Biography

Kimani grew up with music, teaching himself to play the guitar by watching an older brother perform. He attended Kirangari High School in Nairobi, where he already showed a great interest in music; he sang, composed songs, participated in music festivals and, at one time, conducted the school choir. His first love in high school inspired him to compose a song called "African Woman," which was well-received among his friends; they urged him to record the song.

In 1999, Kimani left school to look for a recording studio. Eventually, in 2000, he met producer Maurice Oyando of Next Level Productions; with Oyando's assistance, he recorded "African Woman," which was released as a single. The song began to receive air play on several radio stations in Nairobi. Encouraged by this early success, Kimani returned to the studio to record a complete album, tentatively titled African Woman. A second single, "Tuohere" (God Forgive Us), was released for radio play. Although the African Woman album was completed in 2001, it was not released due to lack of funds. Undaunted, Kimani returned to the studio to work on another album while his first one waited for release. He has since recorded and released two albums, Unborn and Tiushi Mi Nawe.

When the Festival Mundial officials visited Kenya in September 2002, they were impressed by Kimani's talents. He performed at the 2003 Sarakasi Festival in Nairobi and was part of a group of Kenyan artists invited to perform at the Festival Mundial in June 2003 in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

.

Harry Kimani was also featured in the award winning African hop-hop documentary Hip-hop Colony.

In 2009, Harry released his latest album, "the Quest".

Style

Kimani's musical style has been described as "African soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 and a little bit of rumba and R&B." He sings in three languages--English, Kikuyu

Gikuyu language

Gikuyu or Kikuyu is a language of the Bantu family spoken primarily by the Kikuyu people of Kenya. Numbering about 6 million , they are the largest ethnic group in Kenya. Gikuyu is spoken in the area between Nyeri and Nairobi. Gikuyu is one of the five languages of the Thagichu subgroup of the...

 and Swahili

Swahili language

Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...

—and his lyrics address the issues of everyday life and society. His recent performances have included the North Sea Jazz Festival

North Sea Jazz Festival

The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam...

 in Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

, North Sea Jazz Salutes Nairobi, and Bløf

Bløf

BLØF is an award-winning four-piece Dutch rock band from Vlissingen, Zeeland, the Netherlands, which has become popular regionally and internationally for its music, its frequent collaborations with bands from other parts of the world, willingness to incorporate other genres into their "sound", and...

's Umoja Project launch in Amsterdam.

Discography

• The Quest - 2009
• Tuishi Mi Nawe - Sawa Sawa Fair Trade Label 2006
• Unborn - 2005 (collaborative effort with Bamboo
  Bamboo (lyricist)
  Simon Kimani, more popularly known as Bamboo, is an emcee who represents Kenya and currently lives in New York City. He was raised in Inglewood, California by parents of East African descent, and at the age of 17, his parents sent him to Nairobi, Kenya to eschew the potentially dangerous life they...
  
  , Attitude, Mercy Myra
  Mercy Myra
  - Biography :In 1996, she joined the Calabash Band but left it the next year to join the R&B group Destinee and in 1997 she joined a band called Black Ice...
  
   and more)
• African Woman - 2001 (unreleased)

Awards

Won:

• 2005 Kisima Music Awards
  Kisima Music Awards
  The Kisima Music Awards is an annual awards program that recognises musical talent in East Africa. Despite being Kenyan-based the scheme awards artists from a variety of countries, predominately Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and incorporates a range of music genres.-History:Named after the Swahili...
  
   for Best Music Video & Best Song

Nominated:

• 2005 Kora Awards
  Kora Awards
  The Kora Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. Founded in 1994 by Ernest Adjovi, they are comparable to the American Grammy Awards in intent...
  
  - Most Promising Male Artiste

External links

• Harry's MySpace page