Artist: Wyre
Kevin Waire aka Wyre - a leading Kenyan dancehall and R&B artist, was fascinated from an early age by Michael Jackson and spent most of his time imitating him. He is second born in a family of three and indebts his success to his family in addition to Ted Josiah his friend and producer. When he joined Dagoretti High School for his A levels he joined the choir and started a group of five named Soul Pac. They performed at many Nairobi-city schools but parted ways after school, following which he furthered his career by joining Institute of Communication Studies and Development in Kenya.
While in college, Wyre and Nazizi formed Necessary Noise. Wyre got an internship and later a job at Ted Josiah's production house. The group launched their CD in April 2001 but later broke up after Nazizi and Bamzi had to leave for Malaysia for further studies. The group later joined up again but this time without Bamzi and Wyre and Nazizi launched Necessary Noize II. Wyre’s career was propelled when he featured in GidiGidi MajiMaji's and collaborated in one of Kenyan Dancehall musician, Redsan's song. The duo then joined Ugandan musician Bebe Cool to form the award-winning East African Reggae Bashment Crew and released singles like Fire anthem, Kube, and Africa Unite and also collaborated with Tanzanian T.I.D. and many more. In October 2004 Wyre and Nazizi broke up to pursue their own solo careers.
Wyre's debut album, 'Definition of a Love Child' was released in 2006 and his singles continue to top charts. Most recently he was nominated within the Best Group Category in the first MTV Africa Music Awards 2008 (MAMA) in Abuja, Nigeria as part of the East African Reggae Bashment Crew alongside other Pan African superstars P Square (Nigeria), Freshly Ground (South Africa), Jozi (South Africa) and The Parlotones (South Africa).
Other accolades include several Best Ragga awards won at the Kisima Music Awards and nominations for Best East African Male Artist, Best Kenyan Male Artist and Best Afro Pop Video across the KORA Awards, Channel O Awards and Pearl of Africa Music Awards.
AWARDS WON:
2006 Kisima Music Awards - Best Ragga
2007 Kisima Music Awards - Best Ragga
AWARDS NOMINATED FOR:
2005 Kora Awards - Best East African Male Artist
2006 Channel O Music Video Awards - Best Afro-pop video ("Chuki") & Best R&B video ("Chuki")
2006 Pearl of Africa Music Awards - Best Kenyan Male Artiste
2007 Pearl of Africa Music Awards - Best Kenyan Male Artiste
2008 Pearl of Africa Music Awards - Best Kenyan Male Artiste
Wyre signed up to Rockstar 4000 in March 2010
