Bio
Nixon is a reggae artist from Kenya. He is a rhythm guitar player, singer and songwriter with over 15 years experience as a solo performer and band leader. He has performed in Chicago, Michigan, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Nairobi, Kenya. He was also a street performer in the streets of Ann Arbor Michigan for several years.
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Nixon was born in the hills in a rural part of Kenya called Uasin Gishu. This is the part of the country that produces a majority the long-distance running champions of Kenya. He was born at a school where his mother used to teach. It was 1982, the year of the coup attempt in Kenya. It was a time of political turmoil , uncertainty and blood shed particularly in the part of the country that Nixon was born so for him, it was a survival game from the beginning.
Nixon was raised in Umoja, a part of Nairobi, the capital city. This was a low income area with high rates of crime, school dropouts, teen pregnancies, poverty, and violence.
Like in many ghettoes, reggae music was popular among the youth in Umoja and Nixon was heavily influenced by reggae Masters such as Bob Marley and the Wailers, Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, Black Uhuru, Wailing Souls, Jacob Miller, Cocoa Tea and many more. The messages of black empowerment, fight for justice and consciousness spoke to Nixon personally and from an early age, a seed was planted.
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Nixon recalls an uncle called Sylvester who passed away when he was still young. Some of his earliest memories include seeing and hearing his late uncle playing an "orutu" - a traditional one-stringed instrument among the Luo tribe of Kenya. He says that Sylvester must have had musical influence on him and feels that his late uncle's musical dreams are being fulfilled through him. As a boy he was fascinated by the guitar but was unable to obtain one until he relocated to the U.S. for college in 2002. Starting off at open-mic venues, Nixon tested the waters of the music world and soon jumped in. He was both surprised and encouraged by people's positive response to his music. He has been writing songs, recording and performing ever since.
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Nixon's latest LP, "Good Vibes Return" was recorded and released in Feb 2021 with producer Kenny Allen who lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They collaborated over the internet as Nixon was under lockdown in the US due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. He was determined to keep the music alive and not even the pandemic could stop it. His debut LP "How Long Shall We Wait," was also recorded with Kenny Allen in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia while Nixon lived there for a year. It was released in June 2017.
Nixon formed his label, NOAH (Nixon Omollo African Heritage) in February 2020, a label under which he has produced hit singles such as Rise, Peace and Silence and Struggle Never Stops and We Have The Power
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