Maina Mind's journey from TikTok star to musical poet

Can I see what you’re working on the laptop?

It’s just some artwork, looking at presentations that I will be doing on Friday (July 4) at the listening party. It’s a very funny, funny slide about just the whole journey. The album drops in the fifth of July.

So what’s going to be happening at the listening party? You said it’s funny.

We’re going to listen to the poetry album. This is going to be on the slide. I’ve been working on it since January. Actively, in the studio. But these are poems that I’ve performed for the last four years. They’ve been exclusively on the live shows, so now I’ve collected them and collaborated with some artistes like Muthaka, Kinoti, Shad Muziki, Modest Chabari, Chris Barr, Gilda, and Angie to add some musical elements. And just make poetry into a modern art. But there’s also new work that I’ve written.

How many tracks do you have on the album?

Ten tracks.

If you’re having artistes do this musically, then where do you come in?

It’s so creative. Some of them, it’s like they’re vocally charged so you’ll hear an artiste’s vocals on it. Some of them, are like a story. So I’ll start the poem and they come in with a chorus, go back to the poem; just like the usual format of a song. Others, I’ll do the poem and then they come in at the end or they’ll start then the poem comes in at the end.

What made you think of even actually putting the poems into it music?

For me, the goal was publishing. For a very long time, people have known me as a TikTok poet. A lot of my work is on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, but then there’s something when it comes to ownership and publishing. So I was to do a book, but I figured in my wisdom, I still need a lot more experience to put a book together. Because I feel like there are things I still need to write and say with everything that’s going on. There’s so much that I have written that needs to be put out in an album, that you can’t find on my Instagram or TikTok. So I’ve utilised that material for the last few years, tested it with various audiences – poems about grief, our country (what is going on right now), love, lovemaking, a whole cocktail – on the live stage. From the beginning, people have said how they love these pieces. So I put that together for publishing and ownership, like a portfolio, that this is what it has culminated to.

Also, a lot of people have been asking about an audio experience that they can work with, stream, something that they can walk around and support me rather than having to scroll down my pages. What I give online is more of affirmation, light work. This is going deep into it. So if it’s about grief, it’s something that I’ve experienced. I talk about it, people listen, they own it and they sort of feel like they can be seen or heard through the work.

It seems like you’re always finding something new, some fresh avenue to express yourself or to give something to your audience. What pushes you?

That’s a very good question. I think it’s just a growth mindset. One thing that I hate is comfort. When I’ve done something for such a long time, I know everything. If you’re telling me about doing poems online,

I do them very easily. A lot of the music I use in my content is copyrighted; it’s music inspired by other people. That’s easy work. But when you’re sitting in studio with producers and you’re trying to find your sound, that’s something entirely new. And it’s putting all that experience and figuring out how can we push it more? Even partners that we have invited for the show, like Spotify, will be like, “You have proven you have so much credibility in the poetry space. Now, how can we partner and just bring that as a voice?” Because a lot of what’s happening in the country and what’s going on with people’s lives,

Poetry and spoken word is such an essential part of just voicing everything that you’re feeling. Can we do something new that’s not a live show that we can leverage and have an audience go there. A lot of time, I’ll sit down at the beginning of the year and what different thing can we do this year? And sometimes it’s not even a monetary incentive, just that we need to challenge ourselves. So, I literally sat down and I took all my poems to rewrite for the studio. And I did because a lot of my work is performative. So, when writing it for the studio, mixing and mastering it with instrumentals and artistes, it was a beautiful experience.

What was that process like?

There is so much to learn about. Putting out music is different. If you’re collaborating with someone, there are split sheets involved. There’s the first process of recording, mixing, and mastering. There’s figuring out how to distribute and publish. The first thing I did was call up producers So Fresh, Modest Chabari, and Wuod Omollo. I settled on working with Modest Chabari because at least his timeline allowed for us to just sit in the studio. And from that, I learnt. This project has been a lot of collaborating, seeking a lot of knowledge from these people and I think it’s the community that I’ve built. Some of these people that I’m talking to are people that have come to my live show, seen my work, and people that we have talked about collaborating some time. So I reached out, we got a studio space, and we just started recording. Even Modest had never produced poetry and now, he has to produce a poetry album. So first, we play around, record and hear how I sound on a mic. Then, we started experimenting with musical elements, inviting artistes; and figuring out who we can reach out to, who fits this sound.

The first day, we sat in studio and I just read him my poems, recorded them and listened. “What would make people listen to this?” “Let’s add a string here.” “Let’s add a beat.” “Can we actually make this contemporary?” “Can we make this R&B-ish?” “Which artiste can fit into this and how?” By the end of it, we had so many people who had walked into that studio, some to just play the saxophone and add a musical element, bass guitar, record their voices

How different was it compared to how you usually do your thing?

