Kenyan Hiphop History pt 6: Current State and the Future

With many artistes going commercial in their music, another breed decided to remain 'underground' and stay true to the hiphop game. The emergence of this lot was propelled in 2006 by the famous WaPi (Words and Pictures) monthly event that was being organized by Budhaa Blaze courtesy of the British Council and later Sarakasi Trust. The stage was set for hiphop artistes to re-invent themselves after a lull of several years caused by the shunning of their art by major radio stations, for the more crowd appealing popular rap music.

WaPi presented a platform where these artistes could showcase their talents through freestyle battles and cyphers. Some of the artistes who can credit WaPi as their stepping stone in this industry include Moroko, Khaligraph Jones, Octopizzo, Big Mic, Point Blank, Muthoni Drummer Queen, Gadi Moja, Monaja, Rabbit, Xtatic, Kayvo Kforce among many others.

It also gave a stage for dancers, graffiti artistes and spoken word poets to hone their skills. In late 2012, a year after WaPi had ended, Hiphop Hook up was launched by Nafsi Huru and Smallz Lethal to continue giving stage to the upcoming emcees.
Through years of struggle and hardwork, we can now see the fruits of their efforts as some hiphop artistes have made a breakthrough in the industry. Several other artistes are also emerging and have shown the potential to take Kenyan hiphop to another level. Octopizzo, Khaligraph Jones, Rabbit, Juliani, Abbas and several others are now household names in the entertainment industry.
With the availability of social media and penetration of internet usage, artistes are now able to easily reach out to more of their fans and also interact with them on a more personal level. They are now creating brands out of their talents which enable them earn more from their music. Its no longer just a local thing but they are now placing themselves on an international level.
New acts like Camp Mulla, Raj, Ace tha Don, Oksyde among others have risen in the new era to claim their stake in this industry as well, and from the signs being currently witnessed, Kenyan hiphop is now very much alive and ready to set its mark in the globe. All that is needed is alot more quality, consistence and unity. On our part as fans, lets support our hiphop artistes by buying quality music and attending shows.



RELATED POSTS:
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 1: The Beginnings
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 2: The Foundation
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 3: The Growth
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 4: The Media Role
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 5: The Dilution

Kenyan Hiphop History pt 5: The Dilution

Around 2002/2003, a new wave began to hit Kenya's hiphop scene as more and more artistes emerged. The industry became flooded by artistes who made music that was more commercial and club-oriented just to get airplay and fame. The number of production houses also increased and each developed their own signature style.


Among the popular ones was the Ogopa Deejays stable which had artistes such as E-Sir, Bigpin, Krupt, Kleptomaniacs, Deux Vultures among others. Their style was commonly refered to as 'boomba' or 'kapuka'.

From Carlifornia (Calif) estate, another group emerged with a style that they dubbed as Genge (which meant 'music for the masses'). This was championed by Juacali and Nonini through the Calif Records studio which was run by Clemo.
The two sounds became very popular and were accorded more airplay both on TV and radio. The hiphop artistes began to fall out of favour and as a result most of them fell along the way due to lack of airplay and recognition. A few turned to crime while others ended up doing odd jobs to survive as they could not keep up in the industry.
This era too marked the dawn of beef in Kenyan hiphop. Chiwawa came up with the famous 'War Song' track that dissed various artistes who did kapuka music. Bamboo was also featured and he vented out his frustrations on Samawati studio producers. Others involved were Wodhes, DJ Loop and MC Sharon who took a swipe at the 'fake' female emcees. More beef sessions were to follow later as Bamboo feuded with Prezzo, Chiwawa against Kleptomaniacs, Abbas against Chiwawa and most recently Octopizzo against Khaligraph.



RELATED POSTS:
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 1: The Beginnings
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 2: The Foundation
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 3: The Growth
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 4: The Media Role
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 6: Current State and the Future

Kenyan Hiphop History pt 4: The Media Role

Most of the hiphop artistes back then had a major challenge of getting airplay on radio. At the begining, 'Mizizi' on KBC TV hosted by Nimmo, was the only TV show that offered them a platform to get noticed. Later on Nation TV (now NTV) had the show 'Warehouse'. On radio, Metro FM was also instrumental in supporting upcoming artistes with shows that invited them to do freestyles and hold cypher sessions. Another notable figure on radio was Muthoni Bwika who had the show 'Party Up' on Nation FM which was a favorite of many due to its huge hiphop playlist.
As more artistes took to music videos, we had 'The Beat' on NTV and 'Baseline' on KTN, creating room for more acts to be showcased.
Afterwards, around early 2000s, the most significant show to play Kenyan hiphop was 'Da Joint' on YFM (now Hot 96) hosted by Mwafreeka and DJ Zack. This helped bring out most of the current crop of hiphop artistes such as Mistaree, Walanguzi, Span One, 7-11 The Crew, Kalahari Jeshi among others. Artistes got airplay, were invited to perform cyphers and also hosted to interviews on this show.
Mwafreeka later moved to Ghetto Radio and started the show 'Nairaw' which basically was a continuation of where he left off with 'Da Joint' on YFM which had changed to Hot 96 and consequently scrapped Mwafreeka's show in a restructuring process.

I believe Mwafreeka has played a big role in elevating Kenyan hiphop to the point it is at the moment. His influence and contribution through his radio shows cannot go unacknowledged. He helped by educating most of his listeners on what was happening in the hiphop industry on the local front and also on the international stage, made critical reviews of what was good and what was poor hiphop music and most importantly he gave upcoming hiphop artistes a chance to show the world what they had to offer fans on his radio shows. On Capital FM we had Eve d'Souza, who was also did a good job to try and put kenyan hiphop on the map.



