Not known to many due to his departure from the country in early 2002, Owuor Arunga is a household name in America, having been among the few Africans to have ever won the prestigious Grammy Awards.
According to his profile on Coke Studio where he had a guest appearance in 2014, a young Arunga narrated that he saw an advert on TV of a man playing the trumpet, and in a moment of deja vu, he knew that it was exactly what he wanted to do with his life.
"I started playing the trumpet because I watched a Tusker commercial with a trumpeter playing Take 5 by Dave Brubeck and it was the coolest thing ever. The way he tilted his hat, his swag — I wanted to be everything about that commercial.
When the opportunity presented itself, the young Arunga stated that he left the country and went to New York (2000) to get more jazz experience and knowledge.
He also cites Michael Jackson as a big influence on his musical career.
"I moved to the States in 1993. My mother is American-born and I loved Michael Jackson, so I convinced my parents to move to the States so I could go see the statues of MJ. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s true: MJ sold me the dream," he told the Daily Nation in 2013.
Owuor has also had the honor to work on a project alongside Thrift shop hitmakers Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, having studied with Macklemore in the same school as him where they teamed up to make music, as he told Daily Nation in 2014.
“I met Ryan Lewis later, he is younger than Mackelmore and I. Mackelmore and I went to high school together and I met Ryan through Mac. Typically, younger people have a perspective on music that’s fresh and different, I always go to my kids and ask them is this hot, and do you like this song?” he stated.
According to his coke studio profile, the inventive musician was stated to have helped the duo write their Grammy-winning album, The Heist, which was also nominated for the MTV and VMA awards in 2013.
His exploits have also turned him into a household name in the states, going with monikers like Dizzy Gillespie of hip-hop” The pied piper, SuperJazzman Owuor and Sultan of Swag.
In 2019, Arunga released a song titled Pressure alongside musician Kagwe Mungai.
The Grammy Award (originally called Gramophone Award) is the most prestigious award presented by the Recording Academy to recognize achievements in the music industry
The person with most grammies is Sir George Scott, ad Memoriam, with 31, the living person being country music legend Alisson Krauss who has 27 grammies to her name, putting Arunga amongst the musical greats.