Very strange. Because, normally, it’s me and my camera in my room. Simple. And I have control of everything. First of all, I don’t know the music language. So you’re telling someone, ‘Can we add a bass guitar here in the key of… There’s a language barrier with these artists. So, now I have no control. I’m sort of executive producing. It’s incredibly tough. But, the beauty of this is that the product feels so much better than the ‘easier work’ that I normally do.

Because once you hear it, we actually make an emotion out of it. It’s fulfilling because you can tell this is timeless. It’s something that will sit on a platform and whenever anyone is going through grief or a heartbreak, they will come back to this piece.

What did you have to learn in terms of the business angle of music that maybe you feel like had you not had the right people with you may have missed?

I think the naivety. So I was just ringing people and they’re like, ‘Okay, so what’s your plan on revenue, copyrights?’ and I’d go, ‘I just want you on this song to just put your voice in it.’ And sometimes it was even a worry from me, because I may not be able to afford them; this is a passion project. So it was learning that people earn recurrently from this project. There are live shows coming up in October. There are artistes who will be performing these pieces. That is now a revenue for them to earn because I can’t perform this piece without you.

And that is something that I had to learn by talking to my producer. Some of these artistes were like, “No, no, no, no, you don’t have to pay us upfront.’ And that’s why it was amazing to do a listening party, have some partners come on the board, and start a conversation for a bigger live show. Realising I don’t have to be paying people millions, I had been wondering how people do this.

Give three tracks that you feel like people should listen to in this album.

There’s a piece called “Faded”. It’s about losing someone twice. I lost my when I was really young and I didn’t know how to process grief. To avoid getting sympathy from people, I decided to act as if nothing ever happened. Later on, when I was a teenager, I had a dream and I couldn’t remember her face. When I was planning out my first live show, in 2022, this was the first piece I ever wrote. And I remember telling myself, realising that I was losing her a second time; lost her physically, but now she was fading out of my mind. What people are going through in the country right now, people go out protesting and suddenly your loved one is gone. It’s so tough to process because you have no last memory of them. It’s about saying that I will let your name live on despite never getting the goodbye that was deserved.

Now “Midnight Poetry” is a nasty track, but it’s my favourite because it was such a challenge to write it. There’s a difference when you’re writing sensual poems in a way that you write sensual poetry without seeming disgusting. It’s a very narrow line. So, it plays a lot more on metaphors, but also sort of explicit. PG on that one. But it’s very well curated with drums and violins.

And then probably “Naitwa Kevo”. It’s the only fully Swahili piece in the album. “Swa-Sheng”. It just talks about the typical ‘Kevo’ guy in Nairobi and it’s a lot more performative, more of an interlude in the project. We recorded it with a live audience, with a guitar, and you can hear the audience's reaction. If you’re looking for an easy laugh, that’s your go-to.

Talk about partners and having to juggle creatively.

What I prefer as a creative and what I know gives value to clients is long-term contracts. So, a lot of people are like, ‘Man, you’re dealing with so many brands.’ But if you think about it, I’ve only been working with three brands: Nivea, Spotify and KWAL. And then contracts are spread out in a way that it does not also overwhelm my audience. A lot of creatives pick up small money, but their pages are market. What I tell my brands is there’s a user journey. First three months, we’re just making people aware. Second three months, we’re informing them. That three months, we’re converting them. So, if you tell me to do one post for you, it won’t work.

There are brands that I say no to, and it’s not because they’re not good brands, but I’ll tell them that even I am overwhelmed. Because, creatively, I need to churn out the best content for these two or three brands that I’m working with at a particular time. And once I start my year and secure my bag for the rest of the year, then I’ll assure you of value.

I’m grateful because I have a team, now, who help me creatively. So, we’ll brainstorm ideas, we’ll create concepts, we’ll share them online and then we’ll schedule a day and batch create; like three or four videos. Even during events. That’s the good thing about having long-term contracts, you know for this month I’m only focusing on this brand. And I’ll always be honest with them, tell them this time I can’t take a job.

What shouldn’t I come with, as a brand, in order for you not to consider that small money?

(Laughs). Small money is relative. Even when I’m doing a single post for you, I know I am short-changing you. Even though you’re giving me a lot of money, in my mind, I know it’s not fair for your brand. Because, we need to convert, actually tell my audience that this is good. So, that means, you also need to give me time to actually interact with this product. There’s a time I struggled with influencing for a very long time. I started last year. I realised it was because I was being approached by brands that I was not using.

You experiment a lot with your hair. Let’s, let’s talk about this.

