladies Shoes
After
completing primary school, Jeremy never imagined enrolling for high school but
his mom surprised him by getting him a place at Kiambu Township Secondary
School. This terrified him as he could
barely construct an English sentence and he had heard people spoke in English
in high school. Still he did get admitted in 2000 and with that, broke a family
tradition of never getting to high school. Though the school was able to provide uniform,
Jeremy’s mom could not afford proper shoes for him. The shoes available to him were high heeled ladies
shoes that made him a laughing stock by other students.
“I didn’t know
they were ladies shoes, so it didn’t bother me” Jeremy remembers, as he never
wore any in primary school. He wore them in Form 1 and partly Form 2. Even then
studies were of little interest to Jeremy until one day it rained so heavily.
As he watched rains pound, he remembered his mom who worked in coffee plantations
and wept bitterly at her agony. In those
plantations workers were not allowed to have umbrellas or shelter from rain or
you would lose your job.
Mom's Sacrifices
His mom’s
sacrifices made Jeremy purpose to commit himself to studies. He realized the reason
why his mom worked in those plantations to get fees was so, he would not have
to work in them. By studying hard he was
able to improve on his from number 20 in previous term to 3. His desire to pastor in ACK or PCEA came
alive. Teachers took notice of his improvement and in Form 2 towards the end he
was made the head boy second only to the school captain.
That required
he get proper men’s shoes a Swahili teacher Mrs. Obiero summoned him and asked
why he wore them. Jeremy explained he
had no other pair but sports shoes that the school never allows to be won. “It
was then I realized it was ladies shoes,” Jeremy told Kikuyu Musicians. By then the heel was won out and shoe
twisted. To polish it, black Jeremy
crushed old torch batteries and mixed the black with paraffin and applied it. Out
of compassion Mrs Obiero bought him a new pair of shoes. However lack of school fees meant Jeremy was
constantly being expelled.
Completing High School
Completing High School
But the
headmaster always explained to him first that he didn’t expel him because he
desired it but due to regulations. He encouraged
Jeremy and tell him he would be a great man in future in vein of other church
leaders then like Ndingi Mwana Nzeki or Archibishop Gitari the head of ACK
Church who had the ear of the nation yet like him had difficult starts in life.
This spurred Jeremy to an extent that in 2003 he led in KCSE results at the
school by scoring a B+. The grade was a first even for the high school.
Completing
high school was bitter sweet experience for him as his prospects in
life darkened. His mom could only afford
to pay for him a driving course or a computer packages but not college and neither
appealed to Jeremy. He had wanted to study to be a teacher. She gave up convincing
him and told him to fend for himself. As
4 brothers they lived in a single room with his mom and as he never wished to
be a burden, he moved out in 2004 to fend for himself.
Hawking cakes jobs
Jeremy got a
job hawking cakes in paper bags and walking long distances. He hired a bicycle for Sh40 to make his work
easier in distributing. One day he cycled from Kiambu town to Ngomongo,
Githurai, Kahawa West and back to Kiambu in a bid to sell. Of all that effort, he sold only one cake for
sh25 which meant he had earned a commission of sh2. When he got back home with remaining 24
untouched packets he was so emotionally broken he never went back to the cake
company. He also had a debt of the guy
who hired the bicycle to him.
Church Expulsion
His mother
borrowed money and he bought him a bicycle. With that he got another job in
another company, facilitated by GP husband to Shiro wa GP of agiginyani fame who
also sold cakes from a bicycle. In the
new company commissions were better and he got Sh5 per cake. He also desired to record an album so he did
a fundraising in his village for that.
But the person he appointed as treasurer was a Pastor who after
receiving the money disappeared never to be seen again. This caused the whole village to perceive
Jeremy as a con as he never recorded or proceeded to college. When he narrated the said Pastor ran off with
the money he was excommunicated from the church.
First Album and Pulling Mkokoteni
In the
process of selling cakes he met a lady who offered to fund his recording out of
pity. He released his first album “aruto a Jesus” (Jesus disciples). It only sold 50 cassettes and in frustration
Jeremy burnt all the 1000 album sleeves he had printed. Then as selling the cakes had low returns of
around sh50 in a day Jeremy quit and got another job of selling sodas from a
rickshaw (mkokoteni). There was a sure
salary of Sh4000 monthly and this appealed to him.
