Sauti Sol is an outfit that has stood the test of time. They started off as a group of friends singing together long before they became the megalithic group of stars they are known as today.
That was 20-odd years ago and now they are a huge deal not just in Kenya nor in East Africa but to Africa and the world. But how have they lasted so long as a team of unique individuals each with their own idiosyncrasies and broken in their own way?
Bien on why he doesn’t wear his wedding ring
Bien was recently put to task to explain the secret to their longevity and he explained that it was down to them valuing their friendship so much, they proactively seek ways to keep it alive even as their talent has turned into hard work.
So they all go for therapy “like married couples do”. That is a powerful statement because it also shows that men too can benefit from therapy and group therapy is especially essential for a group of friends and business partners.
Sauti Sol
This also works to allay fears that the group were seeking to breakup after each has embarked on a solo career and is currently engaged on their own projects.
Bien has by far been the most successful out of the Sauti Sol collective but he is not thinking of going solo and ditching his friends. Mudigi Savara too has tasted success as have Fancy Fingers and Chimano but they will eventually reunite and give us a new album.
Bien Aime Barasa recently came out to correct you and I for misunderstanding his words about being in an open marriage. Perhaps that is because we are peons who cannot understand the Queens English or rather, it’s very Kenyan version.
You see, on some podcast that he went on some months back, in an attempt (abortive one at best) to virtue signal and seem like a progressive man, he came out to declare that he would allow his wife to sleep with her celebrity crush:
Bien on why he doesn’t wear his wedding ring
Me and Chiki have this thing where if I ever meet my celebrity crush somewhere and I am in a situation where my celebrity crush want to engage in coitus’ with me so be it and vice versa.
And when this statement drew ridicule (as it rightly should) and contempt, he changed his statement retoractively to declare us idiots who did not understand his words. Bien wasn’t saying that he and his wife are in any capacity of an open relationship, he was simply just saying… Uhm… Whatever the hell this means in context of the previous statement:
I’m not in an open marriage. I have never said that I’m in an open marriage, it’s just that people concluded their own things. There is what you say and there is what people want to hear. I have never said I’m in an open marriage, but I have said that when in marriage you are not supposed to own your partner, you are supposed to experience your partner.
Such a dumb hot take and then even more vapid retraction. Like, look my man, we get it, you’re a bleeding heart liberal on the bleeding edge of progress. However, if you do not own your partner’s body and her yours, then what even is the point of getting married? Riddle me that.
If Bien and his wife are truly committed to each other and want to experience each other without the confines of “ownership” then why get the government involved? Because if one or the other carries out a long time affair, they could actually be jailed for bigamy.
So why invite the government into your relationship with you just want to enjoy your partner’s soul? Why not just carry on with your relationship and leave man and God out of it? It makes no sense to talk like a teenager who just found out about polyamory (with your wife’s celebrity crush) and soul ties and magic and chakras and still invite the yoke of judicial responsibility upon yourselves.
Or better yet, why can’t Bien just stop telling us about his marriage? Nameless and Wahu are by far the most wholesome celebrity couple but they do not overshare the intimate details about their lives. They do not feed their audience terrible advice.
Marriage is not all about being faithful to one another, it’s about walking the journey of life together. Being faithful is about 5 percent of a relationship and people who are married can understand me. Even when your partner cheats, that is not the first thing that will lead to a breakup. There are so many things that can happen that supersede jealous emotions.
Mara sijui open marriages, mara sijui faithfulness is not the main reason to get married… It all just sounds like a man who knew he couldn’t be faithful to his wife but doesn’t have the stones to tell her of his true nature so he is trying to convince her to accept the inevitable.
When marriage was built off political ties (one tribe marrying off their sons to another tribe for the sake of peace) or for consolidation of wealth (one tribe with a lot of cattle marrying their daughters off to the sons of a tribe with a lot of arable land), faithfulness didn’t matter. But something Bien and his ilk will often mention in their songs is that we live in a different age, one where people marry for love.
And given that these days, people marry for love, you being unfaithful to your spouse (not letting them know before hand of your polygamous intent or wandering eye) means you are cheating on that love. You are betraying the person. Unlike before when marriages were arranged for practical reasons, when one strayed they were pursuing love.
