HISTORY of the Mighty Dreads

Set-son Wahengo and friends, Tuli and Mwala formed the Young Dreads in 1994 when they were still between the ages of 18 and 20. But as they grew older, they changed the name to the Mighty Dreads in 1996. Set-son has always been the composer, arranger of songs and lead vocal of the band. The band is now made up of Erick Hamutenya on bass guitar, Nafidi Wahengo (drums), Godfrey Conde (lead guitar), Marius Olloy (keyboard), Moses Saiz (percussion) and Set-son on vocals.

TYPE OF MUSIC

The Mighty Dreads specializes in Shambo and Reggae music. Shambo music is traditional Oshiwambo music mixed with modern music instruments. Traditional Oshiwambo music is normally sung accompanied by the clapping of hands and stamping of feet and with traditional instruments like the okambulumbumbwa. Said Set-son: “After a long research, of our traditional music, we added modern instruments like electric guitars, keyboard, drums, congas and created a new genre of music which we named Shambo, derived from Osh-iw-ambo music.”

Set-son’s career started with Reggae music through inspiration from Kwela (a fellow Namibian), Peter Tosh, Alpha Blondie, Bob Marley and Lucky Dube. ”My understanding of reggae music kept me closer or linked to reggae/rasta. That is why we always have reggae and shambo sessions in our albums and during live performances,” said Set-son. The group plays more roots and culture reggae and little dance-hall. Lead singer Set-son, a self-taught guitarist, discovered his passion for music while studying Physical Education in Cuba. He thus quit his studies and returned to Namibia to pursue his music career. On his return home in 1993, Set-son at first only played reggae music but later re-discovered the beauty of his traditional Oshiwambo music.

 ALBUMS

Their first album, Kula Umone was released in 2004 and the second, Wisdom Fundamental hit the shelves in 2005. The third was released in July 2007 and is called The Drama of Cain and Abel. On the new album, Set-son recorded seven Shambo songs of which two were composed by the Father of Oshiwambo traditional music, the late Tate Kwela. The rest of the Shambo songs are Set-son's own creation.

The title song, The Drama of Cain and Abel, speaks of religious confusion and how jealousy can lead to death, a biblical story of brothers Cain and Abel that until today still holds a lot of significance. The last song on the 11-track album, Natu-Imbuleni, is a combination of Shambo and Reggae and is a lively, danceable song that will definitely have at least one of your body parts moving, if it is not your head then your fingers or even your whole body.

PERFORMANCES

The Mighty Dreads always perform at important national events like Namibia’s Independence celebrations, Heroes Day commemorations as well as cultural events like the annual AI//Games Festival organized by the City of Windhoek and World Music Day celebrations, but most of the time they organize their own shows. They have toured the country on various occasions but mostly perform in Windhoek, where they are based. In October 2007, Setson toured three cities in the United States of America with five other Namibian musicians. They had performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington as well as in New York and Baltimore. The shows were a resounding success.