Ayub Ogada is regarded as one of the greatest Kenyan artists of all time. Born Job Seda in Mombasa in 1956, Ayub was exposed to music at an early age. At the age of six, his parent's took him to Chicago, USA, where his father studied medicine and toured college campuses playing Luo music with his mother.

Back in Kenya for his high school studies, Ayub started experimenting with indigenous instruments while playing with a band called Awengele. Later, while playing with a rock band called Black Savage, Ayub composed "Kothbiro", an adaptation of a Luo traditional song, which would eventually be the song he is most known for.

In 1988, while playing the Nyatiti in the London underground, Ayub was invited to perform at WOMAD. His performance subsequently earned him a record deal with Peter Gabriel's Real World with whom he went on to produce and release the album, En Mano Kuoyo.