How Loui elevated into the Bongo Flava world

They say when life throws lemons at you make some lemonade. That was so evident with Louis Mbulu’s journey into the Bongo Flava scene.

Better known for his stage name Loui, developed love for music when he was a Form One student at Loyola Secondary School.

For him, it all started as a hobby, he would sing and dance and one day when he was a Form Two student he made him take a glimpse in singing, after a friend of his named Leo complemented his voice.

Since then he started looking for ways to better this growing talent in him. Louis started browsing ‘how to sing like Chris Brown, Mario, usher Raymond and other’ and ‘how to sing in a high note’ and so many others. He wanted to become either Chris Brown or Usher in singing and dancing.

As much as he liked doing this, Louis later found out that by coping them, it would cost him his own stemming identity in the music world.

In quest of finding himself, he started following advice from people he met in different points in his life. Among these people are a church choir at home place, who advised him to train his voice in the mornings. They also told him to drink some flavored water to smoothen his singing process.

In the name of following the choir’s advice, Loui found himself going to a forest situated near University of Dar es Salaam in the mornings for his singing rituals. He saw himself a step closer to making his name in the world of music.

“I used to walk from Kibo suburbs to Udsm forests to practise my singing rituals and overtime this became a habit. These rituals were literally noise. I would be shouting alphabets or words because I believed that habit was cleansing my voice in a way that I wanted. The people passing by stared at me as if I had gone crazy! (Chuckles),” he narrates.

One day he went to his usual voice cleansing rituals at Udsm at around 11am on a Sunday. That day he chose a different part of the forest that he had never set his feet on before, little did know that the part chosen was declared one of the common spots for robbery.

“I recall that on that Sunday I decided to start with shouting before singing. I started shouting in articles as in ‘a, e, i, o, u’ followed by singing. Before that, I took off my shirt and hung it on a tree nearby and placed my water bottle down and then I started shouting. Of many things I did not know if that spot was infamous for robbery and the people living around that place disseminated a message that when a person is being robbed, they should make noise that would alert other people to save them from it,” he details.

Before he even finished shouting all of the articles, Loui was startled ruffling of leaves and trees and suddenly a growing audience of people holding different weapons as they approached him.

When the number of residents increased to about 20 people carrying different kinds of weapons including machetes and pipes, Loui had to explain his clear motives for being in that part of the forest. They told him that the part of the forest they were standing on was forbidden due to being known as the robbery arena amid robberies that happened to students and residents living around that area.

Years fled by to the time he was a Form Five student at Nyerere High School situated in the rural part of Iringa whereas like many students Loui had travelled with a radio and a flash that carried a number songs. His love for music was recognized by both students and teachers as it was from this love, Loui was chosen to become entertainment prefect. He was the first person to arrange a music bonanza for which he created raw paper tickets that were sold for sh1000 per person. In this Bonanza he was able to collect about Sh300, 000 that assisted in temporarily hiring speakers alongside other music instruments.

After he finalized his high school studies, tion where he made a friend who was connected to producer S2kizzy. The two linked up right after Loui’s time in the army ended.

“S2kizzy was then known as ‘s2k’ he was creative with the beats as he currently is. We connected musically, he liked my voice and I loved the way he produced music. It was during this time when I decided to prioritize music and quit school. In the beginning my family did not understand my decision as they kept underestimating music as a career. I recall being reminded several times that I was doomed for failure because it’s hard to become an icon in music but here we are,” he smirks.

When the two started working together, they fought life and it fought back with its fists even harder. S2kizzy then started making music with Quick Rocka and recorded free styling sessions with rappers such as Young Lunya. With his list of artistes increasing, S2kizzy advised Loui to get into business so that by the time the two of them worked together, they would have money on the side.

“I afterwards traveled to Moshi to work with my aunt at her liquor depot. I did not entirely leave music because I kept writing and going to studio when I had the chances to,” Loui recalls.

He had written about eight songs before he returned home, one of them being Hennessy which currently has about 6 million views on YouTube. Unexpectedly, business went sideways to the extent that Loui had to return to Dar es Salaam. He then made connections with a studio near his residence.

“This is when Hennessy was first written. It was made during the times when I had nothing. The year was 2020 and it was a year of revolution, depression and a major turnaround for me,” he recalls.

Loui had made plans to start over but differently. He had asked his family for their approval for him to manage their farms back in their village.

“I was going through depression at the time because all the faith I had in me about my career in music had faded. I felt hate towards everyone. I despised anything that has to do with music in spite of the fact that I had made several songs already. Until the time I got in contact with my current label,” he narrates.

One day when he was at home, Loui received a phone call from his closest friend. The friend shared good news that a label based in the US was looking for an artiste in Tanzania. Due to the resentment he was feeling towards music at the time, Loui was not even interested in discussing the matter. He gave a go ahead for his friend to share his unreleased songs with the label since he had no means to at the time.

“My friend reached back to me and told me that the label wanted to sign, I did not believe it at first because I had met such people in the past and they would all talk at first and then they disappear. When I got connected with them at first and shared with them my story, the label director resonated with it to the extent he travelled from the US to meet me physically, the rest is history,” he shares.

His EP titled ‘Lights on me’ which was produced by s2kizzy was released in 2021 and the name was suggested by his label as they felt that it was about time that Loui gets the spotlight he deserves.

The EP consists six songs; Kona, Hennessy, Unaniliza, Leo, Sawa and Lost whereas Loui’s favorite song is Hennessy.

“This is the song that introduced me in the game. It’s a reflection of me that will forever be tied with me. It was also the most played song of all of them in the EP across all platforms,” he says.

His recent project ‘Selema Popo’ featuring Musa Keys became certified Platinum in South Africa after it sold 20 units across all platforms.

“In life when you become successful because you reached your goal, the goals are likely to increase. With my latest song being certified Platinum, my fans and music lovers are likely wondering ‘what is next for him’ so I am indebted to make catchy and good music that will earn me more than ‘Selema Popo’ has,” he unveils.