We want the old Mejja back and we are not joking

There was an interesting debate on social media this past weekend. Music fans want the old Mejja back and they are not mincing their words. The general feeling is that he has moved from being a great story teller to a trashy musician.

I thought I should weigh into this debate because I share the same sentiments. A huge part of me also feels that Mejia has failed his fans with his latest releases. He keeps getting worse with every subsequent song.

You see, I used to be a huge fan of Mejja. The first time I listened to him was circa 2007. I was still a student. I was watching The Beat during a school holiday then Jana Kuliendaje was cued up. I really loved it as I’m sure most of you did.

In the song, Mejja narrates how he got drunk the previous night and the series of events that followed after that. His description is so vivid that you can literally feel like you were there with him.

He went on to release other great songs like Landlord, Niko Poa, Furahia Maisha where he tells great stories about different events. It wasn’t about what he was saying, it’s how he was narrating the events. I loved his music. Many referred to him as the greatest storyteller ever and I had no qualms with that.

Somewhere along the way I heard that he was teaming up with Kid Kora and Madtraxx to form The Kansoul. I thought it wasn’t such a bad idea since the other two members were also super-talented.

The group went on release big hits such as Dabo Tapo, Kanayudu, Drum, No Woman No Party, just to name a few. Simply put, they were doing well.

I don’t know what happened, but somewhere along the way the group lost it. They moved from doing feel good or party songs to provocative music. Unfortunately, Mejja was also caught up in this. He moved from being a great storyteller to singing things like ‘geuka nikubeng’. 

Many fans, including yours truly, have been left wondering whether he made a mistake by joining The Kansoul. Truth is, Mejja was probably one of Kenya’s biggest musicians 10 or so years ago. This was when Calif Records was still the biggest record label in Kenya.

If Calif Records had stood the test of time, would Mejja have joined The Kansoul and would he still be the great storyteller that we all knew? Truth is, we’ll never know.

Whatever the case, we want the old Mejja back and we are not joking. This should serve as a wake up call to him to shape up or shape out.

Meanwhile, skip to Mejja’s part in the song below dubbed Inama and give us your thoughts.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yvFT0_ER32Q