Snaps

Don’t believe the hype. Despite its reputation as a global city, Nairobi is a mostly chaotic, starkly unequal place, with the majority struggling to get by. Emma Nzioka’s photography captures this inequality, accentuated by musical selections by Kamwangi Njue.

Oscar Mizani is a rapper using Nairobi public transport as his stage. We take a ride with him as he spreads his message through the streets.

Different artists from Nairobi share their experiences of life in the city during the tumultuous election season of early 2022, and their thoughts on political and social messages in music.

Kenyan hip hop has gone through several phases. This mixtape tries as much as possible to identify them through their unifying act of Sheng poetics. These tracks observe, report, criticize, accuse, and protest. Together, they paint a conscious picture of Nairobi.

A selection of ten music videos from Nairobi from 2020 onwards, plus two older ones by DJ Raph’s algorithm. Some are examples of popular current music addressing heavy political themes, while others are a sort of antithesis.

After growing up in Japan, Sally, a Kenyan teenager, wanted to reconnect with Kenyan music upon returning home, while dealing with the meaning of that term, «home».

Nairobi-based artists Kamwangi Njue (7Headc0) and Raphael Kariuki (DJ Raph) remixed conversations between seven Nairobi musicians and Norient’s Thomas Burkhalter, resulting in this compilation album.

Kamau Ngigi aka Kamaa aka Githingithia (Earthquake) is one of the founders of legendary rap trio Kalamashaka, widely regarded as originators of Kiswahili rap in Nairobi. Here, he tells the story of the Nairobi of his day.