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Ketebul artist profile – Olith Ratego
Written by Steph
A few weeks ago I wrote about Ketebul and the fantastic stuff that they have going on in Nairobi. Here’s a little more on one of their artists, Olith Ratego.
Olith Ratego was born in Asere Ugenya, Siaya District. The middle child in a family of three, his interest in music was awakened by his mother who was a singer of “Dodo”, a traditional style of luo music. She on occasion performed for dignitaries and even the then president of Kenya, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.
As a young boy, Olith would listen to and sing along to songs by Miriam Makeba and Tshala Mwana, much to the amazement of his listeners. In school, he often got in trouble for writing songs in class and was sent home severally in an attempt to stop him from the habit.
Unfortunately for Olith, his school life was cut short at Class Five, due to lack of school fees. At this point, he put all his energies in trying to get his songs recorded. Realizing that he couldn’t get his songs recorded he painfully gave up on his singing dreams, for an apprenticeship in carpentry with his cousin in Nairobi.
In 2001, he heard an afro-fusion song that rekindled his singing passion. He made up his mind to have a song produced and played on radio. With monies raised from his carpentry workshop, “Mamano Daa” was released on radio. It got massive airplay locally but he did not get the desired recognition and returned to Siaya.
Come 2003, he heard of an upcoming show in Siaya by King Kong and approached him to curtain raise the show. He was accorded that opportunity and got a great response from the crowd. Impressed with his performance, King Kong took him to Nairobi as his singer. Olith raised enough money to release another single – “Aheri”. While working with King Kong, he was introduced to Tabu Osusa, an avid Afro – Fusion producer who signed him on to the Ketebul Productions stable and “Osuga” was born!!
Click here to listen to some of Olith’s music, and click here for a sample of some other Ketebul musicians.