In 1990 he received the Kenya Kiswahili Association Award in Nairobi, in 1994 he was Fellow of the Australian Research Council, in 1995 he received an award from the National Kiswahili Council of the Republic of Tanzania.
Other songs he has worked on are Mpaka Che with Pilipili, Tunakatika (Sheng for We're Dancing) with Wambo-E and Chakula Kinywaji (Kiswahili for Food Drink) with Jua Cali, which was featured in his album Ngeli ya Genge.
Its name derives from a word meaning "travellers" in KiSwahili (etymologically linked with the Arabic word "safari").