Harrison Mungai "Harry" Kimani (born c. 1982) is a Kenyan
musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
and composer.
Biography
Kimani grew up with music, teaching himself to play the guitar by watching an older brother perform. He attended Kirangari High School in Nairobi, where he already showed a great interest in music; he sang, composed songs, participated in music festivals and, at one time, conducted the school choir. His first love in high school inspired him to compose a song called "African Woman," which was well received among his friends; they urged him to record the song.
In 1999, Kimani left school to look for a recording studio. Eventually, in 2000, he met producer Maurice Oyando of Next Level Productions; with Oyando's assistance, he recorded "African Woman," which was released as a single. The song began to receive air play on several radio stations in Nairobi. Encouraged by this early success, Kimani returned to the studio to record a complete album, tentatively titled ''African Woman''. A second single, "Tuohere" (God Forgive Us), was released for radio play. Although the ''African Woman'' album was completed in 2001, it was not released due to lack of funds. Undaunted, Kimani returned to the studio to work on another album while his first one waited for release. He has since recorded and released two albums, ''Unborn'' and ''Tiushi Mi Nawe''.
When the
Festival Mundial
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...
officials visited Kenya in September 2002, they were impressed by Kimani's talents. He performed at the 2003 Sarakasi Festival in Nairobi and was part of a group of Kenyan artists invited to perform at the Festival Mundial in June 2003 in the
Netherlands
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.
Harry Kimani was also featured in the award-winning African hip-hop documentary Hip-hop Colony.
In 2009, Harry released his latest album, ''The Quest''.
Style
Kimani's musical style has been described as "
African soul and a little bit of
rumba
The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...
and
R&B." He sings in three languages—English,
Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language.
It may also refer to:
* Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya
*Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people
*Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cent ...
and
Swahili—and his lyrics address the issues of everyday life and society. His recent performances have included the
North Sea Jazz Festival in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
, North Sea Jazz Salutes Nairobi, and
Bløf's Umoja Project launch in Amsterdam.
Discography
*''The Quest'' - 2009
*''Tuishi Mi Nawe''
Sawa Sawa Fair Trade Label2006
*''Unborn'' - 2005 (collaborative effort with
Bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
, Attitude,
Mercy Myra and more)
*''African Woman'' - 2001 (unreleased)
Awards
Won:
*2005
Kisima Music Awards
The Kisima Music Awards is an annual awards program that recognises musical talent in East Africa. Despite being Kenyan-based the scheme awards artists from a variety of countries, predominantly Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and incorporates a ran ...
for Best Music Video & Best Song
Nominated:
*2005
Kora Awards
The KORA All Africa Music Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. The awards were founded in 1994 by Benin born businessman, Ernest Adjovi, after a discussion in Namibia with the country's President Ha ...
- Most Promising Male Artiste
[Kora Awards]
Kora Awards 2005 nominees
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References
Kimani's biography on Sarakasi.org
External links
Harry's MySpace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimani, Harry
1982 births
Living people
Kenyan musicians
Kisima Music Award winners