Their guitar-driven sound, inspired by the Soukous guitarist Dr. Nico, combined highly melodic rumba with lyrics sung in Swahili.
The band played at nightclubs and bars in the Nairobi area, and developed an enthusiastic following, and by the mid-1970s, they were well known throughout Kenya, thanks to hits like "Mwongele" and "Wana Wanyika".
They had a harder sound than most rumba bands and were almost unchallenged in that area in Kenya due to the closing of the Tanzanian border in 1977.
Simba Wanyika continued playing rumba, and was still quite popular when the band split in the late 1970s when rhythm guitarist Omar Shabani (commonly referred to as Professor Omar Shabani) took many of the band's musicians and forming Les Wanyika.
In 1980, George Kinyonga also quit Simba Wanyika, taking more musicians with him to form Orchestra Jobiso.