Dynamq dares reggae greats

By CHURCHILL OTIENO
Published on July 14, 2009

Dynamq

“From West Africa there was Alpha Blondy, from South Africa there was Lucky Dube and from East Africa [comes] Dynamq.” Sounds like a literary hyperbole, huh? But one thing, this is not my conclusion. I am actually quoting from the 2003 edition of the Gold Touch Magazine. My bet like yours, is that there is a credible music critic penning these words.

Pessimists will say, Lucky Dube was too great to compare with an upcoming artist. That is until you have listened to his music and seen him perform. You are definite to bow to his style, a fusion of reggae and afro-beats.

A National Public Radio report on Chicago’s majestic Millennium Park once said, “There was one southern singer, a young man who goes by the name Dynamq,” And although On July 18, 2008, 33 artists represented Sudan along with the so called ‘Lost Boys’ of Sudan, it was Dynamq who appealed to the southern Sudanese crowd.

Dynamq performing at the Millennium Park in Chicago in 2008. Courtesy Photo.

Dynamq aka ‘the Sudanese child’ is a reggae artist one can no longer ignore. Watching him perform, it becomes clear that this 28-year-old is headed for bigger things, and with time will ably step into the shoes of the likes of the late Lucky Dube.

This budding Atlanta-based reggae artist from Southern Sudan is already causing ripples in South America and United States. His real name is Kennedy Lorya, born in Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan. Because of incessant war in the south, Lorya and his family moved to Nairobi, Kenya. “In Garissa, Kenya, I lived at Ifo refugee camp for a year. Life was tough in the camp, but I was determined to tip the odds,” he says.

Dynamq’s family later relocated to Nairobi’s Kawangware slums. “Here life was a daily dose of torture. Things were economically tough. My friends and I turned into music and soccer to help us stay out of trouble,” he narrates. Around this time, his mother, Yolanda Lorya, was hospitalized because of injuries she sustained in a plane crash in southern Sudan.

“I lost my father and elder brother when in Kenya, but life in Kenya was definitely the launching pad to my career,” says Dynamq, who is the third born in a family of 8. He admits he loves Kenya and feels at home in the company of Kenyans.

During the recent Msanii awards at Mission Theater in Shawnee Mission, Kan., last weekend, Charles Njogu, who organized the ceremony referred to Dynamq as a “sensation who deserved the honor.”

Dynamq’s dynamism was so evident when he worked up the crowd with his popular song Those Days in Nairobi, which was so poignant to most Kenyans in Diaspora. In this song he talks about hardship in a Nairobi slum, and how he made it despite the challenges.

“I had trouble getting my songs recorded. So I produced my first song from a laptop. The quality was so poor that I was surprised when it became an instant hit in Nairobi,” he says with a chuckle. One feels the sense of satisfaction he exudes.

His other hit song, Inner City War is against crime. “I beg you put down the gun man, that’s a pregnant woman,” goes the lyrics of the song. His Swahili hit Umegeuka (You have changed) is about rifts in a relationship between couples, causing children to suffer.

Dynamq sings in three languages Swahili, English, and Arabic. “I try to meet all the needs of my diverse fans. Kenyans like to party, and I must give them what befits them,” he said. Dynamq says he strives to sing in such an infectious style that even a child can understand and appreciate the message.

His interest in music dates back to his Sunday school days. “I loved singing for the sake of it,” he says, adding that soccer is also his other love. He also featured in local shows hosted in Nairobi’s Kawangware slums. “I would go to these shows and ask them to give me the microphone to sing. I knew I had a voice for vibes,” he says with laughter, and adds that whenever he sang, the crowd would shout for more. This awakened realization in him that he had a place in the music industry.

“I originally started off as a DJ with the Shashamane group,” he says. Dynamq says he had his first big stage show in 1996 at King Lion Sounds “Reggae Festival,” held at Nairobi’s City Hall.

“It was not until I came to the US that I ventured big time into recording my own music,” he says, adding that reggae music, just like soccer, was not very popular in the US, but with time it is catching up especially in larger cities. “In Atlanta we even have reggae clubs,” he says.

Reggae artist Dynamq addresses patrons after receiving Best Reggae Artist award at Msanii awards ceremony recently in Shawnee Mission, Kan. Photos by Alfred Rono.

Dynamq dropped out of Pennsylvania State University in his sophomore year to concentrate on music. Music, he says, has robbed him of time for his family and friends.

Dynamq has made a whirlwind tour to most States in the US and also visited South America. He confessed that it was in South America where he pulled peak performances. “I was well received by the crowd. They did not believe that a Sudanese child could do so well in reggae,” he reminisces. His River Nile Studios in Atlanta, in conjunction with big names in the industry are poised to release his new album “Sudanese Child” anytime this summer.

He prides himself in having worked with the best. “I have been most privileged to share the stage with reggae giants like, Wayne Wonder, Buju Banton, Beanie Man, Eak A. Mouse, Bares Hammond, Burning Spear, and Mercia Griffiths, he says. Others he has worked with are Freddy McGreggor, Tinga Stewart and Baha Men, among others.

Dynamq still hopes things will get better in Sudan, and hopes to go back without fear to spread a message of peace to his countrymen. He says he wants to feel safe as an artist and not be seen as a threat to the establishment. “We will reach there as a country. I like the progress I am seeing,” he says.

On Lucky Dube’s death, Dynamq says, “[it] was a real shocker. It was heartbreaking just as was the death of Michael Jackson.”

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