Get To Know Mombasa Hip Hop Crew, Swipe Gang
If you enjoy Mombasa rap and hip hop then you might be familiar with the names ‘Double Trouble’ and ‘Young NC.’ If not, then look out for them.I got a chance to talk to Double Trouble, a rap duo composed of, ‘Bene’ or ‘Real1Bene’ and ‘Trouble’ or ‘Troubletootrill’ and Young NC, another Mombasa born and bred artist a part of the ‘Swipe Gang’ group.
I was surprised to see how laidback the boys were, they were all smiles and more than happy to talk about their journey in the music industry. When I asked why they chose the stage names they did, for Young NC it was a nickname given to him before the music. “My friends gave me the nickname ‘Manucho’. When I got into the music industry I initially wanted to go with Young Nucho but unfortunately there was an artist from South Africa with that stage name. So, I shortened it, and went with NC, Young NC.” For Bene and Trouble, well, they’re blood brothers, hence Double the Trouble; for them the idea of ‘Swipe Gang’ stemmed from passion; Swipe Gang started as a clique and turned into a movement. “It went from boys being boys to this feeling of a family.” Which is fitting considering the bar from their song, “Carton Freestyle” - “Swipe Gang Familia, no new members over here.”
They became more involved in the music industry in order to escape the violence they had observed growing up; as much as it originated from passion, it also arose from a desire to create music that would elevate the youth and encourage better avenues of release such as music, art and sports. Young NC’s song “KITAA” ft SISCO was produced for a show that brought awareness to the negative impacts of street violence.
The trio started working together in or around 2019, even before they released their first song together “VITU ON.” They share a bond that goes beyond friendship, with Trouble even stating that Young NC is like a mentor to him. He praised him for being an influential personality in Mombasa's hip hop culture. He was also responsible for the boys' initial interest in music, bringing them to the studio for the first time and even introducing them to the group's producer, "AyoBenjamin."
When I asked the boys what their favourite bars were, from previous songs, I was pleasantly surprised when Bene mentioned one of Trouble’s from the Davaji’s song “Popstar” FT Double Trouble and Young NC:
“I want to believe kuna place na- belong,
I know my mama praying niko street for so long,
Sisi wote wapita njia, we not here for long,
Na, nishasafisha Nia the ones who did me wrong.”
For Trouble and Young NC, it was off of their song “WHAP WHAP”:
“Currently the best, the owner and the guest,”
“Waambie,
Tuna takeover over round this,
Round this hatumiss tunabring out the big onez,”
When I questioned why these specific bars, Bene said that it was written as a reflection of their situation at the time, with close friends “switching (because they) started getting envious.” They consider it “a shot to whoever went behind (their) backs - be it for clout or some other reason.”
Currently they are working with StunnaNG, a Kenyan, UAE based artist and have a few artists, such as officialmasterroller4real, signed to Big Bounce Records. BBR was established by the trio and is currently based out of Mombasa. Trouble notes that, as much as they are uplifting young artists in Mombasa, they also needed to establish themselves in the corporate world.
I questioned the boys about their thoughts on the Nairobi scene, considering they worked with and were featured on “Bad Boyz Club'' alongside Buruklyn Boyz and Big Yasa, I was under the assumption that they had the same status as the Nairobi artists did. This was not the case. Trouble felt that Mombasa artists have a distinctiveness to their music - “a lyricism.” But the reason that Nairobi artists were more popular was due to the fact that there is discrimination in the music scene.
Mombasa artists are often shut out of opportunities that Nairobi artists are afforded; they are not paid the same amount that Nairobi artists are nor do they get their music curated and circulated onto playlists the same way. Trouble voiced the same concerns, “we've seen discrimination in the scene as artists from the Coast; especially from CMOs and gatekeepers who make it hard for talent.”
After speaking to the boys it was clear that, as much as there was collaboration between Nairobi and Mombasa artists, Mombasa artists were still being left out of the loop. Young NC was still hopeful, he emphasised how well the two sounds went together, how the only difference was the Nairobi and Coast accents. He went on to state how hopeful he was about more collaborations, specifically “bringing together the Coast and Nairobi vibe into the Kenyan scene.”
As for what to expect from Swipe Gang? Their label, “Big Bounce Records” is launching soon, officially, and features fresh, up and coming artists from the Coast. They’re also looking forward to working with and collaborating with artists outside the country.
In the words of Bene, “Expect a lot from us.”
