Matwana Matatu Culture
If you've used public transport to move from one point to another, you've prolly noticed pimped matatus better known as 'Nganya', 'Manyanga' or 'Ma3'. I decided to take a look at their journey as they are transformed by great minds from nothing to moving works of art. The matwana culture was founded by Graff Matwana and his vision for matatus was to rebrand them in great limelight and also to preserve their culture even for years to come. There are a numerous people who come together to design the perfect nganya from the graffiti artistes to the sound installers and am gonna be giving you insight on how that process comes to be until we see the final product on the road, magnificent works of art or better yet picasso's on wheels.
The process of creating the perfect nganya begins in the garage with the chasis which is the outer framework of the vehicle and this is how a chasis frame looks like.
From here, the shell of the body is designed, cut out and mounted on the chasis. The shell is curved to customer specification.The shell of the body is known as a fabricator and they are various types that are used depending on a customers taste but the most common fabricators that are used in designing nganya's include;
KCI
Examples of nganya's with KCI fabrication are;
KITENGELA'S CRYSIS
RONGAI'S GIN n JUICE
CHODA
Examples of nganya's with CHODA fabrication are;
RONGAI'S VINTAGE
NGONG'S MIXTAPE
JASRAJ
Examples of nganya's with JASRAJ fabrication are;
UMOJA'S BRUTAL
RONGAI'S INTOXICATED
CFG
Examples of nganya's with CFG fabrication are;
NGONG'S FUNKDAFIED AKA DABRAT
NGONG'S MILANO
After the body is put in place,the seats are then firmly screwed on the floor which is closely followed by covering them with seat covers. The covers are measured precisely, cut and nicely fitted to make comfy seat cushions. Sound technicians then step in and wire the music system. Sound installation is one of the most important steps in design and the technicians choose the perfect sound system for the vehicle.
Some of the most commonly installed sound systems include use of either; Kenwood speakers, Rockford speakers, Pioneer speakers or Kicker speakers among others. Kicker speakers have overall average audio quality but their low-end accuracy is great. Kenwood speakers have a high durability rate and they offer better sound quality based on the sound range as well as better quality parts. Rockford speakers have amusing sound quality and they give you clarity in music sound. Pioneer speakers also have good sound and are quite affordable. The sound installers behind this very important process include; Source Entertainment, Soundlab Inc, Aceaudio, Audioplay and Dropsounds.
After the sound technicians are done, the final touches are then put on the entire body. Here is where pimping comes in and the customers are offered an option of either computer generated stickers or hands on airbrush paintings, all this forms the grafitti of the matatu and there are various different designs all dependent on taste and the imagination of the artiste to use the vehicles outer body as a blank canvas and draw their perfect works of art. Some of the great minds behind these creative designs are;
NOZY CUSTOMS
Nozy customs is one of the best matatu designers in the game right now. He has designed many great matatus such as; BURUBURU'S CAPTAIN n AVATAR, and RONGAI'S BATMAN n SUPERMAN
LITHUMIZED
Lithumized is another great matatu designer whose great masterpieces include matatus such as; UMOJA'S MASTERMIND, DANDORA'S HOTMETAL, and KASARANI'S BLACK LABEL n TWISTED METAL
OBYISMIKE
Mike Obango who is the artiste behind obyismike is another great matatu designer and some of his great works include matatus such as; RONGAI'S BUMBLEBEE n INTOXICATED, NGONG'S KIXX n VAT and DAGORETTI'S SOLAINA
KEVZ CUSTOMZ
Kevz customz is another great mind behind one of the best matatu designs and some of the matatus his worked with include; RONGAI'S GIN N' JUICE, NGONG'S EDGE AND EMBAKASI'S DIETRO DE QUINTE
MBUGUZ CUSTOMZ
Mbuguz customs is another phenomenal matatu artiste and his work is seen in matatus such as; KAYOLE'S SOUL n KRATOS and WAIYAKI WAY'S CLOUD 9
OKSECHI
Oksechi is a great mind who was blessed with the creativity of art and some of his designs include matatus such as; KASARANI'S ARAB MONEY and a couple of NGONG'S FLIP SQUAD matatus
Once this is all done, the exterior lights are then installed and before the matatu gets to work, it is taken on a road test to ensure that everything is working perfectly.
CONTENT: Courtesy Yanna Resse and Stunt Man Freddy Psycho
