Maybe you came across the campaign that went viral on social media with the slogan #MisimuZangu. It was a campaign spearheaded by a young talented poet by the name Gufy to help people share their seasons in life like struggle, loss, pain and success. It was supposed to also celebrate how people managed to overcome their past experiences.
Gufy who is a poet by passion and film maker by profession released his poetry album on the 1st of August 2016 and people seems not to have enough of the wise words presented in the album which has five well composed poems, that talk about the post elections violence, the tendency of keeping leaders in power for so long and the promises of revolution that never come through.
Gufy was born in Nakuru but he now makes Nairobi his home. He is a king of spoken word, Gufy was crowned the champion of the 43rd edition of Slam Africa and since then he has never looked back but kept inspiring the society through his wise words.
Who is Gufy, describe yourself in a few words?
I am a spoken word artist. My official names according to the government are Oscar Ogero but I acquired the name Gufy for the industry. I am the founder of upgrade poetry, a yearly event that always goes down in Nakuru my home town.
When did your love for poetry start?
I started poetry at a very tender age, I happened to go to school in one of those posh schools where literature and art was part of our learning system so my love for poetry germinated form there.
More so my sister is a producer and writer so we have managed to incorporate what we have from a younger age.
What is the name of your poetry album?
It is called Misimu meaning seasons. This are simply the seasons that people go through ranging from love, struggle, pain and success before achieving their dreams. It is simply the name that ties up the whole album but it has other different poems in it.
When was the album launched?
The album dropped on 1st of August and people can download it from soundcloud or make an order through my website.
Misimu zangu was a viral story telling campaign on social media. How was it born?
Misimu Zangu was a pre-talk before the launch of my album which bears the name Misimu. The idea was born out of a discussion with friends whom I was working with, where we came together and started Misimu Zangu.
What is it all about?
Misimu Zangu is basically a viral story telling campaign that aims at giving the society a platform to share their current and past experiences, what they have gone through and how they succeeded.
How did it start and how is it done?
I started by sharing my story, then I nominated other people to continue with the story. When you share your story, you ensure that you nominate the next person that you want to see share their life stories. Here people get to share their loss, love, heartbreaks and their emotional stories.
How did you manage to bring this out?
This simply shows that the world has hurt us but for a very long time people have been hiding in faces that are not a true representation of their lives. But now that we have #MisimuZangu people are finding it easy to share their life struggles. When one reads my story, he/she happens to learn that I have been through certain challenges and he/she finds it easy to share his own personal stories that they have been keeping as secrets.
What is the impact of Misimu Zangu in the society?
First the campaign tends to appreciate what people are going through; when I share my story people can relate with my situation and borrow a leaf from the struggles and successes presented in the story.
The good thing about Misimu Zangu is that people are not in those situations right now or even when they are in those situations they are viewing their status in a positive way.
What is the complete package of Misimu Zangu?
Misimu talks about personal stories of loss, failure, religion, tribes, revolution, childhood dreams, love, personalities, and more so politics.
How long is the album?
The album is 25 minutes long; with a total of five well composed poems that is Hardship na Silence, Ndimi Tamu, Love and Misimu. The poems are a mixture of Kiswahili and English and therefore you don’t need a dictionary to understand the pieces.
What kind of spoken word do you focus on in your pieces?
I do inspirational kind of poetry, words that uplift the society and give it hope.
Gufy is also the official MC of Slam Africa poetry in Kenya an event that goes down each and every year to expose talents in the spoken word poetry.
Find Gufy on twitter at @gufydox. You can also find out more about on his website.
