I never gave up after initial failures, says artiste

Badi Mutabili aka Keiling Badi is a secular artiste from Bungoma.

“I have been in the craft for a while, singing inspirational songs that are intimately connected to the life of the community. I do R&B and Dance music,” he says.

Badi started his musical venture in 2017 when he did his first homemade song and from the release, his friends encouraged him to focus on music.

“In 2018, I shared the idea with Producer Jacky B because I used to admire his work and my prayer was to work with him someday. So I engaged him on Instagram, he listened to the songs that I shared with him but the feedback was not good because he asked me to do more practice. But I never gave up and as time went by, he made for me two beats which he encouraged me to go to any studio to record and share with him recorded files because I was not in the country. At that time I was serving in the Baha’i World Centre (Israel). I got the studio and recorded the song titled Jipe Moyo and Hold Together (but due to a misunderstanding, we didn't release the songs though I had paid for them fully).

After the projects failed, he said he worked with Producer Ralph in his studio on the song ‘Tumetoka Mbali Bongo style, followed by the Cover Never Give Up (Original song From Harmonize), followed by Mama (dedication to all single mothers). Later we did Barua kwa Mama with Bakari Kiza from Tanzania. 

Since then, he has worked on several projects.

Well, while he is a star in Bungoma, his first time in Nairobi was a nightmare.

“I was from a humble town and coming to Nairobi for the fist time was a whole lot of a new experience. I couldn’t ask for directions since everyone seemed to be busy. At some point, I had to pay someone to show me the directions," he says.

On the other hand, the skyscrapers were also a new phenomenon since he says he didn’t understand what was holding those tall buildings in position all the time.

“Another bad experience on my side was using a zebra crossing, especially during rush hour.  And not forgetting at home we had heard stories of how Nairobi was well developed.  I thought the entire city was tarmacked only to go to Utawala and got a shocker of my life,” he says.

Currently, Badi is working on some projects where he has featured friends from South Africa, Zambia and Kenya.