Mighty King Kong

Who was Mighty King Kong?

Paul Otieno Imbaya, better known for his stage name Mighty King Kong, was a reggae musician from Kenya. He was born in Ugenya, Siaya District.

As a young child he suffered a severe polio and was disabled from the waist down. He went to Ambira Primary School, but dropped out at Standard Six following the death of his father. He moved to Kisumu city where he became a street kid and beggar.

In 1993 he moved to Nairobi. With the assistance of DJ Stone, a local deejay whom he had met in Kisumu, he was able to perform at Nairobi clubs on weekly basis.

Few years later he moved to Mombasa and performed with bands like Them Mushrooms and Pressmen. Later on, he moved to Kampala, Uganda to perform with the popular Simba Ngoma band. In Kampala he earned enough money to records his first album. He went back to Nairobi where his album, titled Ladies Choice, was produced by Maurice Oyando of the Next Level studios. It was released in June 1999. His second album, Cinderella was released in 2001, again by Next Level studios.

His third album, Return of the King, was released in 2004. However, Mighty King Kong publicly blamed its contract of being exploitative.