Some say he is the best Rumba musician Kenya never had while others credit him for having redefined local Rumba music making it acceptable locally and beyond.
Meet renowned Rumba star John Odhiambo Orondo popularly known as Johnny Junior among his fans.
The musician who bares ambition as his middle name has been giving sleepless nights to some of the established Rumba musicians in the country since releasing his famous hit “Herana”.
Some local musicians are said to have carefully staged what can be described as character assassination attempt to discredit Johnny Junior. But despite this, the young man has proved to be an exceptional musician whose music is properly arranged, carefully thought and highly danceable.
Celebrating the 5 years of entertainment from Johny Junior and B-V band is the launch of Nyoremo album. Come join and support local artists by buying the original album on the days of the launch. 1st August in Meladen Nairobi and 2nd August in Kisumu Famous Club. Introducing Nya Joyala in this promo video
To prove his intent the undisputable Rumba star recently released an emotional, scintillating and highly danceable five track album "Nyoremo".
The hot LP dubbed “Triple 5” for three reasons; it was released o celebrate the fifth anniversary of Johnny Junior’s Brilliant Voices (BV) Band late last year, it is their fifth LP and it coincidentally contains five tracks namely “Nyoremo”, “Ja-Nyamwere”, “Amour Spécial”, “Mashabiki” (Appreciation) and “Sweet Love” (Remix)- many have described it as a force to reckon with.
Love appears to be the main theme of Johnny’s new release. Three tracks “Nyoremo”, “Amour Spécial”, and “Sweet Love” are love songs. “Life without love is unbearable. You must be loved and love others in order to live a meaningful life,” says the humble and soft-spoken musician.
Johnny, whose music sends Rumba fans crazy, says “love is a sweet thing and very important to a human soul.” He adds that people “get deeply moved by love songs.”
Johnny Junior is very grateful to his fans for their unwavering support. He has in fact dedicated a track –“Mashabiki” (Appreciation) to his fans across the globe. “They are our employers, they have made us what we are and I thought it was time to show my appreciation by dedicating to them a song,” says Johnny.
He is happy that he has managed to win many fans within a short time. Johnny recalls performing to empty seats a few years ago because he was unknown. That is now a thing of the past. His shows attract a multigenerational audience from different backgrounds.
According to recent reports enthusiastic Rumba fans locally and abroad have been sampling his latest LP which has continually dominated the airwaves in Kenya.
“Nyoremo” is a big improvement on Johnny’s previous releases. There's a great mix of emotional vocals and instrumentals on all tracks in this album. While the main language used in the lyrics is Dholuo, several others are also used including Lingala, Swahili, French and Spanish.
Johnny generally uses his music to promote love
Since forming his band more than five years ago, Johnny says he has faced many challenges. Those challenges, however, have never held him back from giving the best to his fans who keep him on his toes.
One of the biggest challenges Johnny has faced is to meet the expectations of his fans.
“I constantly study my fans in order to know what is appealing to them and I get impressed when they appreciate my work,” Johnny says. He reveals that he has been able to come up with many new songs because his fans don’t like listening to old songs all the time. “They also want us to outshine the competition,” Johnny says.
Just like other Kenyan musicians, piracy seriously affects Johnny’s music career. “It seems this virus will never give us a space to breath in this industry,” Johnny says in reference to piracy. “Piracy is seriously hurting us; it keeps on bringing us down to the ground, and forces us to work extra hard to sell LPs.”
“I have brought my fans very close to me; they are part of the band and are our employers. I appreciate them and strive to give them what they want, they are our backbone,” Johnny says.
In Kenya musicians easily move from one band to another. Johnny says he is happy to celebrate BV Band’s fifth anniversary with the same musicians they started with. “We’ve had the same musicians for five years, that’s something worth celebrating,” he says.
Johnny is determined to work hard so that within the next five years, BV Band can become one of the best Rumba music bands in East and Central Africa if not Africa as a whole. He’d also like his band to create opportunities for young musicians to emerge.
Johnny doesn’t want to be successful alone. “I want someone I have trained to be better than me,” he says.
Johnny and his BV Band have staged several shows abroad.
Born John Odhiambo Orondo, Johny Junior started performing in 2004. He first performed with Hit Sound International Band headed by Otieno Jagwasi before joining Musa Juma’s Limpopo International Band for four years as a vocalist. He released his debut LP in 2005 while still with Hit Sound International Band.
In 2009 he decided to launch his solo career and formed B-V Band. Johnny Junior is now one of the best vocalists in Kenya. During his first years in music, he was mainly playing drum sets and drums. With time, he kept on developing the desire of singing.
Since trying and liking what he heard, Johnny Junior has fully concentrated on improving his singing skills.
Johnny Junior’s favourite foreign musicians are the Zimbabwean Oliver Mtukudzi and the Congolese Ferre Gola. He, however, draws his musical inspiration from the late Kenyan Rumba musician Ochieng’ Kabaselleh – Ogolla. “Not only does Kabaselleh inspire me, I love his music,” he says.
He is convinced he has a role of educating the public through his music. This is in fact quite evident in his lyrics. For instance in the track “Kalisto Baba”, he praises a friend who is a reliable, honest, trustworthy and generous person.
Johnny Junior holds that lack of unity amongst Kenyan musicians is contributing to their countless problems. “We don’t know what is called togetherness,” he says, adding that with unity “we can go far.” Most Kenyan musicians are full of envy, he says.
Johnny Junior has so far produced three LPs: “Jacky”, “Sweet Love” and “Kalisto Baba”. He is working on a new LP to be released next year. Johnny Junior says he is determined to succeed in his career as a musician. “I have big plans, but my top priority is to work hard so that I can continue producing good music that people will love. With that I’m sure all my dreams will come true.”
He is now based in Nairobi where he performs every weekend at Club Melladen, in Upper Hill Estate.
Johnny Junior would love to see Kenyan musicians united and working together to support each other. “Let’s come together, let’s unite, it will take us far, let’s love each other, tuwache chuki – (stop envy),” he says.
