Legendary singer Bob Marley once quipped that the beauty of music is that when it hits you, you feel no pain. It is a feeling that fast-rising artiste Ayrosh can resonate with - right from his young age when the musical bug hit him, to the time of joining Sauti Academy and now a full fledged artiste.
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#PulseCeleb254: Catching up with Afro-Fusion singer Ayrosh, the man who has given Mugithi an elevation (Video)
Ayrosh talks, doing Music to impress Girls, Fire EP and Folk Fusion
Singer Ayrosh and Pulse Presenter Shem Muikia at Pulse Live Kenya Studios
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On Friday, the Afro-fusion singer Ayrosh passed by our offices for a special sit-down with the aim of getting his fans to understand his music better and have a one on one interaction with the Pulse Live Kenya family.
First things first, we wanted to know how he describes his sound basing on the fact that he has fuses Mugithi (Kikuyu) music with other genres to create his own unique niche.
“Siku hizi juu nimejua kizungu, naitanga Contemporary Folk. It’s a fusion of Mugithi vibes and other genres that I listen to. E.g. Reggae, Afro Sol, Blues, Afro- Soul. Sometimes I term it as folk fusion".
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Actually, they say; Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid 20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music.
Singer Ayrosh
Singer Ayrosh at Pusle Live Kenya Studios
Pulse Live Kenya
Why Contemporary folk music
Do you think Negative emotions can make you good Music?
“I think all emotions, good or bad are valid and they should be taken seriously during the creations process. If your music is honest, lets say you are angry and you express that in a song, be sure people are going identify with that song.
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And if you are happy and its coming out in the song, people will still feel the song,” explained Ayrosh.
We sought to find out how Ayrosh found his cup of tea in fusing the traditional Mugithi music with other existing genres of music and of course his response was just self-satisfactory.
“Kwa Sababu kuna story huwezi translate, (there are something that you can’t translate) … there are stories you can’t really translate to English and remember we are Africans and African languages for me are just beautiful, and the sounds we make while talking even before we make music is something to be proud of and needs to be promoted.”
With that answered, have you ever tried to find out if your favorite celebrity is single or taken especially if they have kept their relationship under wraps? They are always dodgy about this quiz no matter how hard you try.
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Singer Ayrosh at Pulse Live Kenya Studios
Singer Ayrosh at Pusle Live Kenya Studios
Pulse Live Kenya
The Fire EP
A curious fan asked our Celeb 254 guest Mr Karekee, “Are you single?” read the question.
He replied “Kwa Mtandao, mtandao nakuwanga single. Nikiulizwa in public Nakuwanga single kuruka.”
How was your 2020? This is a question that can easily throw off your guest but if you are lucky as the interviewer, here you can get the details you were looking for. Luckily for Us, Ayrosh dropped an EP (Fire EP) in 2020 and therefore no matter how bad the year might have been because of the ongoing pandemic he got something to look back to.
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“The EP came about in a very random way. Me and my friend DJ Mura, who produced all those songs, tulikuwa studio tunawork on some other things.
Alafu hiyo time kulikuwa na njeve (Baridi) sometime in October, so tukasema acha tuandika Ngoma. Tukaandika hiyo ngoma inaitwa Kiroko, so the idea was to do the songs as quickly as possible and release them to the people because people were just indoors with plenty of time to sample new things.
The idea was to write some nice, knotty, lovey-dovey songs that people can listen to when chilling at home with their partner.
Like the song Kiroko- means let me leave in the morning. Others songs that you need to check out from the Fire EP is; Fire, Who are You, and Ya!
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Asked on whether he has been able to perform any of the songs from the Fire EP, bearing in mind that social gatherings are still prohibited.
“Unfortunately not, I have only been able to perform one song which is fire but we are in the process of creating a live performance of the EP, after Valentines"
As a performer, do you like large crowd’s or you prefer more intimate small gigs?
“To be honest I like both, large crowds have a lot of energy and very fun. The advantage of small crowds is that you can play more intimate jams, you can talk to your people. The only think I don’t like is no crowds.
I actually play actual Mugithi music only that I fuse it up Kidogo, I have played at Mugithi shows. I also organize my own show called Folk Fusion, where a big portion of my set is Mugithi.”
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Amidst our interview, we challenged Ayrosh to describe his demographic to us and this is what he said;
“A lot of young people in Nairobi want to get in touch with their roots, they just wanna feel connected to their roots, so that’s my audience and what I have noticed is that youth
between 20 and 35, guys who want to identify as Africans are consumers of my music.
Pulse Interview with Ayrosh
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Singer Ayrosh and Pulse Presenter Shem Muikia at Pulse Live Kenya Studios
Singer Ayrosh at Pusle Live Kenya Studios
Pulse Live Kenya
Did you grow up in Nairobi?
“My Early childhood was in the village (Maragua) then I came back while in class 7, then I went to KU, so it’s been half/half. I learned my Kikuyu in the village but now its disappearing because of the people I hang out with.
Towards the end of our catch up with Ayrosh, we had to throw in some True or False quiz, to be able to harvest some truth out of him.
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True or False
Ayrosh started doing Music to impress girls?
“True- why do you think tulikuwa tunabebana na guitar in the whole school. But that time it used to work, but nowadays haiweizi.”
You were part of the Sauti Academy?
True- I was in Sauti Academy and everyone I was there with was famous… the class in front of me had H_art Band, the class before that had Fena Gitu”.
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School gives you confidence to do music business and also learn from pother musicians. Also Sauti gave me a Network because you meet many people trying to do the same thing”
Given a chance to compose the next campaign song now that we are approaching the next General election?
“Yes! I will because when you look at it the water they drink in those campaign, the tracks they use they are supplied by somebody, so why should I feel ashamed when providing entertainment.
It is good to separate business from your own personal ideas. Unless now it goes against my values.”
Singer Ayrosh and Pulse Kenya Head of Content David Jerome at Pulse Live Kenya Studios
Singer Ayrosh at Pusle Live Kenya Studios
Pulse Live Kenya
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What’s your favorite song off the fire EP?
Kiroko
Favorite Fashion Item?
Shoes
What makes you happy?
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Beer.
What pisses you off?
Injustice.
For 500K would you cut off all your Hair?
No.
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What is the one thing you can’t live without?
Music or Earphones
What’s the Craziest thing you have ever done because of a girl?
Kutoka kwa nyumba yangu usiku ati nimeendea Bootycall! Simping on a new level.
What are you excited about in 2021?
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I will be drooping a new album. And a new series of Folk Fusion.
Signing off, a thankful Ayrosh expressed gratitude towards, fans who have always accorded him love as they continue to vibe with his music.
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Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: news@pulselive.co.ke
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