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Biography
In the meantime, Maiko harboured serious ambitions of
becoming a professional boxer, where he believed, there was
good money.
A natural south-pole, Maiko joined Nkwazi where he sparred
with Albert Musankabala and was under the guidance of
Musonda Chinungu.
However, the late Lottie Mwale, a close relation of his,
discouraged him from taking boxing for a career, thereby
leaving his interest in theatre only.
“I feel indebted to Lottie for discouraging me in boxing
because the man, who made me quit died a sad death himself
because of heavy battering, that is why at his funeral, I
did almost everything,” he says, adding that he however
still loves professional boxing and still keeps his punching
bag, boots and gloves.
Otherwise, Maiko’s background is laced in sadness somehow.
Born in Livingstone, Dambwa Central, Maiko, a father of one,
Mwiza, Six, never had the experience of growing-up with his
father as his parents divorced while he was still a toddler.
After the divorce, he moved with his mother to Kabwe rural
where he started school at a self-help school by one Father
Khumalo.
Although he was young, Maiko was too intelligent that he was
moved to Grade Two after only two days in Grade One, and
again to Grade Three, two days later.
However, when his mother moved to Lusaka, and he started
school at Kabwata, the headmaster there thought he was too
small to be in Grade Four and moved him back to Grade Two.
Looking at his daughter, who at Six, is doing Grade Three,
he draws some similarities in terms of intelligence. He is
impressed with her interest in current affairs and reading
culture.
Otherwise, even at Kabulonga, Maiko showed his intelligence
not just in class, but even beyond.
“At Kabulonga, we were extremely intelligent beyond the four
corners of the class. It is there that I started my music,
and we would go to class smelling chibuku.
But in our own spare time, we would study African history
because we saw no reason why our teachers, who, appeared
poor and uneducated were teaching us European history,”
Maiko, who has also studied basic law, says.
However, during his upbringing, and owing to his complexion,
he faced discrimination from both whites and blacks.
That in a way shaped his character. But much more, it is the
death of his sisters and brothers, Maud, Titus, Forster and
Steve, that has had a big bearing on his life.
“Every two years, someone had to die in the family, so I
have defied death in a way, before that, we never knew what
death was, but when it came, it didn’t rain, it poured, we
got used to having one family member die every two years,”
he says.
Even more, he says it is not easy to frustrate him because
his career was shaped by the frustrations that he faced as a
result of his complexion.
“I don’t feel the frustration because of the desperate state
of the artiste in this country, I sometimes sing for money,
sometimes for nothing, but it is not easy to frustrate me,
after all, I started my career because of frustration.
“My music is not the feel good kind of stuff, but that has
not stopped me from being a reggae artiste, I have managed
to feed my family over the years,” says the artiste, who is
also passionate about children’s rights, and has been chosen
together with the wife as child labour ambassadors by the
International Labour Organisation.
But for all this, Maiko still considers himself a simple
human being, and doesn’t remember any of his achievements.
With that therefore, it is only proper that he is reminded
that, in a country, where reggae music is seen as being
foreign, he has earned the recognition of the average person
on the street.
That therefore, befits him a place on the high table of
local music.
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