Rise Of The Femcees
Throughout this year and last year, I have been on the search for something fresh and dope in the Kenyan industry and as usual my trusted partner in crime SoundCloud came through and brought me the dopest, the illest there is - THE FEMCEES. Both locally and internationally men have single handedly dominated the Hip hop industry but times are changing .These Kenyan femcees are bringing the fire and are stopping at nothing. These Queens are dropping hits after hits and showing that they are at the top of the game. In this article i will highlight a few of my favourites. Lets begin!
WANGECHI. She is our Muva! Of all the queens featured in this article, she has been in the industry longest. She dropped her first mixtape “consume chakula ya soul” in 2013 and since then she has been dropping hit after hit.The one thing I love about Wangechi, is that she raps about the streets as we know them making her flow familiar and relatable. My favorite song by her is Sanasana where she features Wakadinali. Here she drops bars. Another song you can check out is Jera ft Zenchkid - I swear you will fall in love with Kikuyu rap after this one.
All hail the Queen Monski. She is part of the new school movement and she is bringing the whole house down. Her delivery guys! Her delivery! Her flow is like water and every time i listen to her i am reminded that i am the baddest and isn’t this the energy we are carrying to 2021! I got to know Monski through a song she did with Tori and Maandy called Powerpuff . Needless to say this is my Bad bitch anthem and y’all better get into it.
Steph the rapper. Steph is an artist who has lived in Kenya and the UK .Her sound is heavily influenced by this. Her sound is a mix of Afro swing, Grime,Dancehall and Hip hop.She released her 7 track album Change earlier this year.This is one of those albums where you'll love every song.My favorite song is "Papaya dreams”.The best thing about Steph is her delivery. Some time back she did a LWKY session where she did a live performance of "None of Dem" and she got barz! This is definitely my favorite LWKY performance.
Kayj Wong. We all need to put respect on her name. She is the Shrap God. Her lyricism is unmatched and her hooks are something else yaani you are hooked for real. Quick disclaimer , once you listen to her song “Jakera” you’ll be singing “Jakera mwathani Jakera” for at least 2 weeks. Her songs are definitely it. And we cannot forget to give thanks to Lemario for the dope beats. My favorite song by her is “Chini ya maji”.
Vallerie Muthoni AKA Brown Suga .Her sound is versatile from old school punk , Afrobeat to RnB and Soul. Vallerie is a vibe, movement, a whole lifestyle. I first caught up with her when she released ” The Wavey Soul Project” and since then I can't seem to get enough. My Favorite songs on this Project are “Waves don’t die(Intro)” and “End Rape Culture”.The one thing that i extremely love about Vallerie is her live performances. She is a ball of energy. This year i got to watch her perform live for her Sunday live event and she brought the whole house down! Her versatility is also unmatched. My all time favorite performance was her ‘Spicy Szn’ launch. Guess she is the reason my whole 2020 is spicy szn!
The Kenyan industry is therefore beyond blessed to have Femcees. We have other dope Queens such as SHE FLOW, GROOVE, XTATIC, MAANDY, CORDS, LE RU, SILVERSTONE and SSARU. Check out our ‘Rise Of The Femcees’ playlist on Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube.