NairobiConscious
Not your usual matatu ride. New flow from Kalamashaka OG’s Roba and Githingithia. New sounds from Nyokabi, Kaharibu Records, Al-Shaverb, and names you’ve never heard before. We hope this compilation of music by our friends takes you to interesting and unexpected places. Belt Up!
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Part of the Norient Special Norient City Sounds: Nairobi
In this first Norient City Sounds Online Special, we focus on Nairobi, Kenya, at a time when political and social pressures are rising in tandem with the cost of things and the noise of the approaching elections in Summer 2022. Titled «NairobiConscious», this virtual exhibition began with the curators discussing a perceived increase in «serious» social and political content in the popular songs of the city. The investigation into «conscious» music develops into a portrait of the city taken from interesting and varied perspectives, resulting in a colorful number of articles, podcasts, graphics, photographs, tracks, and more. Curated by Raphael Kariuki and Kamwangi Njue.
The Tracks
1. Nyokabi Kariuki: «A Walk Through My Cũcũ’s Farm» (Original Version)
Nyokabi Kariuki is a Kenyan classical composer based in New York, who is developing an experimental sound combining Western classical music with field recordings and her own improvisations. This track is from her debut EP Peace Places: Kenyan Memories. In this particular song she revisits her grandmother’s farm in rural Kenya. In the recordings you can hear her speaking to her grandmother in Kikuyu, her Kenyan language which she is not really able to speak, in a (warm, humorous) attempt to connect across the age and experience gap.
2. CitySynthesis: «Sitaki Kuongea Mob»
CitySynthesis is a duo comprising Kenyan/German sound artist Sophia Bauer and Nairobian DJ Raph. It is an experiment in music making using pure field recordings with no conventional instruments, also a project painting real and imagined portraits and narratives of Nairobi. It was born out of their soundscape archiving project, soundofnairobi.net.
3. Roba: «Kweli Rongo»
Roba aka Ote-raw is a founding member of the legendary Kalamashaka, the first artists to break through with Kiswahili rap in Nairobi. As K’shaka mark 25 years since the release of the classic debut, Tafsiri Hii (1997), Roba rues a music industry and mainstream society that seems to have bypassed the crew and their message in this track produced by 7Headc0 (Kamwangi Njue) and released on his upstart label, Kaharibu records, in 2021.
4. Trabolee: «Dipthong» (Kaharibu Records)
«Truth Reigns Above, But Only Love Exists Eternally», signifies Trabolee, a hip hop and spoken word artist who divides his time between Nairobi and Nakuru cities. In this track, Tra plays with the dipthong – the sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable – as a writing technique on a 7headc0 production (that samples a «boomba» pop song from mid-naughts). Originally released on Kaharibu records, 2021.
5. MC Sharon: «So Special»
MC Sharon is an outspoken rapper, singer, and producer versatile in hip hop and reggae. Despite her virtuosity in production and a great stage presence, as well as music addressing relatable issues of the day, she has struggled to achieve mainstream success in Kenya or inroads overseas.
6. Blaque Swahili: «Culture Shock»
Blaque Swahili is a duo of solo acts – Genetik Disorder and Romi Swahili. Their raps entail radical lyricism; critique of popular cultures, questions societal norms, and also challenges personal life choices, and fights bad governance. Their poetic languages – Romi’s follows footsteps of great Kiswahili language poets, and Genetik’s use of dark humor and doom metaphors makes the duo have a small but strong cult following in Kenyan underground of hardcore hip hop.
7. Oscar Mizani: «Tell Them feat. J Munga»
Oscar Mizani is a rapper with a unique way of spreading his music and message – he performs to passengers in Nairobi’s public transport buses, where he also sells his CDs. An artist with a social mission, his music addresses perennial issues affecting Kenyan youth. Watch him do his thing here.
8. Bigi Mo & Githingithia: «Bumaye»
Bigi Mo, real name Moses Achoka, is a childhood friend of DJ Raph (we went to college together, used to record keyboard beats on cassette tapes in his bedroom). Based in the U.S. for more than ten years, a prolific but low-key producer with four full albums in the last two years alone! The song in the compilation features Kamaa, a founder member of Kenyan hip hop legends Kalamashaka, who is slowly making a comeback to active music.
Impint and Credits
[NT017]
Tracks selected by Raphael Kariuki and Kamwangi Njue
Released May 13, 2022