Worth a mention is Channel O which at that period was airing on some of our local TV stations, and it was a big deal at that time as it presented to us information of what was happening on the international hiphop scene with shows such as 'Nasty' and 'HeadRush' and this was giving inspiration to the upcoming local emcees from the exposure. At the moment the main radio stations that give hiphop some quality airplay include Ghetto Radio, Capital FM, KBC English Service and Homeboyz Radio, though more is still required to quench the Kenya hiphop fans' thirst.



RELATED POSTS:
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 1: The Beginnings
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 2: The Foundation
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 3: The Growth
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 5: The Dilution
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 6: Current State and the Future

Kenyan Hiphop History pt 3: The Growth

With the successes that Kalamashaka had achieved, they ventured into a project to mentor other youth, mainly from Dandora estate and also from Mombasa town, into music and away from crime. This led to the birth of Ukoo Flani Mau Mau, a movement of more than 40 artistes from Nairobi and Mombasa. Some of the products of this group are Juliani, Zakah, MC Kah, Kitusewer, Wakamba Wawili, LNess, G-rongi, Cannibal, Sharama, Richie Rich among others. KShaka and the Ukoo Flani Mau Mau crew had a number of projects including Kilio Cha Haki and Dandora Burning.
Other than Ukoo Flani Mau Mau, several other artistes also came into the limelight right around this time and they included Poxi Presha, Nazizi, Nanoma, Warogi Wawili, Ndarling P, and Gidi Gidi Maji Maji.Nazizi paved the way for female emcees when she started back in the days with the track 'Nataka Kuwa Rapper' and this made her a big inspiration and role model among upcoming female rappers. She later became part Necessary Noize trio (together with Wyre and Bamzigi) churning out hits such as 'Kenyan Boy Kenyan Girl', 'Tension', 'Da Di Da', 'Nataka Toa' and 'Clang Clang'.



Gidi Gidi Maji Maji was also a big sensation, rapping in the luo language. There most recognizable hits were 'Ting Badi Malo' and 'Unbwogable'. Later on they landed a deal where they recorded another big single 'Many Faces' with the Gallo Records of South Africa.



RELATED POSTS:
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 1: The Beginnings
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 2: The Foundation
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 4: The Media Role
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 5: The Dilution
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 6: Current State and the Future

Kenyan Hiphop History pt 2: The Foundation

Commercially, the first recognizable hiphop track was 'Uhiki' by Hardstone (Harrison Ngujiri), though some quarters classify it as reggae. Personnaly i can recall jamming to this track back in the days. It was released in 1997 from the album 'Nuting but de Stone'. The song was produced by Tedd Josiah and was primarily done in the Kikuyu language.This became a springboard that helped bring out  several other artistes who took the industry to another level.
Among those to emerge during this era was Kalamashaka (also known as K-Shaka).

This was a group of three emcees (Kama, Johnny and Oteraw) who hailed from Dandora estate. They emerged at a time during the reign of former President Moi and released tracks which had heavy political undertones. Their first big hit was 'Tafsiri Hii' which addressed social and political issues that the country and the youth were facing. Other recognizable tracks by Kalamashaka at this time include 'Ni Wakati' and 'Fanya Mambo'. With the track 'Fanya Mambo', they went international having done the video for the track in Sweden. This was also the first time a Kenyan hiphop video was airing on Channel O, which i believe was no mean achievement especially at that time.Kalamashaka helped change the direction in which kenyan hiphop was taking by giving confidence to artistes to express themselves openly in regards to social matters and political injustices.
Just around the same time we also had K-South Flava who represented the hood of Kariobangi South. This group comprised of two artistes; Bamboo and Jerry Doobeez (also known as Abbas). The duo came out with a new style whereby they used metaphors in a comical way to express various messages in their tracks. They also took the art of rhyming to another level, moving away from the simple rhymes and embracing complex rhymes in a very intelligent way. Some of their biggest hits that brought them into the limelight included 'Tabia Mbaya', 'Nairobbery' and 'Mr Policeman'.



RELATED POSTS:
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 1: The Beginnings
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 3: The Growth
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 4: The Media Role
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 5: The Dilution
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 6: Current State and the Future

Kenyan Hiphop History pt 1: The Beginnings

Those who are in the hiphop movement call it a way of life, a culture or a way of expressing oneself. It's more than just music as it incorporates several other elements that include MCing, graffiti, bboying, deejaying, knowledge, fashion, beatboxing etc. I have encountered most of these elements here in Kenya. The question for many would be 'what is the history of hiphop in Kenya?' In this sequel of articles, i will shed some light on this question by providing answers in different perspectives.
In terms of Kenyan hiphop music, we developed our own unique style from the early 90s where a mix of Swahili, English, Sheng and also other local dialects are incorporated into our compositions. Hiphop originated from the US and as such it has also influenced Kenyan hiphop through various ways including dressing styles and the way of rapping. This has been enhanced due to the improved media coverage, internet availability and channels like Youtube which have made access to information from any part of the world to be much simpler.


Due to my interest in knowing how hiphop began to take root in Kenya, i did some digging for answers and i was actually surprised to find Jimmi Gathu's name featuring there. Apparently, around 1991, he had a rap track titled 'Look, Think , Stay Alive' which was meant to pass a message about road safety or something like that. The video is available on Youtube and upon watching it, i must say they did well as per the trends at that time. Back then the other acts that would give Jimmi Gathu competition included the likes of Zanaziki, Five Alive and Musically Speaking.

RELATED POSTS:
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 2: The Foundation
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 3: The Growth
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 4: The Media Role
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 5: The Dilution
Kenyan Hiphop History pt 6: Current State and the Future