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All your favourite celebrities are talking about undergoing vasectomies. Well, that is a bit of a stretch but you know what I mean. Your favourite celebrities have either outright claimed they are about to secure a vasectomy or their wives have suggested vasectomies for them.
These characters include Bien and Bahati but even more are stoking the fanfare flames around this rather interesting method of family planning. Why is that? I have never been one to chalk things up to coincidences simply so let’s take a step back and try to see the bigger picture.
When we take a look at what is happening on the international stage, we know that Roe vs Wade was repelled. For those of you who do not know what that is, it is essentially the law that allowed abortions in America.
As a result, your favourite feminists are up in arms acting like that affects us. At the end of the day, abortions aren’t legal in Kenya but that doesn’t us from procuring them. But feminists have never been the type to let simple logic come in the way of an opportunity to virtue signal so male feminists have started declaring they will undergo vasectomies inorder to “protect their wives”.
On the other hand, we have women who know they domineer over their husbands. These women also know that they no longer want their husband’s seed. So what do they do? They subtly suggest a vasectomy as a family planning compromise. And their husbands are either too dense to pick up on the subtle manipulation or are so henpecked, that they don’t know the difference.
And so the idea is implanted into these men’s minds. But for some reason unbeknownst to them, it doesn’t sit easy. Their lizard brains are rejecting the idea of getting their nads snipped. But they need to prove to everyone they are virtuous so what do they do? They do what Bien did, they come out to tell the world and their adoring fans that they are getting vasectomies and they phrase it in such a way it seems noble. After all, misery loves company.
DJ Moz and Dj soxxy
Think about it, when Bien tells us what he and his wife have decided to do to his gonads, a medical procedure that should, by all means, be private, he is proselytizing so he can convince you he is a virtuous husband and that you too should browbeat your man into accepting this nonsense.
However, the truth is, a woman who is truly in love with her man, a woman who truly respects her man would never suggest to him that he essentially castrate himself. Ultimately, we evolved to view a man’s nads as a measure of his masculinity and with good reason.
While a vasectomy could potentially mess about with that apparatus as they have been shown to elevate men’s longterm risk of prostate cancer.
“Our results indirectly support the hypothesis that there is an elevated risk of prostate cancer among men who underwent vasectomy 20 or more years previously.”
Or how about this finding from another study:
“…men who had undergone vasectomy less than 20 years earlier not only had a higher dihydrotestosterone level than age-matched controls (1.46 vs. 1.22 nmol/l; p 0.01) but had a lower testosterone/dihydrotestosterone ratio.”
So why would a woman willingly attempt to put a man she respects through this risk? That is a woman who doesn’t respect her man as I had earlier asserted. And we can look at a pattern beginning to form right before our eyes; an open marriage (if the partner’s celebrity crush happens to be in town), falling into your wife’s frame and finally a vasectomy. But perhaps we aren’t ready yet to drink that cup of coffee.
Bien has revealed that he is actively seeking to have a vasectomy done on him. Why he chose to share this bit of information to the world, I will never understand. But what I do know is that he will soon be busy yelling at is fans and commenters and critics that they should never have shared their opinions as it is his body and his choice.
So I found myself laughing like crazy when I found out he wanted to have his nads snipped. My friends and I were in a tizzy because this is truly an un-African thing. A man who deliberately wants to seal his capacity for a legacy?
Bien with wifey, Chiki
But Bien and his Sauti Sol groupmates have always been progressive so this is really not shocking but he has abdicated his God-given role of being a man in his household. He would effectively become a eunuch in all but the missing nads. What a heathen.
You see, while I understand that he doesn’t want to have children today, this is one of the most difficult decisions to make because you cannot ever truly know whether you would want to change your mind in future.
Besides this, the nads are where we as men derive our spiritual and primitive energies. That is why when a man wants to harness his power, he is advised to transmute that energy. What can you transmute if your body isn’t fully functional?
Also, I understand that he sees Chiki Kuruka, his wife, as his forever person (he strikes me as the type to fall for the myth of the one) but what if that is not to be? And his next partner says she wants a family? I guess what I am honestly challenging is whether or not the decision was made for him or it was made on behalf of his wife and not having her take birth control.
