Top Ten Kenyan Music Projects of 2018
This is one of those long overdue posts that I had scheduled to have up, by the last week of 2018, soon as I had finished listening to Romi Swahili’s ‘Fungu La Kumi’. That was never meant to be, but as the adage goes, better late than never.
A little over a month ago I posted on my Instagram and Facebook pages what I considered to be my 2018 favorite music projects (albums, EPs, mixtapes et al) from Kenyan artists. While in 2019, the play Kenya music (#Playkemusic) debate is riper than ever before, music consumption for me has grown from listening to individual radio singles to listening to a total body of work-more like reading a book with multiple chapters. In 2018 I paid closer attention to Kenyan music projects, and below are what I view as the finest projects to come out of Kenya in the past year.
Public Demand- Dela
From about a decade ago when Sauti Sol and Stan formed part of her music entourage, and Alliance Française was her favorite performance venue, Dela’s music has been a darling to my ears. Her debut Paukwa was one amazing piece that I still listen to to this day. Fast forward to April 23rd, 2018, and I get to watch her on The Trend TV show, talking about her follow-up album-Public Demand.
Public Demand is an album that finds Dela trying to appease the preferences of her split fan base. On one hand, she is singing to her day one fans who fell in love with her neo-soul/ afro fusion type of vibe, and on the other, she’s trying to pacify her latest fans who find her new afro pop type of sound appealing. The album’s uniqueness and Dela’s creative prowess come with the opening song- Kenya’s National Anthem. Follow-up songs are a careful and well-manicured blend of afro pop and afro soul sounds. The project’s strengths include Dela’s strong vocal capabilities and her amazing songwriting skills. For the old fan in me, the production comes off a little bit too glossy, too polished, and too poppy-but this would be a non-issue for a new fan who has recently discovered who Dela is, or an old one who lacks letting go issues.
Project Purple- Mayonde
On the project’s description, Project Purple is described as an ode to the ‘kapuka’ era, giving a love rendition of the Kenyan music of that period, and celebrating its makers(not exactly in those words).
The project opens up with Mayonde’s dedication of love to her city and town Nairobi. The follow-up songs on the project are well-crafted kapuka-themed songs with a touch of soulful vibe to them. She uses slang words of the early 2000s such as “kwachu and bamba”, and samples from old kapuka hits like Redsan’s Tetemesha to give this project a perfect nostalgic feel to it. For anyone familiar with the kapuka music era, listening to Mayonde’s Project Purple will make you reminisce about a period that once was. In a way, the project feels like listening to the now-defunct all-girl trio Tatuu all over again and probably is the reason why Shinde (a third of Tatuu) has suddenly emerged out of her hiatus.
Dreams In Sterio — Eric Wainaina
The first full-length project that I ever listened to from the legend Eric Wainaina, was his 3rd album, Love and Protest back in 2011. So good was the album that I wrote a script off it, with each song representing a different scene; ever since then, I have always been on the lookout for the next project from this living maestro and treasure.
His fourth studio album Dreams In Stereo is built on a dreamy yet realistic place of fantasy, where anyone who has had a rough patch can wish for. Dreams In Stereo is an attempt by the persona portrayed by Eric to escape, and go past all the past tragedies, failed relationships, regrets, a world of dirty politics, egotism, and braggadocio, and just be at a place of peace.
For someone born and bred in the 70s, Eric Wainaina’s love for funk seems to have followed him throughout his whole life, and more so his whole career. In this project, the funk influence can be felt even more. This sound is well blended with the one-time Benga tune on Long Time Coming, classic blues, country music, and a strong gospel feel which serves as an overall theme of almost the entire album. Though the overriding subject on the album is Human to Human relations, sonically there is a heavy spiritual experience that one gets when listening to Dreams In Stereo. Almost every song elevates the spirit to a level of utmost peace where nothing else matters. Although ‘Don’t burry Me’ and ‘Now That’s A Fire’ would have been a better fit for Blinky Bill’s Everybody Just Winging It And Other Fly Tales, the two records still sit cozy on the Dreams In Stereo Sofa. The 12-track album that closes on a high note with ‘Brand New Day’, would have been much better if it had two or three more songs added to it. Eric Wainaina’s poetic imagery, well-crafted storytelling techniques, and amazing BGVs and features(both new and old artists), come together to add an extra glow to an already shiny jewel.
