Willy Paul

Willy Paul
Paul (right) with Bob Collymore at the 2013 Groove Awards
Born	Wilson Abubakar Radido (1993-09-01) 1 September 1993 Mathare, Nairobi, Kenya
Residence	Kasarani, Nairobi
Other names	Willy Abu Willy Paul Msafi Willy Pozze
Occupation	Musician
Years active	2010–present
Parent(s)	Paul Radido
Awards	Groove Award for Male Artist of the year Groove Award Artist of the year(2012 Afrima Awards )
Musical career
Genres	Contemporary Christian Music pop soul
Instruments	Vocals
Associated acts	Gloria Muliro Sauti Sol
Website	www.willypaulmsafi.com

Wilson Abubakar Radido is a Kenyan award-winning Contemporary Christian Music artist and songwriter from Kasarani in Nairobi.He is also the C.E.O and founder of Saldido records .^[1] Willy Paul was named male artist of the year at the 2013 Groove Awards alongside his mentor Gloria Muliro who took the female artist of the year award.^[2] Some of his well-known singles are Sitolia, Kitanzi and You never Know which have earned him international fame, including a famous tour of the US where he performed in different churches in several States.^[3] He first gained recognition after recording the song Sitolia with Gloria Muliro which, although, was an object of controversy after several claims by Willy that he was not earning much from the song because Gloria Muliro allegedly owned exclusive copyrights to the song.^[4] They nevertheless were able to iron out their differences and even went on to record another hit song, Kitanzi^[5] In 2012, he was nominated for the Kisima Music Awards' Gospel Artist of the year, an award that was later won by Daddy Owen.^[6] Willy Paul is a praise and worship member at Kasarani Church.

Early life

Wilson Shikwekwe Radido was born to Mr and Mrs. Paul Radido on September 1993 in Mathare slums. Mr Radido, who is of Ugandan descent, was a carpenter, while his wife, an immigrant from Tanzania, was a salonist up until 2011, when a chronic illness confined her to her bed. Paul dropped out of school in 2011 due to financial constraints emanating from having lost his father. He was forced to engage in Juakali jobs to generate income to support his bed-ridden mother alongside his three siblings.^[1] His brother is Bachelor's Degree Holder in Electronic Engineering from the University of Nairobi

Career

The first hit was Rabuka then his major breakthrough in music came in 2010,he later co-authored his first single Sitolia with Gloria Muliro, which a reflection of his life history, depicting the struggles he had gone through but giving himself a renewed hope that God had been faithful enough to bring him to the limelight. His first album, You never know was launched on Thursday 5 December 2013 in a colourful ceremony at the KICC graced by musicians Daddy Owen, Ben Githae, Gloria Muliro, DK Kwenye Beat, Ben Bahati, Bahati, Men Of God (MOG), Size 8, Mr Seed, Shiru Wa GP, Betty Bayo, Danny Gift, DJ Sadic and DJ Mo^[7]

The album had songs like, You never know,Lala Salama,Mpenzi and Kitanzi. Willy Paul announced that he would be touring the USA where he would perform in different Churches in 12 states. The tour organised by Talanta Awards was to begin on 8 March to April 2014. The tour however begun on 10 March in Sacramento, California. He performed alongside artiste Polly Odotte at the House of Glory Church. He then headed to Neema Gospel Church in Dallas, Texas, and, on 15 March, performed at St Louisiana, Missouri. On 29–30 March, Willy ministered to the audience at Neema Community Church in Overland Park, Kansas. He concluded his tour on 27 April in Las Vegas, Nevada^[3] The much talented Willy Paul Msafi recently found himself in controversy after his rival musician in the Gospel industry, Bahati, accused him of stealing his song. This saw Bahati's fans pounce on Willy Paul with harsh criticism over the social media, accusations he denied to have committed. However, this ended during the 10th annual Groove Awards Nominations which happened on Wednesday 22 April 2015 held at the Nairobi Arboretum grounds. They were asked to reconcile and were prayed for shortly in the event. Willy Paul ended up scooping four nominations for the awards with his huge song ["Tam Tam"], a collaboration song with the energetic songstress Size 8 released in 2014 granting him; Collabo of the Year, Video of the Year, Song of the year and then Male Artist of the Year. Then came the 10th annual Groove Awards on Saturday 6 June 2015 that saw Willy Paul go home with no award contrary to Bahati who won four awards. Apart from this, Willy Paul has made great progress in terms of making music, i.e., Tam Tam, Mamangu, Vigelegele, Mapenzi and then his latest song Hukuniacha. He has collaborated with one of the best hip-hop artists in Africa Khaligraph Jones the song is titled Bora uhai

Chart performance

Despite constant criticism of his quality of music, with accusations of secularism emerging from various quarters,^[8] Willy Paul's songs have continued to perform well in the charts, mainly because of his strong appeal to a loyal youthful fan base. Most recently, Jigi Jigi, his latest track, peaked at number one in all major charts in Kenya, including Mdundo Weekly Top 100, the Top 40 Singles Chart, and the Local Top 20 Hits on Music Charts Ke.

Philanthropy

Having grown up in Mathare slums, Willy Paul has set up his own foundation in Mathare to help the needy people in the area. Willy Paul has also been able to assist young children get access to basic education and healthcare^[9]

References

Discography

2018

 2018

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Willy Paul.

• Willy Paul at AllMusic