Sauti Sol’s Bien-Aimé Baraza opened up on how shocked he was when his close friend, Linet Munyali aka Size 8, practically walked away from a Ksh50 million payday.
Speaking during a special feature on Size 8’s journey, Bien narrated her conscious decision to walk away from a career in secular music back at the end of a stellar 2012.
“Nilikuwa disappointed hiyo time because sijawai ona mtu akiwalk away from pesa hivyo, yaani ni kama alichukua milioni kama 50 tu, akaweka kwa choo, akaflush (I was disappointed at the time because I had never seen someone walk away from money just like that. It’s like she took Ksh50 million and flushed it down the toilet),” a visibly shocked Bien explained.
He also revealed that he had known her since their high school days when she was at State House Girls, Nairobi while he was also exploring his musical gift at Upper Hill High School.
“After high school, the next time I saw her was at Alliance Francais, she was all dolled up. Size 8 is an effervescence of emotion, character and energy. She is explosive.
“Linet told me, do you think your songs will turn into hit songs while you lie on your couch. Walk around with your CDs all around town and hand them out to DJs.
It was her aggressive nature that saw her rise to the very top of the music industry, and after investing all she had at the time on one song, Vidonge, she hit the pinnacle of her career.
She confessed to having idolized American Songstress Beyonce and aped her dance moves and dressing, something her siblings struggled with.
“I was conflicted by the fact that Linet was going up on stage half-naked. But I loved her and didn’t really care what people had to say about her,” her sister Rispah Munyali stated.
It was during this phase when she was at the top of her game that Size 8 confessed to having plunged into depression.
She realised that she did not like the person she was becoming.
“I remembered that happy girl who was in State House Girls, that girl who was so happy and bubbly, and I missed that born-again girl. I just missed being loved for Linet, not for Size 8,” she explained.
It was at this time that she opened up to Bien and told him that she wanted to give it all up and turn back to Christ, despite being shocked, he supported her move.
Size 8 has since come a long way, having rebranded herself as Size 8 Reborn in 2013, the year in which she released her first gospel song Mateke.
On his part, Bien confessed to having wondered what would happen to her but his doubts were soon extinguished when Mateke was released.
“I remember we were at a particular show when the crowd started screaming Mateke from the top of their lungs and Size 8 came out with a flying kick,” he narrated amid hearty laughter.
“As a fan of Size 8, I believed in her even after her change,” he asserted.
It was during this phase of her life that she met her husband Samwel Muraya alias DJ Mo. The couple got hitched back in 2013 and are currently raising a daughter named Ladasha Belle Muraya, born on November 19, 2015, and a son, Muraya Junior, who was born in October 2019.
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