Ken-One:Music star in making October 11, 2013 UNTOLD PROFILE with FELIX NYAMBE WHEN his name was called out as the next act during the 2009 Born &Bred awards ceremony at Mulungushi International Conference Centre, the hall went quiet. But after his five minutes performance at which he unleashed his relatively new songs, Ken-One was the darling of the more than 1, 500 music buffs. His new song was not just any other song but a social commentary, rather a love coated song titled Bye-Bye, a duet with smart crooner, Exile. Two years earlier, Ken-One, who was born Kenneth Chikwenda Sinkamba, 26 years ago, had distributed the same song to most radio stations but it received little attention. “It might have taken me six years to come up with my new album but I guess the wait was worth it,” said Ken-One, who has been working with Exile for quite a while. After the release of Bye-Bye, however, Ken-One did not sit on his laurels because the demand for his music was growing. And so, with most local upstarts heading to such watering houses as Break Point and East Point, Ken-One was not left out of the buzz. In a flash of lightning, Ken-One, who was born and bred in Kafue Gorge, headed for the tourist capital, Livingstone for some shows. “I had some electrifying shows at Busiku night club with the likes of Dj Danny Busiku, after dazzling my peers at Kafue Gorge,” bragged Ken-One. His follow-up shows at Muyanganas’ Picnic Gardens on the banks of the Kafue River and at Gambino night club wooed some respectable numbers. But many who had witnessed the birth of this music prodigy, did not find Ken-One’s acts as strange because his contemporaries at school had also marvelled at his talent. “It all began at Namalundu High school between 2002 and 2003 in Kafue where I set out to convince myself that I could actually perform,” recalled Ken-One. With the music of such millennium “babies” as Black Muntu, Ty2, Exile, JK, Danny, Lilly T, Tribal Cousin and Joe “Ambassador” Chibangu setting the trends, Ken-One seized the opportunity. Hot on Ken-One’s music menu during his school miming acts was the music of Black Muntu and Exile, which is still appealing to him even today. But after completing his high secondary education at Hillcrest Technical High school in 2005, Ken-One enrolled at Evelyn Hone College for a diploma course in Journalism. “As you know life is not all about your natural talent because without education, things might not be rosy in future, so you need to fall back on your academic qualification,” advised Ken-One. Well, that could be true for the young singer because even the likes of Maureen “Lupo” Lilanda and James “Chamanyazi” Ngoma are both trained journalists. With the journalism profession taking its toll on the young Ken-One, his only companions became the likes of B-Flow who was also in his infancy in music. During his stint at Evelyn Hone, Ken-One took some time off his studies and recorded his debut single Shaka Zulu, featuring Damiano, under the reputable Digital X studio. In 2009, he also recorded the song Bye-Bye, featuring Exile with K-Amy, the label which introduced the likes of Kachanana and P–Jay to the music scene. Armed with his tertiary education, Ken-One landed at ZNBC, Livingstone office, for his attachment under the watchful eye of Lackson Nthani. But after just a year, Ken-One left the ZNBC and joined the mobile phone service provider, Zain (re-branded Airtel) in Lusaka in the customer care department. “I was with Zain for only six months before joining ZANACO’s Kafue Gorge branch in 2011 where I spent a year,” said Ken-One, the first born in a family of two. With his “biggest” fun being his mother, Ken-One thus began to put his debut album assisted by several local studios including Blazer, K-Amy, Fat-Jam, Mad House and Cabin studios. His music bordering around both entertainment and education, Ken-One set his goals out to unleash both social commentary and love-struck songs. “I am a big fun of real Zambian music and naturally vulgar language and obscene lyrics are not part of my music genre,” said Ken-One. Internationally-inspired by P-Square and R. Kelly, Ken-One dropped his Winenuka single, featuring JK and Exile, to the airwaves last week. Produced by Skills at Fat-Jam, the song instantly banged the airwaves on Radio Phoenix’s Rhythm Countdown hosted by Dj I-Candy last weekend. The song went on to storm Golden Mukelabai’s Supershine Top 10 show on ZNBC’s Radio 2. Other songs to be contained on his debut album include Kapondo, featuring Danny Kaya, Vikakanga (featuring Exile) and Nsanje Yako (featuring Slap D and Jimmy). Karasa features on the song Nkalanaine, while Ken-One’s own solo efforts on Twalafika, Zero To Hero and Winenuka, testifies to his song writing prowess. Comments: [email protected] or let’s chat on 0979360993/0964873656/0955627536. 124 total views, 1 views today
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 02:33:07 +0000
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