Bien-Aimé Baraza: The making of a Kenyan rockstar

Circa 2010, a scruffy boy band appeared on the Kenyan music scene with a not-too-shabby song titled 'Lazizi', in which they sang about their shared admiration for a young lass by the same name.

The song carried all the tested R&B tropes - mawkish ramblings, sloshy lyrics, perfect harmonies and a dulcet guitar riff.

In ‘Lazizi,’ Savara went first, and then Chimano and, lastly, a scrawny kid with a zealous voice and a calculated lyricism came in, singing, with earnest and anguish, ''Zunguka zunguzukane / Nikitafuta kama wewe..."

With time, the song became a seminal Sauti Sol hit; a near-classic single which effectively solidified the group's unquestionable pre-eminence.

As years went by, Sauti Sol's musical profile rose exponentially as the boys toured the world, dropped musical gems, hit unimaginable milestones, worked with musical greats and became a shatterproof bulwark of the Kenyan, nay, East African music scene.

But as they tinkered with music, fame and all the chicane associated with being a hugely-popular superstar, one kid from the group prominently stood out - and not for his obvious height, of course.

In almost all of their A list collaborations, Bien-Aimé Baraza seemed, very evidently, to have been the one who delivered the knockout punch, seismically lifting the song to heights unparalleled.

Besides possessing a powerful foghornal voice, Bien's off-stage interactions - his love life, charm, enviable height and undeviating sex appeal - lured the women, thrilled the men and hogged the tabloids.

Unflinchingly outspoken, Bien quickly became Kenya's version of Liberace, one of America's most flamboyant, tastefully showy, theatrical and insanely gifted singers and pianists.

A little more than his band mates, whose avant-garde fashion sense wowed many, Bien was not afraid of flaunting his well-chiselled physique, dressing (really) down, talking a little nasty, ruffling up things online and championing a carnivalesque aura which radiated with exceptional fascination. 

On 'Nishike', a song which immediately got a dubious reputation across Kenya, and massively affected Sauti Sol's brand then, a buff Bien, broad-shouldered and armed with a million-dollar voice, coquettishly serenaded the world as he appeared, brazen and semi-naked, in the now-infamous music video.

As a blithe girl seductively teased him, Bien sang, oozing sheer sexiness, as his fitting Ankara pants - and that mink fur coat - ricocheted off the continent.

Along the way, Bien's individual star continued to meteorically rise, partially eclipsing, and unintentionally so, that of his band mates who were, themselves, not showbiz pushovers at all.

On some monster jams, such as 'Isabella', 'Unconditionally Bae', 'Nerea' and in the Yemi Alade-assisted 'Africa', Bien's unmatched perspicacity continued to shine through as he effortlessly carried each song into classic heights, sometimes, just by his mere appearance.

Bien's star started to shine even brighter and better when the boys started going off into their own little paths, temporarily dismantling Sauti Sol as it were, each seeking their own voice, own identity and path.

An astonishingly stellar act, Bien soared even higher, fully maximizing his freedom to unleash his incomparable musical prowess, dashing left, right and center to lock in collaborations with notable names which only served to exemplify his supremacy.

Coupled with superb cinematography, Bien's post-Sauti Sol projects, including ‘Dimension’, ‘Inauma’ and ‘Mbwe Mbwe’, instantly became massive club hits - getting dizzying airplay across all streaming platforms and eating up a massive chunk of East African Tiktok. 

Early March, it was reported that Bien was Kenya's most followed person on Spotify, boasting over 450,884 monthly listeners on the streaming platform.

Unsurprisingly, ‘Inauma’ was the most streamed Kenyan song on the platform then as well.

“My ancestors said this year we are cruising nicely. Big love to everyone vibin’ with me on @spotify and other major platforms,” said Bien then.

A magnetic stage performer, Bien's stage presence, reminiscent of Queen's Freddie Mercury, only got better as he masterfully zhuzhed up the crowd, in an eclectic mix of brilliance, crowd mastery, virtuosity and sheer thrill.

And with a laissez-faire attitude that endears him to the simplest of folks, an eccentric Mick Jagger-style fashion sense and a cheeky personality which pops up every so often online, Bien-Aimé Baraza has mastered the art of being a consummate rock star who, in the next decades, might even be studied as a music college course, a la Bob Dylan.