SHE — Muthoni Drummer Queen (MDQ)
For more than a decade Muthoni Drummer Queen has been not just an artiste, but an activist; a strong voice, and a champion of freedom and empowerment. She has done so through her bold creative channels; ranging from her music to festivals, to a bold and eccentric sense of fashion.
SHE, as one would assume is about women’s empowerment. It advocates for economic empowerment and independence, empowerment against abusive relationships, the need for knowledge and information, sexual empowerment, and self-empowerment. The album doesn’t stop at that though, SHE transcends to deliver perhaps one of the most unapologetic socio-political commentaries in the recent past. The tracks, reggae-tinged Million Voice and Kenyan Message (sampled from the Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five 1982 classic), are a rallying call for the masses to rise, mosh forward, and chant down an oppressive and corrupt governing system.
Besides being an entertaining body of work that embodies elements of different genres of music (i.e. Reggae, Hip-hop, Pop, Folk, soft rock, and spoken word), SHE is an absolute beauty; a simplified and clear piece of art, yet intricate and abstract at the very same time. My personal favorites in the album keep changing from time to time, but Suzie Noma, Squad Up, and Criminal-a song that is loosely told from the perspective of Felista Wanjiru, wife to Simon Matheri (once upon Kenya’s most notorious gangster), remains constant repeat mode.
Eastlando Royalty — King Kaka
There is no denying that Rabbit/King Kaka is a marketing genius and a business magnate; a master at his game. If there was an award for the best-marketed, and well-promoted album of 2018, then all the honors and accolades would have gone to King Kaka’s Eastlando Royalty. From the campus tours, an invite-only high-end release party for the album’s cover art, a club-banging catchy single, social media hype and gimmicks, an exclusive listening party for selected fans, a one-week open track tour to selected Eastland’s neighborhoods, a well-matriculated media tour, Billboards and street light banners on major highways and avenues, partnership with some of the most iconic brands, and an ambitious album launch at Uhuru Gardens, that saw him finally proposing (live on stage) to his wife and the mother of his two children. Everything that led to the album was a classic textbook case of what a marketing campaign should be, and the album had to meet the expectations from all that hype and anticipation.
Eastlando Royalty is an album that gives you all four shades of King Kaka; the deep and conscious introspective Kaka, the Lovey Dovey lady’s man Kaka, the lyrical gorilla battle champ Kaka, and the bubbly kapuka-ish commercial music Kaka. Then there is the storyteller Kaka who interweaves across all four facets. While it lived up to Kaka’s promise that there would be something for everyone in it, it is this multiplicity that might deny Eastlando Royalty the classic status it so rightfully deserves. Had he selected only 8 to 10 solid records out of the 22 songs, this work of fine art would have turned King Kaka into the modern-day Pablo Picasso, probably.
Sweet and Sawa — The Nest
Nest Collective is a multidisciplinary creative team whose interests are in film, music, fashion, fine art, literature, and among others. I learned about their existence in 2015/2016 through their Facebook series Tuko Macho, and I have been a fan ever since.
Musically, I got invited to the nest, and discovered that these free-minded birds could sing through the 8- track album- The NEST Presents: Legacy, an album I only got to listen to about four years after its release. In 2018 however, I can pride myself on being among the first people to listen to their sophomore album; Sweet and Sawa.
Unlike their debut album which featured artists who were not particularly part of the collective, Sweet and Sawa features vocal performances of the collective’s very own members namely; Njeri Gitundo who Doubles as the project’s producer, Noel Kasyoka, Olivia Ambani, Mars, Dr. Akati, and the multi-talented Jim Chuchu, who presumably designed the album’s cover art.