And the timing is suspect because as you know, Bien’s wife is a rather vocal feminist. And it was only after he started dating and eventually married her that we saw him put on his petticoat and start singing feminist nonsense on social media. Now that there are the Roe vs Wade controversies in America, he comes out to say he wants a vasectomy? I mean, coincidences are a thing but timing is everything. Is he truly his own focal point anymore?
Perhaps it is also down to the fact that he has had a series of statements that were so soy and weak under the guise of being “mUh ProGgReSsiVE” but he first revealed his would be a potentially open marriage if her celebrity crush ever came to town. He also has been rather emotional on social media ranting about toxic masculinity instead of simply acknowledging that Kenya has some criminals and bad men and now this… He keeps taking on weak positions so perhaps my hind brain is recognizing weakness in Bien and I am struggling to accept this neo-male.
Ultimately, if this move works for him? Fantastic! However, should he end up revealing that he regretted making that decision, Kenyans would not just never forgive him but we would never allow him to live this down.
Bien is one celebrity whom I believe is on that Will Smith type of time. For those of you who somehow still do not know what happened, he (Will Simp) slapped Chris Rock purportedly over a flacid joke he made about G.I Jane and Jada Pinkett being right for that role.
If you have the two brain-cells required to rub together to spark a thought, you know that Will Simp’s reaction was not about the joke that was made. What we saw was a broken man, one whose mind has been done harm by his own wife trying to show the world that he is still a man. And he did so in the way weak men do, he lashed out at the one man he felt was smaller and weaker than he and he slapped him.
Bien’s self righteous feminist drivel
However, for woke SJWs such as Bien and his inner circle, this was a brilliant display of chivalry. This is what a man must do to show his woman that she is protected by him. What Bwana Simp did was something worth emulating and while we saw clowns like KRG da Don claim he would do that to whomever disrespected his new woman, I think we all know this type of energy is actually more a Bien thing.
And indeed, watching him evolve into the neo-male archetype (read: simp) over the past few months as he has also increasingly championed useless social topics rather than hard hitting issues that affect the less “cool” members of society. And we already got a taste of this when we saw the “beef” between himself and Eric Omondi.
Sauti Sol’s Bien Aime speaks after testing positive for Coronavirus
Incase you’ve forgotten what I am referring to, think back to the incident at Carnivore when the Sauti Sol member was robbed. Also, I should probably add at this point that it will probably not be a comedian on the receiving end of Bien’s simp-rage, it will be some scrawny blogger who might, say, report on an impending divorce or cheating allegation (God forbid ofcourse).
That is because men like him do not know how to channel their rage and disappointment at their wives. And men who marry feminists (Chiki Kuruka is the screeching feminist type) are often henpecked and emasculated. And yeah, I know you’re probably thinking, “Well, we haven’t heard a peep about any instability in their marriage” but I would counter and say, we didn’t know Bien had contemplated divorce just 8 months after marrying Chiki until he opened up and revealed it.
“To say I love you is not enough,” Chiki Kuruka’s open letter to renowned photographer who hooked her up with Bien
So at this point, it isn’t so much about suspending disbelief over the matter as it is engaging abstract thought and picturing an alternative reality where a split has occurred. Also, most relationships between feminists and men take one or another extreme end of the spectrum with the man either becoming hen-pecked or the couple divorcing. And we saw, that just like Will Simp, he too would be forgiving of his wife should she decide to sleep with her celebrity crush later in life.
Can you see the parallels? And should that day come when some blogger has to break the news that the relationship is in turmoil, Bien’s rage will be visited upon him (here’s looking at you Edgar Obare) and you will be the target of his emasculation. Then we will be treated to some woke regurtitation about how it is a man’s responsibility to defend his woman and marriage.
What has made Bien start thinking Kenyans appreciate his pontificating to us about how virtuous a male feminist he is? Ever since he started dating his now-wife, he has become the bastion of everything good and progressive about masculinity and he is preaching to us that we as Kenyan men must copy who he has become.
