Ugandan singer Donald Otim, popularly known as MAUIMØON, is different. His sound is characterized by a distinctly laid-back vibe and smooth vocals. It is influenced by his East African roots and incorporates elements of R&B, Afro-pop, and Hip-hop from his multicultural experiences of growing up in Rwanda, Uganda, the UK, and Canada.
For nearly half a decade, Micheal Rumbi has been contributing continuous hits to the alternative scene with the sound he likes to call Indie-pop; using the sharpened resources of his laid-back and ethereal guitar compositions, his finely tuned beats as a producer and his lively and underrated bars as a rapper, all of which have mashed up into this sensual and distinct soothing sound he can call his own.
mau from nowhere has been a powerful force within the alternative music scene in Nairobi for the last few years so it’s wonderful to see this gentle giant stake his claim in such a meaningful way.
Nairobians ended the first quarter of 2023 celebrating our city with some of the country’s most promising new wave artists on the rise. Boiler Room x Ballantine's True Music Studios made this possible this past March with a three day series of events curated with the intention of amplifying East African club and alternative music. Held at The Mall’s now illustrious rooftop, Boiler Room partnered with Kenyan DJ, producer and filmmaker Coco Em to showcase the diverse range of Nairobi’s alternative music scene.
Gondwana is known as Nairobi’s (if not Kenya’s) most prolific African Electronic music label and events company, and for good reason. With what started as a fun idea for Suraj Mandavia back in 2015 before later collaborating with partner Eugene Onyango in 2016 and officially forming a functional machine by 2017, their journey has been nothing short of inspiring.
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 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 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.
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 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.
“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.
Happy New Year reader, your favorite rap and hip hop column is back. January is normally a month many people use to reset.
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.
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.
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.
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’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 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.
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.
