Personal Life.
Francis Macharia popularly known as Odi Wa Muranga was born and raised in Muranga. He hails from a family of eight, one sister and six brothers. He attended Kindergathen and primary school in Muranga County.
His high school education was an in-and-out kind of situation because Odi Wa Muranga was an undisputed rude boy who spent at most one to two years in one school. At some point, he did spend two months in a school before getting expelled.
He joined Rongai Boys High School for two years before he was expelled in form two for a case of indiscipline. He then joined Shiners Boys High School for two months but again got expelled for the same case of indiscipline.
He blames all his bad behaviors in high school to the situation he was in at the time. Coming from a family full of struggles both financially and in terms of health, it is clear that he was not mentally at ease. He was infected with jiggers, and he had also seen his mother and grandmother go through the same situation. All these were weighing a lot on him being the first born son in the family.
So when the horrible situation back at home is mixed with the regular challenges in boarding school, I see how his indiscipline can be justified.
These two consecutive expulsions led Odi Wa Muranga back to the village in Muranga where he was close to home. He was barred from studying in any other boarding school because he had to be closely monitored both in school and at home.
So Odi Wa Muranga had to face the reality of the consequences of his notorious bad behavior and joined a day school which actually had little freedom from parental control as compared to boarding schools.
He later joined Mahiga High school, which is a day school, where he finally completed his secondary education in 2016.
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To this date he still believes he can be a rude boy depending on the energy you give him. If you come hard or rude at him, you will get the same energy.
After completing high school, he went to Nairobi. This is where he learned a lot about life and the art of being humble and the fluidity of living life the way it is. He landed in Githurai 45, one of the many poor ghettos on the Eastlands of Nairobi.
He did all the hardest and terrific jobs just to survive and send some money back home in the village. Odi Wa Muranga has seen the rough and tough life that a hard headed man can go through. He admitted that poverty weighed so much on him when he was on his own.
His older sister who was now his guardian in Nairobi had to help him learn how to obey authority or anyone who it trying to teach him something.
He did construction jobs Kahawa West for sometime so that he can afford to pay his rent of KSh 1500 in the slums of Githurai 45.
As he was doing all these hard jobs to get by, he had a dream to become a professional rapper and he was sure to follow it through until it works.
He felt that the successful rappers who made it by just doing music came from the hardships of life just like him. So they inspired him to keep on going hard until life just gives it up and let him break into success.
How Odi Wa Muranga Got into the Music Industry.
As he was working in the construction sector, Odi Wa Muranga still held the believe that being a rapper was the only was he was getting out of poverty.
He met some good catholic friends, Ex-ray and Maddox who introduced him to the culture of the Catholics.
In Catholic Church is where they got a platform to showcase their talents of performing rhymes and poems in front of the congregation.
When he was not working he used to perform spoken word poems at a Catholic Church with his close friend and group member Ex-ray who was into RNB music and Muddox who was into Dancehall music.
They did that for a while but to Odi Wa Muranga it was like a waste of time because they were not getting paid and he needed money to survive and take care of his bills.
So they decided to stop doing poems and formed Boondocks Gang and started recording music.
Their first song was Peleka na Rieng which was a hit as it came out. Though they had to steal the record from their producer, who tried to blackmail them, the song was not mastered well. It was just a demo which they were to package it to be their first record as professional artists.
But they released it anyway since they really had no money for all that. The good thing is that their audience was connecting with the lyrics of the song and that is how they launched their music careers.
Odi Wa Muranga is among the pioneers of Gengetone music which is literally portrayed by their group Boondocks Gang which is a composition of Rap, Dancehall and RNB.
After releasing his first track, Odi Wa Muranga has gone ahead to do solo projects with other artistes while still making hits under Boondoks Gang.
What Odi Wa Muranga Charges for Collabos and Live Performances.
To be successful in the entertainment industry, you need to be professional as much as possible. This starts from setting the record straight about your rates and charges. For Odi Wa Muranga, his rates are clear and non-negotiable but he can only negotiate for music collaborations.
For appearences only, he charges Ksh 35000 while for a stage performance, he charges Ksh 60,000. From the look of these figures, Odi Wa Muranga is in a far much better place financially as compared to the time he was doing construction works.
Odi Wa Muranga doesn’t charge an upcoming artist for a music collaboration if he can vibe with their music style. But for a case of an established artist, you have to negotiate a price and pay upfront before the start of the he puts his verse on your record.
Odi Wa Muranga Top Songs.
Among the hits that have received a substantial amount of airplay, Odi Wa Muranga has made or been featured in one of them. He is a professional rapper with a unique voice and style which makes his music sound great.
Here are some of the hits that featured Odi Wa Muranga.
- Waraka
- Peleka na Rieng, Boondoks Gang
- Como
- Diana
- Chambua, Wakuu Music ft Boondocks Gang
- Peng wa Mafilter, Boondoks gang
- Wanani remix,
- Bleki, Boondoks ft Wakuu Music
- Hunishtui, Boondocks Gang ft The Kansoul
- Taniua, Boondocks ft Bahati
- Sabina
