Being brought up in a dingy small “house” in the slums let alone ghetto in Mathare is not something that everybody can relate to and/or resonate with. Major Kenyan artistes who have made it out from the slums to make a life out of them through music on top of my head are artistes like Octopizzo and Kayvo Kforce who just recently opened up for the very first time ever how it was living and being brought up through the ghetto harsh realities of Kibera.
Today though, one established multi talented artiste, record producer, song writer and actor Moseh Drummist opened up about the harsh realities and the stuggles he had to go through back in the day when he(together with
his family) used to live in a mud house with Coca-Cola crates for bed and how vulnerable and helpless they(his family) felt when their mother who was their sole bread winner passed on that made him together with his sisters to almost be homeless and out in the streets trying to get ends meet because their father was jobless for over a year before his mother passed on and still didn’t have anything when she died.
This story as narrated by Moseh Drummist through a Facebook post is something straight from a Naija movie that most can’t accept it’s a reality, but now since he is an artiste who travels abroad to perform and can now afford to eat what he wants and sleeps on a clean mattress and all made a decision to always give back to the community because many people there need help, they might not look it or ask for it but they really do need help and it’s sweet souls like Moseh Drummist that are giving back today.
This is Moseh Drummist’ story in his words, no additives, no filters, no nothing:
I’m Moseh Drummist. I was born and raised in Muoroto, Bondeni in Mathare. Life in Mathare wasn’t easy. My worst moment in life was in 2005 (13 years ago) when we almost became homeless. We had just lost our mother who was the bread winner and my dad had been jobless for almost a year. The situation was despicable. I felt so helpless. My super awesome moment was when we got a small house made of mud at Jangwani in Mathare North , I was relieved that me and my younger sisters were never going to be street kids but still when it rained the roof leaked and it formed a mini swimming pool . Luckily our ‘mattress’ was a coca cola banner that I was given by our neighbor so it naturally wouldn’t soak but only got wet. Currently I’m a performing musician, Music Producer, song writer and Actor .Apart from playing in international festivals and concerts both locally and abroad I use my music to mobilize and create a platform for social education. I give back to the community. Mathare taught me that the best gift you can give to yourself is to choose the right friends and to believe that everything is possible. Mathare Made Me.