This cool and calm listeners’ album carries some of the most soothing and relaxing ballads on tracks like Emergency, Blue Car, Calm, Come Over, and Watasema. It also contains thought-provoking themes and addresses several pressing issues ailing today’s society. In songs such as Pesa and Good Life, the good people of The Nest tackles the love of money, and the extent it can drive someone who is inflicted by it. Heri, sampled from a Swahili worship song, is a mockery of the modern-day system of most churches where spirituality is manipulated to defraud the flock, and enrich the preachers. Further mockery is on Mr. President (Kenya-One), a song that shows how far the president alienates himself from the citizenry soon after elections, and use the state machinery to muzzle and harass those who dare raise their voice to speak up against his government’s incompetency.
Unlike Kenya’s socio-political artistes-cum-activists of yesteryears like Kalamashaka, KSouth, and Mashifta, who had aggressive, direct-on-your-face lyrics; The Nest opts for a more playful, satirical, and subtle approach, employing the use of humor, and irony to ridicule the society’s ills.
The narrative in the album is mostly done in first-hand narration, which draws the listener deep into the songs’ messages, and makes every song on the album relatable.
Ms. Gitundo and her gang of instrumentalists comprising Joe Were, Sam Guchu, and Ricky Mathews Githinji, did a splendid job of recreating the 1980s and early 90s zilizopendwa and benga sound in some of the songs, and pouring sprinkles of blues, jazz, and house soul on others.
Though the title is creatively styled as Sweet and Sawa (Sweet and Okay), instead of Sweet and Sour, the album offers a bitter-sweet feel, with the love ballads being sweet, and the rest of the songs like heri, pesa, and Mr. president showing the sorry state we are in as a society. It is a clean production and well-engineered album that is more than kind to the ears of its listeners. Hats off to George Gachara (the album’s executive producer and Nest’s Collective director), and his amazing team for a job well done.
Testimony 1990 — Khaligraph Jones
OG is OG and Testimony 1990 proves that so effortlessly. The debut Khaligraph Jones album released on his 28th birthday (June 12th, 2018), features some of the recent times continent’s best Hip-hop verses. Before the release of the album’s cover art, my mind had tricked me to think that Testimony 1990 would be a compilation of Khali’s greatest hits with probably four additional new tracks. There is no telling how wrong I was.
This is an album that will go down in history as one of Kenya’s greatest debuts. From an audio standpoint; it is a clean, concise, and well-arranged project with the O.G doing what he does best, and holding his own, against strong features from some of Africa’s biggest talents. The introspection twist on the album is one that was unexpected from a rapper best known for his braggadocio persona. Khaligraph is a well-seasoned and skilled student of the game, who has mastered the art of rap with a razor-blade sharpness. His flow, cadence structuring, rhyming technique, vocal patterns, and storytelling remains one to be admired by any Hip-hop enthusiast.
Next Year — Octopizzo
Out of his three solo projects, next year comes as the most illustrious yet. Being one of the first Kenyan albums to be released in 2018, Next Year lived up to its slogan “Next Year, Visionary sh*t”, and set some form of precedence to most of tier one albums that would come after. The album is built on a seamless sonic pattern, weaved through jazzy-tinged instrumentals and soulful hip-hop baselines. It is by far one of the best-engineered and mastered music projects, and it will catapult Kenyan Music to the next level. Lyrically, Octo doesn’t lose what he is best known for, and that’s his heavy punchlines.
The Kibera bred-global trotting rapper could have simply whispered on the album’s amazing beats, and the project would have been great. However, instead of whispering or rhyming gibberish, Octo chose to put out his characteristic lyrical A-game, although more softly and smoothly. His punchlines are just as hard-hitting as they have been in the previous years, and so are the other elements of his lyrical wizardry; talk of cadence, rhyme scheme, alliterations, clever metaphors et al. The more you listen to the album the more you get to appreciate this. For the most part, Next Year’s content is reflective, with a bit of braggadocio, hustle theme, marriage and finances, and a few jabs at his competition.
