DJ Afro: My long journey in movie narration
James Mugai, popularly known as DJ Afro. To remain relevant for a decade and a half, Dj Afro says, he has always been real and consistent in his content.
About 15 years ago, a young man named James Muigai, now known as Dj Afro, embarked on a journey to market his films packaged in Video Home System (VHS) format.
Bulky as the tapes were, he packed them in a bag and his first stop was in Kibera, Nairobi, where he was sure to find a market.
He was looking for cinema houses that would rent and show his films. He had a series of 20 films. However, when he arrived in Kibera, he was accosted by a gang of youths who grabbed his films and told him to leave and never come back.
“The first group of youths I met were curious about what I was carrying in my bag. After I explained, they grabbed the tapes and ran away with them. They even ordered me to take off my shoes and I had to beg them to spare me,” says Dj Afro.
Shaken by the events of that day, he gave up marketing in Nairobi’s informal settlements. After about two months, one of the young men came looking for him, surprisingly with the films he had lost in Kibera.
“The young man told me that after watching the films, they found them very interesting, so they decided to return them and get some more. This time they were willing to pay for them,” adds Dj Afro. This marked his entry into the Kibera market and its environs. He has since made a name for himself with his unique craft of narrating hundreds of films to date.
To remain relevant for a decade and a half, Dj Afro says, he has always been real and consistent in his content.
“I’ve never strayed from the character I’ve always been since the beginning of my career, and above all, I believe in God,” he adds.
Dj Afro Amigo's performance during this year's Jamhuri Day celebrations not only brought back memories, but also served as a reminder of the uniqueness of Kenya.
Young Kenyans took to social media to share memories of how they spent their childhood watching films that DJ Afro narrated on in his humorous style.
“The response was overwhelming and unexpected considering I have been in the industry for a long time. I believe there is always a season that favours everyone in whatever they do,” says Dj Afro.
He notes that some of the transitions he has witnessed over the years include moving from analogue to digital. In his experience, he has seen the transition from VHS, which used tapes to store content, to Video Compact Disks (VCD), to Digital Versatile Disk (DVD).
“We are now in an era of USB flash discs, where you can compress large amounts of data and still be very portable. There is more to come, especially with the discovery of more space on the Internet to make things easier,” he adds.
He adds that he is currently working on an app that will allow his fans to download content and pay to watch from the comfort of their gadgets.
He has plans to set up a school to train people interested in the art, and he hopes to be involved in the actual training.
“This is an art that I want young people to pursue and be creative around, because the creative spaces are dynamic,” he says.
One of the challenges of his job is dealing with fraudsters.
He notes that he has now come across hundreds of imposters in the industry, including on social media and new digital TVs.
“Others go so far as to sign major contracts by impersonating me. Some of the companies also knowingly hire these imposters because they want to pay cheap rates while exploiting the real artists,” he adds.
While most of these imposters can be easily traced, a gap in policies to protect artists has encouraged them to thrive in the backstreet market.
Experiencing imposters first hand at events remains one of the most difficult experiences he has had. “Coming up with fresh content to stay at my own level and keep my audience has helped me stay in the market,” he says.
He notes that he has set up a series of public shows to interact with his fans in the East African region.
“This will also be a way for my fans to finally recognise the face behind the films,” adds Dj Afro. He says that while touring the venues where his films are screened, he has noticed that a lot of young people are into drugs.
While the youth make up his biggest clientele, he says a larger percentage have become unproductive due to drug and substance abuse.
“I want to start a foundation that will help the youth get out of drug addiction and create jobs,” he adds.
