Determined to keep the art of the ancestors alive, Liboi draws inspiration from various communities’ music, predominantly the Kenyan coastal chakacha drum patterns and swahili metaphorical devices.
Ballantine’s x Boiler Room's True Music Studios Returns To Kenya
Ballantine’s and Boiler Room’s True Music Studios residency is coming back to Nairobi for its fourth edition in the city. Running from March 28th to 30th, the 3-day event series will feature a panel discussion, a dance master class, and a party and concert. All of these components were curated alongside pioneering Nairobi DJ, Coco Em. It’s a full circle moment, as Coco was featured in the first ever Nairobi edition of True Music Studios back in 2018. Since then, she has grown to be an international champion of East African dance music.
The Eleganza Extravaganza Ball and the Origins of Nairobi’s Ballroom Culture
The Extravaganza Eleganza Ball, is the first of its kind in Nairobi. Ashton Laurence (he/they), commonly known as the eyelinermonarch has been running the Wunderlust Party for the last 3 years, each time garnering more and more attendees, and quickly becoming a household name in Nairobi’s party scene.
Dipa Konnection, A Movement of Freedom and Unity, Source of Bantra
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.
Emmanuel Jal Talks Everything Music, Activism and Wellness
Emmanuel Jal wears many hats. The South Sudanese-Canadian is a musician, actor, speaker, political activist and businessman. His story is a powerful tale of overcoming challenges as he rose from a child soldier to a celebrated South Sudanese icon.
Confronting Self with Nyokabi Kariũki’s Debut Album, FEELING BODY
“FEELING BODY” is a musical journal, documenting the grief and gratitude of a woman grappling with her body in a time of deep turmoil. “FEELING BODY”, is a grounding movement of music that eats at your soul, it calls your own relationship to self into question tugging at what you knew to be true about your own body.
January Rap Jumpstart
Happy New Year reader, your favorite rap and hip hop column is back. January is normally a month many people use to reset.
UNGANISHA: From being a DIY Electro-Pop Duo to introducing a new sound to the music landscape in East Africa and Europe
Unganisha, a cross-cultural duo that consists of Kenya’s Labdi Ommes (Orutu and vocals) and Bent Waerstad (electronics) is becoming accepted by many in East Africa and Norway as a self-made and highly infectious Electro-pop phenomenon.
Neo Soul Fusion Artist Eli Maliki Speaks Ahead Of His Maliki-fy EP Release
Eli Maliki is a Kenyan Ugandan Neo Soul Fusion musician, songwriter, and live performer. His unique, strong yet mellow style of music is soothing and enchanting. Eli Maliki’s sound is an effortless blend of Soul, RnB, and sounds of African heritage.
Introducing Kaya Byinshii
The best way to describe Kaya Byinshii’s music is a beautiful fusion of R&B, soul and reggae all unified by an experimental vision. Since the success of her first few singles, Kaya has managed to pull together an exceptional body of work with her “(We) Don’t Know Love” acoustic EP and is now working on delivering another well-thought out project.
The Color Man: Discovering Nu Fvnk’s Extraordinary Shades
Nu Fvnk may be known as part of the renown collective EA Wave, but as a solo act, he is compelling, diverse and relatable.
Maya Amolo has Left the Pregame and is Exploring Love in Debut Album, "Asali"
Maya Amolo’s debut album “Asali”, is a departure from what her fans have come to know her for. The sad ballads have been replaced with happy and hopeful representations of her life.
Content House Kenya: Changing Audience Perceptions of Northern Kenya Through Art
Content House Kenya was founded by photographer and filmmaker Jackie Lebo. It is a collection of filmmakers, artists and writers formed to create and distribute content on subjects that were in public interest yet underrepresented in the mainstream media.
September Rap Jumpstart
The Virgos were loud this month, reminding anyone and everyone that it was September. We were gifted good music from across the region, showing the stars will always align for East African rap.
![Creating the Sounds of the Future with Creative Coder [MONRHEA]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a7a2870f14aa1ea4fb3ade9/1664742127900-YQ33POHZF1GXIVFOCGVX/%5BM%5D+Main+Image.JPG)
Creating the Sounds of the Future with Creative Coder [MONRHEA]
[MONRHEA] has seen an untapped niche in the space and has chosen to use their music as a tool to explore future representations of music
Sensual, Self-Aware and Soulful Kuiyu Takes Pride In Being A Multidimensional Artist
Kenyan singer Kuiyu is a multidimensional hyphenate with a flair for music, fashion and everything in between.
August Rap Jumpstart
August has seen a lot of music drop. Our list this month has a heavy drill presence. Rwandan rapper Ngaara gives us a psychedelic trap song, using influences from rock and an assorted number of sounds as motifs to manipulate listeners mood. Bongo rappers Dogo Janja and Rosa Ree give extremely braggadocious songs, with a swagger that shows confidence. The same can be said for Jodye Faneto,who goes all out to attack the biggest names in the Kenyan rap scene.
July Rap Jumpstart
July saw the release of some very dope projects and lovely singles. We feature Effji, a young femcee, who is quickly winning over fans with her confident delivery. Le Ru, Jakk Quill and Big Yasa all dropped EPs. NJERI, an R&B artist earns a surprise mention on this list for her latest single. Other songs from multidisciplinary artistes Mau From Nowhere, Chxf Barry and many more are featured.
The Art of DJ’ing Through the Lens of 3 Powerhouses
In the DJ world, women are fairly scarce. This is certainly reflected in spaces around Kigali where we often see men performing sets and pulling enormous crowds in comparison to their female counterparts. However, to overlook the women carving their space in Kigali’s DJ space would be a grave misstep