However,
pulling mkokoteni with 20 crates of sodas while selling them around Kiambu town
proved even more taxing. First he had to
eat breakfast worth Sh50 to be ready yet by 11am he would be starving to
death. In a month he found he at times
spent Sh3000 food or more than he earned. “It was a loss making job and was penniless,”
said Jeremy. The insults he suffered
while pulling mkokoteni on the road from motorists and touts inspired a song “nikuri
mwihoko” there is hope. “I cried as I
sang the song,” remembers Jeremy. He got
money to record and planned the album launch in 2008.
Developing MC's Skills
From the
launch he got Sh20, 000 and quit the soda job to focus on hawking the album. At any day he would never give the impression
he was selling CDs to avoid first time rejection. Instead he would wear a suit
and stash 10CDs in the pocket and knock around homes or approach strangersThat
way, when approaching a potential buyer he engaged them in a conversation first
not giving the impression he sold anything. As he remembers that was when his MC skills
began to develop due to his convincing nature.
“I avoided
carrying a bag so people wouldn’t mistake me as Jehovah witness,” said
Jeremy. To potential buyers he came up
with crafty techniques to get them to buy his CDs. It worked, in 3 months, he sold
1000 CDs. Yet they were never promoted
or played on any Kikuyu radio station. He hawked them in Ikinu, Githunguri, Ndumberi
and Kiambu town. In one of the CD selling jaunts in 2008 he met a man who asked
him to sing at his wedding. Jeremy
insisted he be invited as an MC as he was the better than the one who had been
asked. “Yet I had never been an MC but I was convinced I’d do it,” said Jeremy.
First MCing Gig
So audacious
was Jeremy that he insisted he had trained the MC who was invited. He was invited to a pre-wedding for raising funds
where he did an exemplary job. For the
job he charged 2500 half of what the other MC charged and he got the job and
other 3 people took his contacts. The wedding was attended by prominent
personalities including Joseph Kamaru’s wife who was so impressed with Jeremy’s
clean language MC style that later that evening she got him another job. That got him other wedding MC gigs that paid
Sh2000 to 3000. “But they were scarce and I lacked money,” said Jeremy.
Working in Coffee Plantations
To
supplement his income he was forced to get a job at the coffee plantation in
2008 as the CDs were selling slowly and he had exhausted his market. He was also catering as well for his
siblings. At the plantation he worked
from 6am to 2pm. The work entailed
uprooting coffee stumps, spraying, irrigating and weeding. He hated the job and constantly prayed to God
to get him out of there after few months. People he found working there made
his life difficult as they scorned him, for prior to joining them he was in music
and always sharply dressed and never imagined him working with them there.
“I was hopeless the work was challenging and wasn’t able to work as well as them,” said Jeremy. Every night they would go into the plantations at 11pm and irrigate the coffee until 6am at times getting drenched. “I felt that was not my place but had no alternatives,” said Jeremy. He asked for a job as a watchman as he deemed it less torturous as watchman at times slept and he got it. The pay was sh4000 and it was then he prayed to God to get him out from there. He used to tell his fellow workers who scorned him one day they will see him in his car driving and testify of God’s goodness.
Song from Coffee Plantations and Teaching Job
Then in
those plantations he got a song “especially mwaka uyu Ngai niekudathima” in
2009. Fellow watchman got jealous of him and he was shifted back to working in
the coffee plantations. His job now
entailed uprooting coffee stumps and his arms developed boils due to that. The coffee plantation was sold to another
company and Jeremy was among those affected by downsizing in April 2010. “I lifted my arms and thanked God,” he said. Shortly
after he got a teaching job due to his good KCSE grades teaching a small
private academy. He was to teach English from Class 4 to 8 yet he had no clue
on teaching or where to start but God gave him wisdom. His arms still with boils he kept concealed
when interacting with kids as he felt embarrassed.
Fired for refusing sexual advances
On his 3rd
day on the job he got promoted as the headmaster and given an office. “Yet a week earlier I was uprooting coffee
stumps,” said Jeremy. People who had
scorned him in the coffee plantation started hearing he was now a headmaster
and began to see the hand of God in Jeremy’s life. He worked for 2 terms but by 3rd term the
school owner began to develop romantic interest in Jeremy. When he failed to reciprocate her advances he
was fired under other pretences. But he
warned the teachers he left behind. He went back to hawking his CDs and being
an MC in late 2011.
