He is remembered as the other half of the Kenyan music duo, Necessary Noize, which made a major breakthrough in the early 2000s, together with Nazizi, before they joined Uganda’s Bebe Cool to form the East African Bashment Crew. They went on to conquer East African and continental airwaves with a myriad of hits before both groups seemed to fizzle out, as each of the artistes focused on their solo careers and family. For the years that followed, Kevin Waire, commonly known as Wyre, went on to become the most active of the duo, while Nazizi seemed to turn her attention away from music. ALSO READ: Daddy Andre, Wyre and Alyn Sano to perform at Kigali Jazz Junction Wyre kept himself relevant, producing songs such as ‘Mimi Naye’, and ‘Guarantee’ and collaborations such as ‘Nakupenda Pia’ and ‘She Say Dat’, featuring Jamaicans Alaine and Cecile, respectively. The 42-year-old is expected to perform in Kigali come March 31st, at this month’s edition of the Kigali Jazz Junction, where he will share the stage with Daddy Andre and gospel singer Levixone, both from Uganda and home girl Alyn Sano. Wyre, also commonly known as ‘Love Child’, describes himself as a ‘laid back and non-confrontational person with a deep passion for music. It is a passion he carried right from childhood in Nairobi, where he was born and raised. “My father had the largest collection of music on vinyl that I grew up listening to. It included Elvis Presley, The Jacksons, Charlie Pride, and Michael Jackson among many others. So, I grew up listening to a lot of music,” Wyre told The New Times. “The moment I watched Michael Jackson perform at the Motown 25 celebrations is when I knew I wanted to pursue music as a career,” he added. The afro-dancehall singer is considered one of the best reggae and dancehall singers East Africa has, and it is affirmed by his collaborations with Jamaican artistes. Wyre said the first album he owned was a Don Carlos tape and that’s how he fell in love with reggae music, going on to discover other artistes who were hitting globally, such as Yellowman, Shabba Ranks, Canadian reggae artiste, Snow, and Born Jamericans, a reggae/hip hop duo. “That’s how I fell in love with dancehall. In high school, I joined the choir and later formed my own acapella group. This really trained me to be a good performer,” Wyre says, explaining his musical journey. He started recording music in high school and after, while pursuing media studies, he got an internship with a studio in Kenya known as Audio Vault, where he worked as a producer and sound engineer. It is here that he got his first job as a full-time producer. “It was at this point that I released my first single. I also got to meet Nazizi while working at Audio Vault and that’s when we formed Necessary Noize. “We released two albums as a group. We eventually linked up with our long-time friend Bebe Cool and formed the East African Bashment Crew. We released one album,” the singer recalls. The group Necessary Noize was formed in 2000 with three members, Wyre, Nazizi, and rapper Bamzigi, who was later reported to have become a victim of substance abuse, with only two members remaining. The group went on to hit the big time for a decade before they parted ways, with Nazizi focusing on motherhood and other things while Wyre juggled both music and work in other fields. Music still on It is fair to say that as a solo artiste, Wyre kept himself on the charts, releasing three albums, ‘Definition of a Lovechild’, ‘10 Years Wiser’, and the latest ‘Lion’. He insists that music didn’t fade but he had different priorities. “Music didn’t fade, but I decided to join the tech world. I took some time off to build a music tech platform called Bloow. “It’s designed to enable artists to monetise the art much earlier in their music career. However, I am working on my next EP, scheduled for release later this year,” Wyre said when asked what he has been up to lately. The singer told The New Times he cannot wait to perform in Kigali and reconnect with his fans, young and old. Their songs still stir people on the dancefloor and many on social media have expressed their desire to attend the show and go down memory lane. “I can’t wait to perform at the Kigali Jazz Junction. Expect a journey from the past to the present. Energy as always. I’ll be performing with a live band as well,” Wyre said. “Looking forward to networking with fellow artistes during our upcoming stay in Kigali,” he added. The singer doesn’t seem fazed by the state of the current music industry where artistes have to churn out song after song to remain relevant, but musicians today have an opportunity to leverage different platforms to maximise revenue, he said. “Today’s music scene has a lot more variety in terms of genres and the advantage of digital distribution and marketing, which plays a vital role in revenue generation,” the mass communication and media studies graduate pointed out.
