Gospel rapper was bro-zoned for seven years
After their first meeting when they were still in secondary school, Ndume Prince Mutie and his fiancée Anita Mukai Nthusi remained as just friends for longer than he expected. Anita tells us more about her dancer-cum musician lover.
Harriet James @harriet86jim
Ndume Prince Mutie is patient, but aggressive. A trait that has helped him not only in his career in music, but also in his family and love life.
For two years, Ndume, as he is popularly known was a member of Flamerz Dance Group, a platform he utilised to build himself.
“After his secondary school in 2013, Ndume joined famous dance group, Flamerz, a group he met in church.
The group went ahead to win multiple dance competitions, performing on big stages such as Safaricom live and also performed with popular musicians such as Willy Paul, Gloria Muliro, Bahati, DK Kwenye Beat, among others.
Working with celebs helped him understand how the industry works from the perspective of being a dancer and an artiste,” says his fiancée Anita Mukai Nthusi who has watched his career grow all this while.
“He also learnt how to maneuver and make money from the connections he made,” she adds.
Staying true to his vision
The group won the Kenya Dance Awards in 2013, the same year he joined the crew and later on qualified for quarter finals in the famous Sakata dance show in 2014.
In 2015 November, he felt that it was time to launch his own career in music. He released his first song, Stuck Like Glue.
What he learnt was that producing quality music takes time, money and a lot of patience.
“It’s been a journey and he has learnt that making quality music is quite expensive. It requires a lot of self-investment. Music is his business, and just like any other business, it takes time to pick,” explains Anita.
Also, getting airplay has not been easy and it took a while before people began appreciating Ndume’s music.
He has also had to settle for a lot of free gigs earlier in his career just to market himself.
Since then, the 26-year-old has released many other songs such as Nakutazamia, Salama, Hafungi Macho, No One, Za Yesu, Perform, Pepeta featuring Mr Seed, Enjoyment featuring Mash, Masterpiece, Desito, Mutongoi and his latest song Nyororo featuring Bern Mziki. His style of music is reflective, spiritual and based on matters affecting the society and community.
Being born again has a huge influence on his character as man and as an artiste as well. Staying true to his vision has kept him grounded and accountable.
In addition, his upbringing as a pastor’s child also shaped his character. However, living as a pastor’s child had its own share of challenges.
“Being a pastor’s kid is like being a celebrity. One had to behave or dress in a certain way, not go to a party with shaggy hair, among other unspoken rules, failure to which one would be judged harshly.
He was not allowed to be get home late, or watch any secular or adult films,” Anita narrates.
All those challenges made him stronger and more aware of his actions even as he grew older.
His parents too were not happy at first with the fact that he was venturing into music.
“He didn’t have an issue with his parents not believing that anything good could come out of music. He understands that unlike the past, one can earn a living from gospel music.
But he had to convince his parents, which took time, but eventually the goal was attained.
They are now his biggest fans. Some song ideas even come from them. Things have changed,” Anita says.
Blossoming love
And his parents are not the only ones who have been impressed by him. Anita too. The two first met 11 years ago in a restaurant when Anita was meeting up with her friend.
“Since we were both still in school, I immediately bro-zoned him. I used to even call him brother and he got used to it at some point.
But our friendship grew. After a few years, he began having conversations with me about not desiring to be bro-zoned anymore and that he had developed feelings for me,” she recalls.
After seven years, they started dating. Anita recalls that she was drawn by Ndume’s determination, courage, patience, his understanding nature, care as well as love.
He also makes great use of opportunities when they come his way. Their jobs too complement each other as Anita is a brand influencer and a professional model and they assist each other find opportunities in the industry.
“We set goals together, work every day to draw closer to our goals and the fact that we look out for each other is also something that keeps us going,” says Anita.
When it comes to staying true to the gospel music and why most musicians are leaving the industry, Ndume believes that every person has their own reason for making music and being honest with themselves will assist in identifying the real reasons they are in the industry.