No, seriously, we miss the days when he was a more chill and reserved celebrity who would use the silence from his part to feed the mystery that surrounded him. These days we actually miss the silence -when it is about things that do not matter because he was very silent when the nation was discussing important issues such as #UnlockOurCountry.
But that is not even what makes his constant preaching offensive to the senses of anyone who has theirs intact… The biggest issue with what he says is that he is always virtue signalling. We get it, Bien is married to a feminist, that doesn’t mean he has pass on the angst he deals with to the rest of us.
He recently took to his social media account to give us our best example to date of why I say he is so tone-deaf and misinformed that he is better off maintaining his silence. He posted the following:
And I have to wonder why he thinks dealing with criminals is a gendercentric issue. Why does he think that preaching to us to show us how much of a “strong ally” he is would make sensible people change their tune.
We get it, the most recent video shared of bodaboda criminals is appalling but we all suffer at the hands of these gangs. So it is in our best interest to deal with them collectively. When we make the fight about how women should be “respected and protected” we invalidate the suffering that other Kenyans have suffered simply because they are men.
Keep in mind that it was only last year when a group of young men were lynched and then burned alive by bodaboda criminals and back then absolutely no one made it a gender based fight. That is because people like Bien chose to maintain sharap.
Or so I thought until I had an epiphany of sorts… Bien is a member of Sauti Sol. His core audience is female. I mean, they are a great band that makes great music but his main fanbase is made up of women. So this is all a grift!
Bien Alusa Baraza
He is simply saying and doing things that would endear him to a huge chunk of his fanbase. That is why when there are times when speaking up would seem like the civic duty of any aware and plugged in Kenyan citizen, he is silent. It is because his core audience doesn’t care.
Tht is why when Kenyans are discussing things like the rising cost of living, when Kenyans are complaining about being overburdened by taxes or when we are discussing rampant corruption, he is silent as a church mouse. That is because like any good grifter, his outbursts are calculated. I doubt he believes in the things he lends his voice to, it is all manufactured indignation.
Sauti Sol’s lead vocalist, Bien Aime Baraza
You see, Bien knows to speak up when he will get the support of his core audience. He knows that he needs to be a feminist inorder for him and his group to continue enjoying all the sponsorship deals he gets from corporate sponsors. Because make no mistake about it, the advertising world is run by women.
Be that as it may be, I am a simple man with simple pleasures and pet peeves. One of them is seeing him climb atop his soap box and start lecturing us about what he thinks we should care about. We are Kenyans dealing with runaway crime and an angry populace who cannot direct their anger at the government or politicians. And when a crime occurs, only a grifter tries to sell it as a crime unique to one gender. Criminals are opportunists who target people they think they can get away with victimizing. So Bien needs to stop distracting us from this fact with his feminist pandering.
Bien, one of Sauti Sol’s most vocal members recently revealed that he was thinking about initiating a divorce from his wife, Chiki Kuruka, just 8 months after they had gotten married. He made this admission during a rather intorspective interview he had on a YouTube show called Man Talk.
What is interesting about all this is that his interview showed a more… Intune side of the often more brash and often vocal side of the singer who is known to always talk off the cuff about anything and everything.
Bien with wifey, Chiki
Perhaps it was the subject matter that made him actually introspect or perhaps it is due to the fact that he underwent counselling to him with his marriage that has made him this way on the topic but as we said at the very beginning, the 8 months he was forced to spend indoors with his wife took a toll on Bien and he found himself contemplating ending the marriage.
I will once again say that I do not understand why celebrities like opening up their marriage for public scrutiny by discussing issues such as these and the fact that he would allow his woman to pursue intimacy with her celebrity crush -only to later turn around on the matter and blast fans and “bloggers” for daring to report verbatim on what they themselves said but here we are again.
Married couple, Bien Aime and Chiki Kuruka
Anyway, let us keep it pushing. Alot of people missed something that Bien has communicated or should I say some things that were communicated. Let us get right into it:
#1. Kenyan youth aren’t really prepared for marriage
Your guy is a celebrity who has been touring around the world. He is currently on top of the world and his craft. He probably did not really seek any direction before he settled down. To him, this was merely the next step his relationship needed to take. The reason I say this is because from what we have seen among celebs, most of them do not really think about what exactly marriage is and what it entails.
