New Comma Brings Common Ground Series To Nairobi
Under a cloudy Nairobi sky, a united drill community gathered at The Alchemist, a renowned bar in the heart of the city’s party district, for rising social media platform New Comma’s “Common Ground” event. Drill’s steady rise in popularity within the city’s musical zeitgeist has been a fascinating journey to witness. Many a rapper and MC have taken their turn at the mic, ready to deliver their quick staccato bars and wow their audiences with their wit and charisma. The month of November started out strong with many talents taking to the stage to showcase their skills and represent for Nairobi’s drill community.
New Comma event poster
The event hosted by the new social media platform targeting African creatives, New Comma, welcomed Nairobi’s biggest drill fans to come and support some of the city’s biggest and rising drill stars. New Comma’s, “Common Ground event series is dedicated to highlighting and celebrating African and Black creative talent in many forms”. Having done events in Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa before, they took to Kenya’s capital city to recognise some of our best talents. New Comma has been on a steady climb since its introduction to the scene in 2020. The website and now newly launched mobile application host a plethora of artists ready to showcase their creative works. The platform works like most other social media platforms, though allowing for a more thorough picture of what each artist is working on in their creative careers. An in-depth portfolio function and comprehensive profile page, mean that creatives now have the ability to present themselves efficiently and in one place. New Comma noticed a need in the space for artists to be able to find each other, “connect, create, learn and earn.” Artists on the continent were disconnected and finding folks to collaborate with became an increasingly challenging task. Their Common Ground event series are meant to highlight individual regions artistic talents and celebrate the work going on across the continent.
This Common Ground event was hosted in part in promotion of the newly launched New Comma app. Rapper and MC BV Accurate led us through the night which brought together different sides of the creative scene - musical performances, dancers, and fashion brands alike congregated to celebrate the night. The day started in the late afternoon, with fashion brands setting up shop throughout The Alchemist’s vast space. The pop-up included respected brands such as, Hekima, a slow fashion brand, pushing upcycled and reworked pieces, from custom designed denim wear to tote bags and dress shirts. Other brands included Sabini, Uncommon Rebel, Duse, Lanesteppers, and NairobiNoize. DJ’s Daudi.O, Ojizzo and DJ Edd filled the rooms with good vibes and kept the room buzzing as folks enjoyed the fashion and chatted with their friends.
Lanesteppers
The musical portion of the night started off with an open mic; community members and artists signed up for the app and posted their music for a chance to secure a spot on stage. Newcomers and established artists alike, Stom, XXloner, Belinda Kavulani and Dope Boys, came out to spit some bars. Stom, the opening act gave the best performance of the open mic. His delivery was solid, his crowd work and engagement kept the audience committed to rocking with him. The main acts of the night started off with upcoming rapper, Kash Manoty. His set was short and while his raps were dope, he didn’t quite capture the crowd’s attention.
The next act was a standout performance and quick break from the night of drill. Iyanah graced the stage, delighting the crowd with a strong RnB set. Her soulful vocals took over and filled the room and kept the audience firmly planted in front the stage. Her powerful voice and compelling songwriting drew folks in and touched hearts with its richness. She was the first act to bring out a live band, and the group’s uniqueness was definitely appreciated by the partygoers. Iyanah was followed by solo rapper Saisa, a talented and skilled rapper who truly held her own, rapping without the backing track. She had a pretty bounce and hardy flow about her and the crowd loved it. Davaji followed, bringing an authentic drill energy to the stage. Surrounded by his homies, Davaji gave a show that was well appreciated, with his fans really coming in to show up for their fave.
Davaji
The fifth act of the night Dyana Cods came in hot for her first song, also foregoing the backing track, allowing the audience to really get a grasp of her flow and style. Dyana is a skilled performer, using her charm and big personality to work the crowd all while staying consistent with her delivery. She pulled what had been a fairly dispersed crowd into the music and into the show with her. She knew she was killing it, and we were rooting for her throughout. The show’s penultimate performance came from Big Yasa. While Yasa’s set was also very drill centered, he came out with live elements as well. Talented saxophonist Analo Kanga joined him on stage adding a soulful vibe into the mix. He was one of the best acts that night as far as keeping the crowd hype and delivering a really solid performance.
And finally the headliners took to the stage, Nairobi’s drill darlings Buruklyn Boyz. Bururooklyn Boyz had come out at different points in the night to join some of the other acts, Dyana, Big Yasa and Davaji all had features with the young rappers and it did well to bring the hype to a climax by the time the boys were coming on for their own set. The room was thick with excitement as they began their set and only heightened as it went on. Their hits shook the room, Location 58, Pree and Dream Ya Kutoka Ya Block, had clearly left their impression on the many drill enthusiasts. Their reach in the world is clearly wide and not stopping anytime soon.
Mr Righ of Buruklyn Boyz
Nairobi’s creative scene has been seeing immense growth this last year and New Comma’s Common Ground event in Nairobi was a clear milestone as far as understanding the impact the drill world is having on music in this diversely different city.
