Kennedy Cozzi Omwansa, aka K Simba is a Kenyan musical pride with a growing heart, imprinting and professionalism that owes much to Italy.
We have already talked about him, about his important voice capable of leaning on reggae, afro beat and pop-rock sounds and about the songs that reflect his free spirit, the attention to society and its demands and the desire to love and have fun.
A little less than a year ago, K Simba presented his first songs with a showcase at the White Elephant, accompanied by the Fanisi Band, an all-Malindino group that in the meantime has grown artistically in his wake, becoming known nationwide.
This winter the rasta-looking singer who was adopted by a couple of Italians, Franco Cozzi and Ombra Crespi, who are his first fans (Cozzi is also an artistic producer), spent three months between Milan and a studio in Lugano where he refined the songs he had already composed and wrote two new ones, relying on important professionals.
K Simba will present them this evening, Thursday, March 3, at Sunset in Watamu, with a full concert that promises class and fun. It is the singer himself to tell us about the new productions, which become part of his debut album, entitled "The Black Star".
"I brought to Italy my African sound and my passion for reggae - tells Malindikenya.net the Malindsian artist - and I confronted myself with other genres and arrangements that I like, moving a little 'shot on pop-rock. The experiment has resulted in two new songs of more international scope that I will premiere at Sunset, along with the other eight that make up the album".
We listened to "Bingwa wa Mapenzi" (Master of Love), a potential hit already in rotation in Nairobi, reminiscent of Youssou Ndour's Afro-pop mixes and South African music but in K Simba's Swahili voice and refrain, it reveals his Kenyan soul. All produced in a very professional way so as not to limit himself to popularity on the Kenya-Italy axis.
"This song is about how in love there is always something to learn, both from the stories that have ended and from those that are about to begin on which we have expectations - says K Simba - and we should not look for someone to teach us how to dominate love or our instincts, because it all depends on ourselves, who are both students and teachers.
 

The other song is titled "Open the gate" and is dedicated to his son Leon, who is 4 years old.
"From Italy I heard him almost every day - explains K Simba - and every time he was convinced that I was calling him because I was coming back and he would say to his mother - open the gate, daddy is coming soon - so I made a song out of it, of love and welcome". In a few months Kennedy will return to Italy and will prepare for a summer tour that will make him known even to those who do not attend Kenya.
In the meantime, starting at 9pm at Sunset Beach in Watamu, with the possibility to have dinner and taste Matteo's fantastic pizzas and cocktails, we will listen to him on stage with the inseparable Fanisi Band, formed by Soopy Kaingu (guitar and kifudu), Michael Kababa (guitar), Rommy Osiro (shaker), Oha Makalasti (percussion, kayamba, bumbumbu) Mwangolo Maxwell (keyboards and electronic drums).