Hubby and wife, Bien Aime Baraza and Chiki Kuruka
Have they discussed children? Has Bien discussed how they would raise those children? I mean, he told us that they have discussed her (and him) being allowed to sleep with celebrity crushes but have they discussed the mundane aspects that makeup daily married life? If spending 8 months with someone in close quarters puts a strain on the relationship then perhaps they don’t really know each other.
Do they have a couple they can approach when they need to discuss their marriage? And no, I am not talking about their married friends and bandmates, I mean, can Bien reach out to a couple that has been happily married for 20+ years who aren’t his parents or Chiki’s?
#2. The strong woman trope doesn’t work in marriage
Chiki is a strong woman. That is her identity. She is a modern woman who is not willing to lose her identity for the sake of anyone… Yeah, so when we delve into statistics collected from societies that actually keep them, feministsis and Ms Independent™ do not stay married for long. And often, it is the women who opt out of the union. The unfortunate truth is that women are responsible for taking care of the relationship. That is not to say that a woman should tolerate a man who is clearly not in it to win it but that is simply the truth of how human beings are designed. Unlike men, women are the more community and communication driven sex. Men are more interested in things and concepts. Women are more interested in people and relationships.
Does that sound like a double standard? Maybe if you’re a “modern woman” but it is encoded in our genetics.
And Bien too is always championing this delusion. In truth, if marriage needed to change, it would have done so organically, not through virtue signalling. We do not care whether or not he is an “ally” because that is not what makes marriages work. And as we are seeing from the west, liberalism is not the way to go unless we want to watch marital rates plummet even further.
Chiki Kuruka and Bien
#3. Keep your relationship and marriage private
This is a huge one because whenever their relationship is discussed, it is always because Bien is opening up their love to public scrutiny. I have a mentor who keeps reminding me that secrecy locks the demons in but privacy keeps the demons out. His marriage deserves the privacy it takes for them to navigate their issues, find their love for each other and keep growing in that path. Stop telling us all sorts of nonsense about how last night’s date was the bestest ever or how the first 8 months of marriage were hell.
Bien needs to realise he is the captain of his ship and Chiki is his first mate. Whatever happens on the ship is between them. When they need to discuss anything, it should only be with either professionals or “safe harbours” such as an elderly couple that has an interest in seeing the couple stay happily married.
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From the band that brought us the biggest hits of our time, comes a brand-new show about the work that goes behind the making of the music.
Sol Family, a new reality show set to premiere on Maisha Magic Plus on Sunday 2 August 2020 will take viewers on a behind the scenes journey of the Sol Generation hit-making machine.
The 13-part series will give viewers a front row seat to the lives of the band and work that goes behind the production of the music that fans have enjoyed over the years.
“We are excited to be launching Sol Family on the channel this August” said Margaret Mathore, Channel Head of Maisha Magic Plus. Sauti Sol is a household Kenyan name and as Kenya’s most loved story-teller we strongly believe that this addition to the content mix will offer our viewers greater local entertainment and broaden the genres that are currently available on offer on the channel” said Mathore
Sauti Sol -has worked with some of Africa’s music legends including Burna Boy, Sho Madjozi – Patoranking, Tiwa Savage, -, Vanessa Mdee, Yemi Alade, Khaligraph Jones, Nyashinski, Bebe Cool, Mi Casa, Toofan including the legendary American Singer and Songwriter- India Arie.
The band has also embarked on several successful tours in Africa and Europe, topped Kenyan charts and gained international attention with shows in Europe and the US.
Mathore added, “The Kenyan entertainment industry continues to change rapidly and has become extremely relevant throughout the years. We are proud of our heritage and excited to highlight the growth within the entertainment sector and contribute in accelerating it in any way possible.”
Mathore also stated that Maisha Magic Plus remains committed to find and develop the right mix of content and deliver shows that people love into their hands and straight into their living rooms.
“We look forward to the launch of Sol Family and trust that it will resonate well with our audiences just as much as all the other shows on our channel,” concluded Mathore.
Sol Family will explore the lives of Savara, Chimano, Bien and Polycarp as well as the stars of Sol Generation; Nviiri and Bensoul and the team behind their management that make the magic happen.