While everything about this album seems to be splendid, more content could have been injected on the great themed and well-produced afro-optimist track We Can; and instead of a spoken word freestyle, it would have been good to listen to some well-written bars on EIGHT which features his firstborn daughter, Tracy. All in all, Next Year remains a classy and artistic piece of music for your laid-back sunny Sunday afternoons.
Everyone’s Just Winging It And Other Fly Tales-Blinky Bill
Most definitely a contender for 2018’s album with the longest title; Everyone’s Just Winging It, And Other Fly Tales is an album whose title (at least the first part of it) captured the 2018 mood of the Kenyan adult populace like no other. It wasn’t just the title, but the album’s content too. Dropped in a year that most Kenyans were going through the chars and ashes that came with the aftermath of a bad electioneering period, Blinky Bill was spot on with this project in describing the difficult period that most Kenyans went through, throughout 2018.
The project had originally been slated for an earlier release, sometime in 2016; and had that been the case, then Blinky Bill would have been termed as the great prophet, who foreshadowed what was to come.
Everyone’s Just Winging It And Other Fly Tales is the second solo project, and debut album of an artiste who most entertainment journalists struggle to describe: Is he a rapper or a singer? A Deejay or Producer? An author or a Songwriter, A nerd or a fashion icon? At least all of them can conquer that Blinky Bill (born Bill Selenga) is one of the best creative minds of today’s generation, who boasts of a deeply rooted local touch and a crossover international appeal. This sophomore project of his, tells tales of hope and despair, escapism and reality, defeat and resilience, joy and pain, and every other little detail in between.
Aesthetically, the album offers an alternative feel, crafted like a perfect mix of the futuristic Science Fiction film score, and a blend of many global sounds — both retro and current. The sound in the album ranges from the European Electronic beat to West Africa’s Afrobeat sound, the 60’s American Gospel to the 90’s Kenyan Gospel, The Pre-Colonial indigenous sound of the African, Asian, and Native American people to the Beyoncé type of Pop Sound, the early 2000’s Kapuka sound to the counter flavor of Tim Rimbui and KSouth of the same period, The old school American Funk, to the vibe of the golden hip-hop era, The jam session type of Ragga and riddim, to the post-Migos Trap sound. As a producer Blinky seems to use anything and everything his hands land on, weaving them so seamlessly to make this one hell of a groovy and eclectic sound. Mr. Selenga could be described as Timberland, Swizz Beatz, David Guetta, and The Late Avicii all blended up into one being.
The album would, however, not be as great as it is if it was not for the features which are mostly female artists. The collaborations give the album a cherry topping, and an extra great value; particularly on songs like Oh Wah featuring South Africa’s Petite Noir, and the legendary Nigerian singer Nneka, Rafiki’s soundtrack Feeling It featuring MDQ and Mayonde, Let That Go featuring Australian based Zambian poet/rapper Sampa The Great, and the spiritual tune Mungu Halali featuring Kenyan singers Sage, Lisa Odour-Noah, and the Mitaru Sisters (Sara and Wambura). As aforementioned, I strongly feel that ‘Don’t burry Me’ and ‘Now That’s A Fire’ on Eric Wainaina’s album, would have been a better fit for this particular project.
Everyone’s Just Winging It And Other Fly Tales, is not only a classic but a genius album. Based on its strength, I solemnly pray for Blinky Bill to be present, seated next to Ludwig Göransson, and Mr. Duckworth as the Score co-composer and Soundtrack co- producer, Should there ever be a sequel to the great Marvel Comics superhero film, Black Panther.
Telos, Preaching To The Converted- Trabolee (TraIsArt)
Until June 28th, 2018, Trabolee had been just another random Facebook friend who I had no clue, I knew that he was a rapper and that was just about that. However on this night when Khaligraph Jones was launching his album, I got introduced to him by a mutual friend Ondu Street Lawyer, and within 30 seconds of our interaction, I knew that I had to check out this gentleman’s music. First forward to six months later and he gets a project which in his own words wasn’t an album, an EP, nor a mixtape- but just a project, but in my own words, Telos, Preaching to the Converted was most definitely the Kenyan music project of the year 2018.
