Dipa Konnection, A Movement of Freedom and Unity, Source of Bantra
"We profess black excellence, black excellence has no doubt, black excellence has power, love and it is fire!"
It is not so common to see young artists today in Nairobi take up the courage to use their talent to talk about social issues in a way that exudes both eccentricity and pride. However, Dipa Konnection have boldly taken up this mantle. As a five piece group formerly known as 'Mbogi Konnection' they met at the infamous Pawa 254 in 2018 . Soon after they decided on an impromptu performance lead by their lead vocalist & rapper Sitonik Taiyana also known by his stage name Ice-Tone. The rest was history and their unique blend of African drums played by Ngugi Mwangi, Kimutai Sigilai on vocals, Joash Masese and Msafiri Nsabimana on bass & guitar, coupled with their powerful and untamed stage persona has given them not only their own unique sound but has become a voice of hope and relief for troubled youth.
Their movement has since paved behind them a lineup of successful concerts much to the joy of their excitable fanbase.
They eventually garnered over 300 energetic music lovers that attended the launch of their debut album called 'No Table Manaz' on the 21st of January, 2023. Their event that took place at the Santuri headquarters had the audience singing in tandem with Ice-tone's words, dancing to their tribal rhythms and being swept away by the fierce cries of Masese's saxophone. They have now come to call their signature style 'Bantra' a word which they say displays their ability to bring together both traditional and urban sounds.
I sat down a few weeks later to chat about their debut album.
Q. Your lyricism speaks a lot about the struggles of the disenfranchised. Can you expand on that?
'No Table Manaz' is about seeking emancipation. You will notice a lot of the songs are mainly influenced by our social life and who we are as people as we have all come from the same background. Our song 'Kii Chini Chini' majorly reflects this when we sing 'Sisi ni watu were chini' (we are people from the bottom).
Q. I could also trace hints of political activism in your music, could you tell us more about that?
We could say 'Kama Ni Wao' is our most political song from the album. The persona Ice-tone plays in that song is of a (political) leader who we then call 'fala' (a fool). We say "fala amefika na hana plan, anataka kupika na hana njaa!" which means "the fool has arrived and has no plan, he wants to cook and isn't hungry!".
We're taking back the power and deciding to do the work for ourselves.
Q. Where did the idea for Dipa Konnection come from?
We used to meet at various open-mic sessions at Pawa 254 and Kenya National Theatre. After that we decided to perform together and we immediately felt our chemistry and potential. It took as a month to later evolve into our current outfit from which the word 'Mbogi Konnection' came from. Mbogi is slang for train carriage.
A few years later, we had made a lot of progress which caused us to become closer to each other. We also sensed that we needed to take the music in a different direction. We felt like we had grown from being a group of friends to being a family which is where the name 'Dipa' came from.
Our first priority is to make sure that we are there for each other.
Q. How would you describe your unique genre?
We like to call our music Kenyan Hip-hop as we have been heavily influenced by local old school hip hop artist's like Kalamashaka, Jua Cali and E-sir who we talk about in our 5th song of the album 'Halo'. Some of our music also has references to afro-jazz like Fela-kuti and Hugh Masekela and current artists like the instrumental jazz group called Sons of Kemet.
Our music is also very spiritual as we fuse both urban and traditional music to create a mystical experience for our audience and listeners which is how the name 'Bantra' came about.
Q. What are some of the hurdles you have faced on your journey?
It took us 5 years to assemble our first Ep despite many years of recording together. The most difficult aspect has therefore been nurturing our relationship. So it takes a lot of patience with each other.
Q. What is the main message you would like people to hear from Dipa Konnection?
The music doesn't have a purpose other than to unite us and express what we feel. We profess black excellence, black excellence has no doubt, black excellence is power, love and its fire!
Our intention is also to inspire the idea of endless possibilities. Through the challenges we have managed to overcome we would like our people to also believe that they can overcome their own challenges.
Q. What is the inspiration behind your album 'Table Manaz'
A free man decided what and when to eat. That's exactly what 'Table Manaz' is about. We want you to think about your life and what hinders you.
