K-Denk on why he gave up the gun for music

Nairobi. Perhaps his name doesn’t ring a bell to many music fans, but he is the tall, dark slim lad who represented Southern Sudan in the Tusker Project Fame Season 4 competition, and who seemed to rub Judge Ian Mbugua the wrong way.

But it is neither his perceived war with Judge Ian nor his music that sets him apart from those who have had a chance to exhibit their music skills in the competition.

Three years after the event, K-Deng was left with the hard choice of whether to continue holding the microphone or pick up the gun and head to the battlefield, with his story painting a grim picture of just how the war in Africa’s newest nation has spared no one in its path.

“It all began on December 15, 2013, at about 9.15 pm. My family was enjoying a cool night breeze in our hometown of Jebel, back in Southern Sudan,” he says.

“Suddenly, a group of young men dressed in military combat gear stormed our compound shooting indiscriminately. By the time it was over, my two brothers lay dead.”

A few weeks later, he lost seven relatives in a similar attack in the town of Malakal. That is when he decided to take up arms.

K-Deng, who is from the Nuer ethnic group found in the greater Upper Nile region of Southern Sudan, says taking up arms didn’t seem to be a problem since he had lost so many family members in the war.

He joined forces with a group of other young men from his community, and that marked the beginning of a nearly two-year war against those he perceived as enemies.

With time, he says, this lifestyle became an addiction and seemed almost normal as they were considered heroes, a fact that saw him take photos with his fellow rebels, which he later posted on social media.

“But at some point things changed and it became psychological torture as there was no communication, food or water. Basically, we had to survive on the resources we got after capturing a locality,” he explains.

Gradually, he got tired of the war and really wanted peace. That seems to be what prompted his decision early this year to return to music and use it to mend the hearts of those torn by the war in his country.

“Also, as a musician, I didn’t see that lifestyle favouring my career, so I changed my mind,” he says.

It is then that he embarked on his musical journey that has seen him complete two albums, an addition to the two he had released before participating in the competition.

I am back on the music scene with a new beat, Kai dol, a style that blends various types of music, and which might end up being the ultimate Sudanese signature tune.

He insists that for now, his intention is to use music to unite his country. He has already released four albums, with the fifth expected to be released next year.

“The fifth album, Ya Hoby, which means “My Love” in Nuer, is intended for the East African market. I am already working on the video for the title song, which should come out in two weeks,” he says.

The video is shot in Kenya and he reckons that it will win him huge awards, considering the amount of time and money he invested in the project.

But even as he embarks on his musical journey, he insists that he has no hard feelings against TPF judges, and especially Judge Mbugua, contrary to his post on Facebook, which gave the impression that he was trying to goad him.

“Still, I am against his style of scorning upcoming artistes and I honestly don’t think it’s the best way to nurture talent,” he says.

But he remains grateful for the experience he got from the competition, which has helped him embrace different genres of music. “At first my style was only Hip Hop but after participating in the competition, I have trained myself to compose different kinds of genres,” he adds.

At the moment, music is his weapon for advocating peace, and he has used it to mobilise a number of young men who are spreading the gospel back in his home country.

But that hasn’t changed the regrets he has for having got involved in the war in the first place.

“It is my hope that people will find a place in their hearts to forgive me and understand that I didn’t choose to join the rebel group but was forced by the prevailing circumstances,” he says. (NMG)