K-Denk, one of South Sudan's participants in the Tusker Project Fame 2011
If you watched the start of the Tusker Project Fame (TPF) season four, you probably saw him. You couldn’t miss him because of his youthish swagger. He did his auditions in Nyakuron Cultural Centre in Juba, before beating other contestants to be selected for the prestigious TPF Academy, in Nairobi. This in other words, is the Academy where the crème-de-la-crème of aspiring musicians in East Africa are found. Well, first to the TPF. TPF is East Africa’s first ever locally produced reality show, that aims to discover and nurture musical talent from East Africa. It is sponsored by the East African Breweries and is now in its fourth year. The winner of the event walks away with 5m Kenya shillings in prize money and a one year recording contract with Gallo Records of South Africa, among others. The event has been growing in stature over the years. Last year, it included participants from Rwanda for the first time. This year, participants from South Sudan participated for the first time. Previously, it has only contestants from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. This year, one of the Sudanese contestants was Kong Deng Kounck (aka K-Denk). The other Southern Sudan contestant was Paleki. K-Denk, as he is famously known, was born in a family of four (3 sisters and one brother). His life story is no different from that of other Southern Sudanese. His dad was killed in war by the Sudan Army Forces (SAF) in 1992 in Renk. He was a refugee in Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya for 18 years. He got a chance to hold a mike for the first time in 2004 when he sang in a Child Rights Day event in Kakuma, in Napada grounds. This was while he was in high school. From then on, he did not look back. He sings hip hop and rhythm and blues but says that he was advised by the Principal of the TPF 4 Academy, Hellen Mtawali, to consider venturing into gospel singing. Even though his music may sound foreign, K-Denk says that his music is African and Sudanese. “I have to contextualize my music even though I sing hip hop and R&B.” He sings about every day issues like the tough life people sometimes go through, he sings about his own experiences and inspires people to become better in life. “I preach peace and love to the people,” he adds. He says that the three weeks he spent in the Academy have really changed his life. He has learned how to live with people from other cultures and learned that music is not just sound but it is more than that. It also added value to him in terms of the free publicity he was able to get. But the greatest thing he cherishes from his stay in the Academy is the fame he has got. According to him, TPF 4 has only two winners; the one who wins and gets the prize money and the one who walks away with the fame. And your guess is right. K-Denk thinks that he ran away with the fame. He says that this is seen from the total number of funs he has on his Facebook fun page. He told this reporter that he has more than 14,000 funs compared to his closest rival, Amileena with around 6,000 fans. He attributes this to the fact he did not hide his personality in the house, “people fell in love with my personality,” he adds. His dream is to be a big artiste in Africa. Already, he has tasted the fame through TPF and he is not willing to let go. He says that for now, he wants to ride on the fame that he got from the TPF. And this he plans to do by writing and recording good songs. Already, he has recorded two singles for free with R-Kay, one of the teachers in the Academy, who is a reknown music producer in Kenya. And through his exposure in the TPF, he has been to Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia and other places in East Africa, where he has shared a platform with African greats like 2Face of Nigeria, Jozi from South Africa and Baby Cool of Uganda. As a patriot of Sudan, K-Denk plans to have a concert on 1st January in Nairobi to create awareness about the forthcoming referendum, to encourage the Southern Sudanese to vote. As for his fellow contestants who remained in the Academy, K-Denk says he wishes them well wherever they go. He reminds other aspiring musicians that if they want to go far in music, they have to sweat for it since nothing in life comes on a silver platter! Even though he did not get as far as the others in the Academy, he proudly says of himself, “I am the only contestant who went away with happiness from the Academy.” In other words, he wasn’t bitter when he was evicted.
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