The show will also delve deep into the music-making process and uncover never been seen before aspects of their personal lives that make them tick.
Sol Family will premiere on Sunday 2 August 2020 and will air every Sunday exclusively on Maisha Magic Plus availableexclusively on DStvPremium, Compact Plus and Compact on DStv channel 163.
Bien revealed to the world that he was taken aback by Size 8’s decision to leave a multimillion shilling deal on the table and follow her heart and soul as it led her to the redeemer.
To understand just why this is so monumental, you need to understand that in Kenya, there are very few opportunities for artists to actually make a lot of money. And I know many will counter that point by pointing to the few who make money but I am not talking vernacular artists.
Today we are strictly discussing secular, urban artists. And the opportunities for them to make money are few and far between.
So Bien, having a full understanding of this fact, was shocked to find out that Size 8 was willing to pull out of a tour sponsored by one of the few companies in Kenya with the money to change an artist’s life.
Speaking of which, you know how your wahenga told you never to thumb your nose at a gift horse? That is the very logic here. Safaricom doesn’t come knocking at your door twice. When given the opportunity to work with them, should you snub them, they will make it very difficult for you to work with them.
Size 8 knew this and still followed her conviction. First, she needs to vie for elective office. If she has this much integrity, then she would be a responsible office holder. Secondly, this had to have been a huge leap of faith; she trusted her God and personal saviour to bring more deals in future.
Size 8 is indeed a rare breed. So rare is she that when Bien was confronted by her faith, he was shocked. Now contrast this to say, Tanasha and you understand why I said I highly doubt she will last as a Muslim for long. All it will take is for the next high-value male to come and sweep her off her feet and she will be a fully-fledged marching Legio Maria member and skilled Isikuti drummer.
And Size 8 has held onto her faith steadfastly and has arguably been rewarded for it as she has grown from strength to strength, even landing other major deals that have seen her net worth swell. So what does all this say about the gospel singer’s character?
Size 8 before (left) and now (right)
As I pointed out, she has integrity. And beyond integrity, she is truly a woman of faith. However, it would be wise for her partner, her husband, DJ Mo to temper this fact about her character as she would easily become whimsical. Size 8 is a woman of conviction who money cannot sway and this is truly a testament to just how wonderful a creature she is -in a Kenya where anyone can be bought!
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Days after declaring himself the best rapper in Nigeria, Khalighraph Jones has finally dropped the much anticipated dope jam “Yes bana.”
In what seems like a year for all power declaration this year the OG is setting the record straight that he ain’t going anywhere.
Musically speaking he is one of the biggest musicians in Kenya, East Africa or better yet East Africa. Well, he said it himself and in Nigeria during the Sound city awards.
Yes bana
A term famously used by Ethic’s Reckless now becomes the OG’s and Sauti Sol’s Bien Barasa new jam.
Yes Bana loosely translates “Yes Man” basically an acceptance of power in this context.
As the chap excites the world with his lyrical prowess in this jam, many have questioned why he did not feature Reckless.
According to the fans taking to twitter with questions why Reckless was not recognized by the OG in the song.
Kapuka Facts on twitter wrote as follows:
“YesBana by Khaligraph and Bien is lit. But many will wonder why they had to make a song with a phrase that is already popularised by another musician (Rekless).
Rob tweeted, “Khaligraph Jones has done “YesBana” without Rekless bana.
Among those others questioned how the song can be named “Yes Bana” without Reckless in it.
As the noise about the creativity question, we still have to accept that the lyrics are on fire.
Lyrics
Khalighraph is known for hitting the point home with less effort. His lyrics talk about taking over in every aspect of life,
He even goes ahead to encourage Arsenal fans by saying, “Niaje watu wangu wa Arsenali season ni yetu msiworry.”
Laughable! I mean this Arsenal.
Further, he clears the air by saying that he has no beef with Octopizzo and even asks for a collabo for them to top the charts.
Something that we’ll keep an eye on to see if it happens.
Basically Khaligraph and Bien have laid out his possible plans for this year musically.
Production
The song was recorded and produced at Blu Ink studios by producer Motif. The Video Directed by Ricky Becko x Khaligraph Jones.
