By Sheila Kimani (@Sheilakimm)
With a fully fledged musical career that saw him start off as a member of the Necessary Noize alongside Rapper Bamzigi and Queen of Kenyan Hip hop Nazizi, then go on to form the East African Bashment Crew alongside Nazizi and Bebe Cool, Kevin Waire a.k.a Wyre the love child is the Kenyan King of dancehall, with awards to show for it.
Besides spotting an impeccable patois accent, Wyre’s Jamaican collaborations have seen him work alongside Jamaican top shots like Morgan heritage, Silva stone, Cecile and most recently Alaine with whom he did “Nakupenda pia”.
Well, you’ve got to give it up to Wyre for teaching the Jamaican hit singer some Kiswahili, no wonder she was elated and excited to see him when she came back to Kenya for the Cabanas park concert which happened a few weeks back.
But it was his collaboration with Cecile on the “She said dat” hit that saw him become the FIRST African to win the 2013 Best New Entertainer award during the International Reggae And World Music Awards (IRAWMA).
Impressively, he won against other Jamaican top shots like D’Major and Chronixx, and is still on the IRAWMA nomination list in 2014.
His Jamaican/ patois accents are an asset especially in making of his dance hall hits, but Wyre can also serenade his fans with Rhythm and Blues, which were his initial forte.
After moving from the Necessary Noize group, he released his first solo album “Definition of a Love child” in 2006 and followed it up with “Ten years wiser in 2009”.
Astoundingly, despite all the public attention he receives, Wyre knows how to keep his privates as such and his wedding to Hanifa in 2008 was a private affair with only close family and friends receiving the exclusive invitations.
To date Wyre’s career is still going strong and we are proud of how well he represents Kenya when it come to music.