So, now I have the hanging braids. I’m in my Justin Bieber era. But, if I’m experimenting with my hair, that means a project is in the works. That, I can’t speak on right now, because I’ve signed an NDA. The hair is an inspiration of a certain someone that has been curated somewhere. it’s all creatively inspired. But I’m thinking of keeping this. It’s a conversation starter. (Laughs).

Does Maina rest?

To be honest, bro, people assume that because I’m doing so many things, I don’t have time to rest. I actually have a lot of time to rest. And I think that’s why I occupy a lot of my time with many things. Because I’m still young and don’t have a family, right now I can stretch myself as much as possible. And everything I’m doing is creatively charged. So, whether I am brainstorming ideas for Nation Media Group, whether I am on a set acting, or whether I am on a stage, a lot of them involve performance.

What does a day in your life look like?

I have to credit the people I’m working with. Because delegating has saved me a lot of time and a lot of money. Which I thought was different. If a brand is giving you an X amount of money, and they just expect you to create the content that you’ve been creating, if I’m doing more I’m surprising them in a good way. If I’m going the extra mile to share that piece of bread with someone, so that they can give me the quality and I can only focus on ideas, trust me, you will earn the trust of that brand in a way that every time they think about a campaign, they’ll remember Maina did a good job. And you’ll have so much credibility and enough reason to ask for X amount so that you can take care of your team. I have an amazing, brilliant production manager who handles my day-to-day. She knows the projects that we have in line because we signed up for long-term contracts, so she schedules all the shoots that we are about to do. I have my videographer who knows exactly what we need. When we share an idea or concept, we flesh it out together.

You will find that you work with the same people. Like if I need a girlfriend on screen, Mary Erica is my paid actress. And, again, it’s that user journey. You see me with her often, you buy into the idea that we are actually a couple. And then bands will be like, ‘Oh my goodness. We want exactly that.’ It’s about creating continuously and integrating people. Mary Erica does more than just being an actress. She helps me brainstorm. She creates a lot of the cocktail recipes we do. She will show up, and bring lights, as good on camera as behind the camera. So if I can let you do what you do best and then I go look out for the money and figure out how to make the brand stand out, and think about the poetry, then we win. All of us.

At weekends, we’re creating like nonsense. When it’s time to prepare for our live show, I’ll take leave from work. If it’s time to be at the office, I’ll be here at whatever time. In this season of my life, I can do that, and I think that’s a privilege.

When people are listening to ‘Midnight Poetry’ what do you want them to leave with?

This poetry album is for the overthinkers, over-feelers, and a lot more for your intimate self. A lot of my poems have either been written late at tonight or early in the morning, when I’m by myself in my own thoughts and thinking about the state of the world and the state of my life. So when I was making this, I was talking to that higher version of whoever is listening to the poems. I want you to connect with it at that level. Think about when it’s at night and the noise has died down, and you’re adjust with your own thoughts. That version of you that is a deep thinker. But also, it’s curated in a way that if it happens to bump into your playlist, you will pause and be like, ‘Oh, this is interesting. What is this?’

Hence the idea of collaboration. Such that yes, we’re still respecting and paying homage to poems and poetry in the culture of poetry. But we also have some contemporary aspects of it. A lot of the poem albums online are just the poet speaking to the mic. And for anyone who loves poetry, that is gold. But now imagine, a piece of music hits on your stereo and you’re jamming to it and then suddenly there’s a spoken word piece that just smoothly seams in. And then your favourite artiste finishes that song. That was the idea. I don’t want them to change the music.

You’re not a gym freak, but you know, you work out a lot.

Bro, yeah, that’s for my peace of mind. And just balance and grounding. You know as a creative, you get to a point where your life is on a high. You’re on set, you’re at an event, so many accolades. If I’m having any self-esteem issues, the easiest place to base my comments is because there are people who are truly in love with what I do. And a lot of times, the comments are just for the version of you that you’ve presented. Not you, realistically. So to avoid getting there, where I am swimming in all that noise, Hubris, I hit the gym. And it is so beautiful. With no one in the gym, quiet, sometimes no music, just feeling the metal and just hitting your back, or your chest, or whatever you’re doing. It helps me to just relax. If I can get myself to wake up early, or at the end of my day, go to the gym, I can get myself to do a lot of things that I have control of.

Are you still fighting the women off your DMs?

Right now, I am not fighting them off. I’m actually welcoming the women in my DMs, the boy is in the streets. (Laughs). The boy is back in the streets. This Nairobi is not a joke.

Wait! You’re not joking?

No, I’m not joking, bro. I know. For a love poet, I know that’s the last straw. I am 2025 single.