Ayrosh's FIRE EP Is The Most Sensual Kikuyu R&B You’ve Ever Heard

There has been a long-running stereotype that Kikuyu men are not romantic, let alone sensual. Kwame Rigii has proven the former wrong with his impressive repertoire of love songs. Ayrosh took care of the latter.

The Kikuyu popstar did it with no warning whatsoever. Only his closest friends knew. On 6th October 2020, he dropped his 4-track EP “FIRE” on the internet like it’s hot. It was not a mistake, he wanted it that way. Surprise! 

Making FIRE EP

Just like the release, his sophomore EP was made in the most random way. One year after working together on his 2019 Murasta EP, DJ Mura sent him some tracks. The lofi, hip-hop, trap sound was totally different from the urban mugithi sound they had produced in Kirinyaga and the Afrohouse vibe in DJ Mura’s Tarimbo off his Kingship EP. 

Because of this, Ayrosh was sceptical at first but he went with it. Soon after he was the one asking for more. As DJ Mura tells Tangaza, “In the end, we had so much fun.”

Ayrosh wrote the four sensual Kikuyu songs during the "winter" months of June-July in Kenya. In fact, that was the initial name of the EP. But when he was ready to release it, it was no longer cold in Nairobi or anywhere else. And thus FIRE was born.

Visual project

FIRE EP isn’t just a musical but also a visual project. Ayrosh dropped the accompanying music videos all on the same day, Lemonade style. The Kenyan creative behind the scenes is Akili Huru, a seasoned photographer, videographer and graphic designer. He’s worked with Ayrosh for the longest time, shooting and even starring in his Folk Fusion event teasers. 

He also designed the suggestive EP cover artwork that leaves you wanting some more. 

But these were the first music videos he’s ever directed. And he shot them in an apartment in Kilimani in one day (and night). Ayrosh's face plays hide and seek with the camera - again, he wanted it that way. You can only tell it’s him from his rastas and moustache. 

The focus instead is on his muse, award-winning Kenyan poet Mumbi Macharia. And Mumbi's debut poetry book “When I learnt how to walk and other poems” features briefly in Fire. Talk about subliminal advertising.

Her ample behind is in all of them, a major feature in fact.

Sensual Kikuyu R&B

You have to watch the music videos as you listen to experience the full effect. Akili Huru does a stellar job with the visual effects, from overlays to slow-mo, reverse and repeat. They all emphasize the smooth sensual vibe of the tracks.

Throughout the whole EP, Ayrosh flows between his familiar falsetto and husky tone. But no one would have ever imagined he would release a project that is reminiscent of the 90s R&B soul era. Kikuyu R&B meets trap music.

The Kenyan crooner does not deny the claim that this is music to make babies with. It makes you want to slip on something nice and slip under the covers. And he weaves a beautiful story, wooing his lover from the beginning.

In Fire, he admits he’s never seen a girl as fire as her. In its video, they do morning yoga stretches in the living room and finish a bottle of wine on the balcony. While being a little bit naughty on camera

In Who Are You, the melanin beauty is all alone in her apartment, applying coconut oil on her long legs. Nothing much. Ayrosh cleverly blends Kikuyu and English like the master he is.

 “I don’t even feel like leaving, no ûria ndî mûrîu (the way I’m drunk) I don’t even feel like moving, just wanna look at you.”

And just like that, Kikuyu R&B is officially international.

Ya! Is officially my favourite song. It’s how the sparse production in the verses unexpectedly drops into a guitar-laden hook where he simply says “Ya! Ya! Ya! Ini” in his deep sexy baritone. After he asks his lover to remind him what they did last weekend.

The music video reflects just how sultry this song is. It’s now dark and the lights are down low. Mumbi is on the floor sipping wine, getting ready for what looks to be a promising night.

Kiroko, the title of the final track, is Kikuyu for morning. Like most men, he wants to stay the night and leave in the am. He even references Covid-19 in Kenya, pleading with her to not let him get caught by the police after curfew hours.

In the final video, Ayrosh arrives with a bottle in hand and gets cosy with Mumbi in the house. The sexy scenes close with them leaving the couch, the same couch we see in Fire. This implies that the first video was the morning after this sizzling night. Completing the cycle of love (making).

We never saw it coming but it did - enough to land on all baby-making music playlists. Even if you don’t understand all the words, you can feel the sheer sexiness oozing out of Ayrosh’s alluring voice and Mura’s smooth production. Stream FIRE EP on your favourite platform,I promise you cannot get enough of this fire!

Or better yet, listen to Ayrosh live at the next Folk Fusion event in Jangwani Camp, Sagana on 7-8th November 2020. Imagine cuddling up with your boo - or blanket - sipping muratina around a fireplace under the starry night sky.

Because nobody can say that Kikuyus are not romantic anymore.