MCing at Album Launches and Fundraising
Still in
2011 Jeremy got invited to MC an album launches for James Warachi and Sarah Wainana.
So exemplary was his work that other musicians stated their interest in him
MCing their album launches. Shortly after
Shiro wa GP launched her album Muoroto and Jeremy was the MC with many
prominent Kikuyu Gospel Musicians in attendance who noticed his uniqueness and
fundraising prowess.
Starting a Hotel
From savings
he had, in 2012, he started a small hotel in Ngegu where he sold Chapatis, fries
Tea and Mandazis early last year (2012). He also sold charcoal which he did during
the week when he wasn’t MCing. The hotel
flourished and villagers began getting jealous of his success. Shortly after, 4
women started selling charcoal next to him at lower prices. Others also began
selling fries he was left without customers yet he had just had a young months
old son. That required extra income and
he left the hotel to his brother to run other businesses.
Son's Illness, Death, Desperation and Village Gossip
Around June
last year (2012) tragedy struck his household, his son fell ill and died. That
shattered Jeremy so badly as he had exhausted his savings in his son’s
treatment and the hotel and charcoal business was collapsing. Gossip about his
tragic predicaments spread around Ngegu to an extent naysayers predicted he
would be back working in coffee plantations again. In his penniless state He
was considered a loser and he began question God’s motive for his life. He felt
a deep conviction to move out of Ngegu.
He dilly dallied, until one day he came back, and found in one day all
the 30 chapattis, mandazis and tea had not sold not even one in a whole day. He
closed the hotel gave out his hotel stuff to women nearby and moved to Kiambu
town an emotional broke wreck after the burial.
Floodgates of Blessings and MCing Jobs
However from
July 2012 floodgates of MCing jobs began coming in a way he had never experienced
before. So much so that he was able to
earn enough to get a car worth over Sh600,000 and move his wife to a better
home. He afterwards bought land in Juja
and built a 4 room house for his mom and for the first time she never had to
live in a rented home. With more opportunities his fee rose from Sh5000 to
Sh20,000. “I forgot to sing and concentrated on MCing,” remembers Jeremy. He has MCed for Leah Mercy Ngugi too.
From making Sh4000 in the coffee plantations he now made Sh20, 000 a weekend. In one of those events he MCeed, he caught the eye of one of Uhuru Kenyatta’s campaign strategist who invited him for a meeting. “Here I was thinking I was stuck MCing weddings and album launches,” said Jeremy. He was so head over heels; he didn’t ask how much he would earn in advance. The whole of January, Jeremy was part of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s campaign in Central Kenya and daily earned Sh40,000 and his accommodation and food were catered for.
Testifying of GOD's faithfulness
“10 times
what I made in the coffee plantation in a month GOD is faithful,” says Jeremy. His name was a common fixture on radio and TV
and that boosted his profile and even watchmen and workers who had scorned him were
awed. “I believe anything You dream of
God can give You,” said Jeremy. For
himself he bought a plot that he plans to build a home soon. Still as he says God surprised him and he won
a US green card lottery. “Everything I
have desired God has blessed me with,” said Jeremy. For him he desired the blessings he has
received to point people to God not himself. “Troubles can afflict You for 10
years but in a second God can make You a billionaire,” says Jeremy.
Presenter for Githima Kia Muoyo
At times
when about his business in Kiambu town people point to him and say he is the
man that has dined with Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s current President. “It’s what
God can do,” said Jeremy, the people he worked in the coffee plantations with
are still there. He also works as a
presenter of Githima Kia Muoyo on Property TV and interviews various Kikuyu
Gospel Musicians. From being born by his
mom who was still in primary school and even got ostracized for sinning, Jeremy
has seen God’s faithfulness.
Lessons Learned in Tough Times
The great
lesson he has learned is to never compromise on his love for GOD and thank Him
regardless of the circumstances. A year after his son’s passing Jeremy released
an album “Ndoiga ni Wega” as thanks to God for sustaining him and wife through
that loss. “The song when I wrote it
made me cry as I looked at my son’s picture,” said Jeremy. He advises people in trials, to examine their
hearts to know if they are going through them due to sin or as a test from God.
The album is his 4th and it’s
available in various Kikuyu Music stores along River Road.
Jeremy Damaris Foundation for Poor Children
Sufferings
Jeremy has gone through have inspired him to start Jeremy Damaris foundation
that educates children of poor single moms. So far it had 10 kids and he aims to have 300
in five years time. “I want to be a
ladder to someone else achieving his dreams to the glory of God,” said Jeremy.
Copyrights
Kikuyu Musicians Publishing
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