Daudi Kabaka (1939-2001)

Life and Demise

Daudi Kabaka was a Ugandan-born Kenyan vocalist and musician, born in Kyambogo (near Kampala) Uganda, in 1939. He was named after Kabaka Daudi Chwa, the Bagandan king who passed away that year. However, Kabaka traces his ancestry back to Tiriki in Western Kenya, though that is where he spent little of his childhood.

By the 1950s, his father, a railway worker had just been transferred to Nairobi. Kabaka joined him and enrolled at St. Peters Clavers Primary School. When he was 12, his father sent him to reside with some young men, who possessed guitars and a phonograph. From there, he listened to Losta Abelo, Jean Bosco, and Leon Bukasa, among others.

In 1954, Kabaka made his debut composition, Nie Kabaka Naimba, for the Capitol Music Stores (CMS). He juggled between music and school up to 1957 when he secured a job with a hotel and catering company. However, his career as a hotelier was short-lived. Two years later, he began working with Equator Sound Studio, and soon became a salaried member of the Equator Sound Boys. While there, the studio's owner and producer Charles Worrod envisaged registering himself as a composer/arranger of Equator label songs. Charles also provided an idyllic environment where his staff could experiment, learn, and develop. In the late '60s, he enrolled his core musicians including Kabaka for a two-year course at the Conservatory of Music in Nairobi to learn music notation and theory.

Afterward, he resumed work at Equator Sound Studio in Nairobi alongside other musicians. Either Kabaka’s guitar or voice can be heard in hits such as Fadhili William’s Malaika and Taxi Driver, Pole Musa by Peter Tsotsi and Nashil Pichen.

He resigned from Equator Sound in 1972 and with some of his old colleagues launched African Eagles Recording Ltd. They had several successful releases and tours. Following the demise of African Eagles Recording Ltd, Kabaka continued recording and collaborating with his old colleagues and new partners like the Maroon Commandos, a military band belonging to 7 Kenya Rifles of the Kenya Army. 

Unfortunately, the undisputed ‘King of Twist’ passed away on 27th November 2001 at Kenyatta Hospital, after a short illness. He was buried on 15th December in Muhundu, Tiriki (Wester Kenya). The Kenyatta University’s Band played Kabaka's own songs to the large congregation of mourners present.

Achievements

Kabaka's song, Helule Helule, caught the attention of the British pop group, The Tremeloes. They borrowed the chorus and covered it, propelling it to become number 14 in the British charts in May 1967.

For more than a generation, one of Kabaka's compositions, Harambee Harambee, was played hourly after every news bulletin on the Voice of Kenya (now KBC).  The song wasn't only a source of pride and income, but it also crowned him as the ‘King of Twist’.

He collaborated with John Nzenze on three songs: Masista, Bachelor Boy, and Nyumba za Tobacco. They were released by Jambo Records and became hits. In 1986, he released the album Pesa Maradhi Ya Moyo with the Maroon Commandos.

Kabaka was a versatile musician, despite being the ‘King of Twist’, he also traversed to other genres. For example, one of his songs Kilio Kwetu is regarded as rhumba, with Western Shilo, a traditional Luhya dance rhythm, which appeared as an acoustic cover on Ayub Ogada's En Mana Kuoyo CD, though under a different title, Chiro.

A consistent musician, he stayed true to his art by composing a series of songs with references to ‘twist’ conspicuous from the lyrics and titles, a great deal which became hits, they included; African Twist, Bachelor Boy Twist, Bush Baby Twist, Taita Twist, among others.

In 1993, Kabaka was named ‘Kenyan Cultural Ambassador’ by the Union of Radio and Television Networks in Africa (URTNA).

Kabaka’s training from the Music Conservatory earned him a teaching position at Kenyatta University, where he taught creative arts for several years. He was also awarded the distinguished service award by the same institution in 1995.

REFERENCES

• Francis IC (October 13, 2020): Daudi Kabaka Biography, Songs, Photo and Video/Kenya cradle-All about Kenya
• Lost.fm (January 6, 2019): Daudi Kabaka.
• WikiMili, (November 8, 2019) Daudi Kabaka.
• Douglas Paterson, (August 2000) East African Music: King of Kenyan Twist.
• Ken Ramani, (November 28, 2001) The Standard/ Kenya:  Daudi Kabaka is Dead.

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