On 27 December, Coster Ojwang returns to Kisumu for a two-day extravaganza that feels less like a performance and more like a homecoming.
The journey to this moment began far from the city lights, in the lakeshore village of Anding’o in Migori, where his relationship with art was first shaped not by sound, but by sight.
Long before packed stages in Nairobi and festival lineups, there was paint, a brush, and a canvas. There was patience. Observation. A slow, deliberate way of seeing the world.
Coster was a painter before he became a performer, and that foundation still defines his music. It can be heard in the spacing of his melodies, the restraint in his arrangements, and the way his songs feel composed rather than chased.
His music does not rush to impress. It unfolds, layer by layer.
At Mwangaza Art School, he learned discipline, line and light, shadow and proportion. He learned how to observe, and that training remains evident in his work. His sound carries balance. It leaves room to breathe.
In 2020, as the world slowed to a standstill, he released his first track on YouTube. Achiwoni was not framed as a conventional debut. It felt like an opening conversation, a careful test of whether Luo musical memory could stretch forward without losing itself. The response was clear.
Since then, his catalogue has grown steadily. Songs such as Wabiro, Jowi, Nyiego, Nyachula and Oguyo Oguyo trace an artist gaining confidence without shedding curiosity.
Playlist placements and collaborations have expanded his audience, but the core has remained intact. His six-track EP Mbak Ndalo, released on 22 August 2025, captures that evolution. This is no longer a painter experimenting with a guitar. This is a songwriter with a recognisable sonic signature.
Often described as a contemporary Luo artist, Coster’s sound resists easy categorisation. It neither leans heavily on ohangla or ajawa structures nor abandons them. Instead, tradition is bent into something expansive, familiar rhythms refracted through modern sensibilities. His music feels at home both in a grandmother’s compound and under festival lights.
That duality comes alive on stage.
The Fisherman Experience, his live concept, has grown into one of Nairobi’s most magnetic cultural gatherings. At venues such as Geco Café, audiences packed in, leaning forward, hanging on every note, eager to be part of something larger than themselves.
With each performance, the demand grew, spilling beyond walls, until Uhuru Gardens offered a stage wide enough to hold both the crowd and the music.
Beyond sound, his artistic language continues to expand. A clothing line is in development, hinted at through his stage wardrobe and visual direction. It feels like a natural progression, the same eye for colour and mood finding new expression in fabric.
Now, that journey turns back to the lakeside.
On 27 December, Coster returns to Kisumu for a two-day extravaganza, bringing contemporary urban Luo sound back to the waters that shaped it. Joined by fellow artists, shared stories, bodies in motion and music carried by wind, water and memory, the event promises more than entertainment.
Coster Ojwang’ learned how to carry home with him wherever he went. For those who know his work, it is almost tangible. As the music rises, the waves of Lake Victoria seem to whisper back, heritage answering through the crowd. It is an experience that feels as spiritual as it is musical, where memory meets the present and home finally listens.