Scholars and psychologists have often defined a quarter-life crisis as a period in an adult’s life between the early 20s to mid-30s that is marred with confusion, anxiety, and such for purpose. Telos, Preaching to the Converted is an album that finds the project’s character in the middle and the thick of this crisis. Matter of fact, one of the project’s tracks bares the title, QutaLyfCrisis.
Told in firsthand narration, Trabolee plays both the protagonist and antagonist, who gives the most brutal and honest account of his current life. Telos in itself is a Greek term popularized by Aristotle, which means purpose, an end, or a goal. Preaching to the converted on the other hand means that Tra is trying to tell us what we already know, and thus he is just wasting his time.
Trabolee’s purpose seems to deliver a particular message through his art, but he is unsure if the message or the art is needed. The project, therefore, tells the story of someone who is in search of a purpose, but at every turn, he comes out empty.
Bar after bar, verse after verse, song after song, Tra finds himself questioning multiple aspects of his existence such as his art form and the direction it is taking, his religion, his past relationships, his race, his listener’s understanding, and even his self.
From listening to the album you can tell just how well-read Trabolee is. At one point in the project, he references Malcolm X’s Autobiography and even takes us to a specific page of the book. He combs out Greek mythology, in particular the Sisyphus boulder story, giving his interpretation of the story. As if that is not enough, Trabolee shares his perspective on philosophies advanced by some of history’s brightest minds. He does all these meticulously and rigorously, within 47 minutes.
The project opens with an interlude sampled from Rev. Dr. Marcus Cosby’s 2013 sermon Confessions of a conflicted clergyman. This interlude presets the mood and tone of the entire project, as it ends with the Houston, Texas reverend quoting Melle Mel’s classic lines “ Don’t push me close am close to the edge, am try-ing not to lose my head..It’s like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder, how I keep from going under” from the track The Message. (The Message is considered the first rap/hip-hop song to ever tackle issues of mental health).
Trabolee’s lyricism and flow are one of the most unique rap deliveries I have listened to in a long time. His style is almost comparable to none. From afar Tra can be described as the Kenyan Kendrick Lamar, with a bit of Nas in him, a little J.Cole, some Tupac, Andre 3000, and KRS One. But a better comparison to him would be the Philadelphia-born hip-hop artist Jamal Gray aka Last Emperor.
Akili Black, the project’s producer seems to have excellent chemistry with his emcee, and easily delivers beats that best complement Tra’s overall theme and tone. The production cuts across pacey acid jazz infused with experimental elements of alternative rock, industrial electronic sound, and laid-back hip-hop kicks. The samples in the project particularly Tupac’s Hail Mary on Sisyphus, and the interlude cuts at the beginning and the end of the tracks, are things to admire.
Telos, Preaching To The Converted is not an easy listen-to project, and the singles off it may fail to find constant requests and replays on radio stations. While it would be good to see Trabolee’s art being appreciated by the masses, the truth is, what comes out of this erudite rapper’s mouth is not everyone’s cup of tea, but a preserve of a few. His music is filled with intricate lyricism, deep knowledge, and a high level of philosophy, and maybe he will have to sacrifice his art to pop out like every other hot rapper now.
This project of his, comprising 9 tracks is a complex, multi-layered, and highly metaphorical lyrical output that can’t be listened to in one go. For a full appreciation, the project requires one to listen to it over and over, hold a discourse, read its lyrics, follow up on reference points, and even then, it may take years to fully understand some of the thoughts coming out of Tra’s dome. It is for this very reason, that Telos, Preaching To The Converted lands on the number one spot, of what I consider to be Kenya’s top music projects of 2018.
Honorable Mentions
While I never got to listen to all the Kenyan music projects released in 2018, some of the decent projects I listened to but did not make it to the top 10, include; GEMS- MC Sharon, Ndani Ya Cockpit 2 — Wakadinali, OWE — Noti Flow, and Afropolitan — Victoria Kimani. Looking forward to 2019, with even greater music projects.
PS: Trabolee will be launching his Project, Telos, Preaching To The Converted at The Alchemist Bar & Lounge on 21st February 2019.
