Kenyan music veteran David Mathenge, popularly known as Nameless, got candid about his academic journey and early working life during a light-hearted Quickfire interview with Mpasho's Kalondu Musyimi.
The singer, who rose to fame in 1999 after winning a star-search contest on Capital FM with his song Megarider, is one of the pioneers of Kenya's urban pop scene, popularly known as Boomba or Kapuka.
A Strong Academic Record
Long before the music, Nameless was a diligent student. He revealed he scored 535 marks in his KCPE, before going on to attain an A- in his KCSE.
He built on that performance at university level, pursuing a degree in Architecture at the University of Nairobi.
He was still a student there when Megarider turned him into a household name almost overnight.
Life On The Factory Floor
Before music paid the bills, Nameless held down a job far removed from the entertainment industry.
He told Mpasho about his time working in a factory in Nairobi's Industrial Area.
"I worked in a factory in Industrial Area. We used to put chumas through a factory... they were BRC mesh, for Mugoya Construction," he said.
The job involved handling BRC mesh, a welded steel wire product widely used in construction for reinforcing concrete slabs and walls.
For his efforts, Nameless earned KSH 4,000 a month at the time, a sum he remembers fondly as having made him feel financially comfortable in that season of his life.
"It was 4,000... and nilikuwa mdosi. Four thousand, seven hundred actually," he added, laughing.
A Playful M-Pesa Reveal
The interview took a lighter turn when Nameless was asked to disclose his M-Pesa balance. The singer, now a multi-award-winning artist with two decades in the industry, kept the figure to himself, citing ongoing business dealings.
"Ninahandle vitu mob right now, so doh doh iko juu. So sitawaambia sasa hivi," he said.
