Word on the Street

Video

Oscar Mizani is a young rapper and a serious hustler. Eschewing the normal routes, he has carved himself a unique niche in the city by using Matatus – Nairobi’s (in)famous public transport vehicles – as the locations for his music performances and outlets for sales. Oscar’s music has a social message, addressing issues in common with the young and restless of the city.

Keep up with Mizani on Instagram or on his YouTube channel.

This video is part of the virtual exhibition «Norient City Sounds: Nairobi» curated and edited by Raphael Kariuki and Kamwangi Njue.

Biography

Victor Mutali is a graphic designer and photographer working in Nairobi, Kenya. Follow him on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Behance.

Biography

Raphael Kariuki, aka djrPH, is a Nairobian electronic musician, sound artist, and DJ. He is a resident DJ and curator at The Mist, Nairobi’s first venue dedicated to underground and experimental music. His latest EP, hope/currency, is a collaboration with the spoken-word artist Kins of Spade. Raph is a long-time collaborator with Norient. In 2022, he curated the online publication «Norient City Sounds: Nairobi» together with author and writer Kamwangi Njue. Follow him on Instagram, Mixcloud, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, or Facebook.

Biography

Kamwangi Njue is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and experimental beatmaker working with artists and others from Nairobi, Kenya. He has developed, participated, and delivered a range of collaborative projects and events including performances, shows, exhibitions, texts, and readings. For Norient, he curated the virtual exhibition «Norient City Sounds: Nairobi» in 2022. Follow him on LinkedIn, and Bandcamp.

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NairobiConscious

€6.00

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.

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Published on May 06, 2022

Last updated on August 25, 2022

Topics

Activism

City

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Norient City Sounds: Nairobi

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A Brief History of Kenyan Conscious Music

Mixtape

by Kamwangi Njue

Kenyan hip hop has gone through several phases. This selection here tries as much as possible to identify them through their unifying act of Sheng1 poetics. Together with the radical critique of the government, police brutality, corruption, and institutions, other things appear as well: the violence of poverty and gender, mental, and body health, and human relationships, ethics, and radio that won’t play these songs – all weave together to paint a conscious picture of Nairobi.

Tracklist

1. Kitu Sewer & MC Mutant, G-DASH, Ndoch: «IKO»
2. UFO (Eli Sketch & Ojiji): «Mtawezaje»
3. Veryl Mkali Wao: «No Gimmicks»
4. Bantu Slim: «Natoshi Shakamoto»
5. Trabolee x Akili Blaq: «1ne»
6. K-SOUTH: «Warui»
7. Muki Garang: «Batswahili»
8. Juliani, Kitu Sewer, Johnny B, Agano: «Fanya Tena»
9. K-SOUTH «Nairobbery»
10. Moroko Kalahari, Kitu Sewer, G-DASH, Abbas Kubaff: «Blunder»
11. Mashifta: «Trafficjam»
12. Black Duo: «Kaa Kitu Ni Real»
13. A.C.E the god Apollo (HipHop Natives): «Believe»
14. Kalamashaka, M1 (dead prez), Umi: «Red, Black & Green»
15. Abbas Kubaff «BOOM BOOM ROOM»
16. Mista Ree «Spitometer»
17. Dira, K47: «Metamorphosis Freestyle»
18. Mashifta: «Wanahewa»
19. Kalamshaka, Yvonne: «KKK»
20. Dream, Johnny, MC Shu, Dira, K47: «Trouble»
21. Kalamashaka, Nynka: «Got Drama»
22. MC Kah, Roba Oteraw, Rah Goddess: «All Over The World»

1. Sheng is a Swahili and English-based cant, originating among the urban youth of Nairobi, and influenced by many of the languages spoken there.

This mixtape is part of the virtual exhibition «Norient City Sounds: Nairobi» curated and edited by Raphael Kariuki and Kamwangi Njue.

Biography

Kamwangi Njue is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and experimental beatmaker working with artists and others from Nairobi, Kenya. He has developed, participated, and delivered a range of collaborative projects and events including performances, shows, exhibitions, texts, and readings. For Norient, he curated the virtual exhibition «Norient City Sounds: Nairobi» in 2022. Follow him on LinkedIn, and Bandcamp.

Published on May 06, 2022

Last updated on August 25, 2022

Topics

Protest

Violence

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Norient City Sounds: Nairobi

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No Life for the «Living-Dead»

Short Essay

by Kamwangi Njue

«Utapishi» is a spiritual healing ritual in Kenya that is seen as a threat by Christianity. Nevertheless, some young healers still practise it. Read an essay about the alliance of colonialism and religion, as seen in the short film Tapi!.

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Kenya became a British colony in 1884. As Christianity kept spreading, and the Bible was translated into African languages, African spiritualism was slowly repressed. The Witchcraft Act in 1925 declared that supernatural powers were incompatible with the politics of the imperial state. African spiritualism and traditions were presented as a threat to the administering of the colony.

Utapishi is one of the many rituals that are still relevant in Kenya. It is a spiritual healing process that involves dance as an intersection of prayer, ritual, and healing. The tapi, as the ritual healer, performs symbolic and holistic rituals to appease the spirits of the ancestors, for purification from misfortunes relating to death, health or to address other concerns in the community. Utapishi has been practiced by people of Kiunga since the early 1500s – and is still alive due to people like the young Utapishi healer and performer Jackson Matiere from Kiunga Town.

The Demonic Possession

In Tapi!, a speculative documentary portraying Matiere, one can observe how African spirituality is still inseparable from repressive colonial policies and laws. The film follows Matiere as he defends his healing and performance practice against a petition by the «National Council of Churches (Kiunga Diocese)», personified by the church council representative Pastor Wanyota.

Matiere, who has dreadlocks and usually wears traditional robes, prepares himself by following a dress code, wearing a coat and a shirt to look presentable. At the petition hearing, Pastor Wanyota directly attributes the demonic possession seen among his congregation during his big-tent sermons to the ritual healers and their witchcraft.

In Favor of Christianity

As the government has interest in the church’s political support, it decides in favor of the religious movements. It bans the «ritual» part of the performance, but allows the dance to continue without spiritual meaning due to its potential for tourism. For the coming annual Kiunga festival, though, the county government allows the healing performance to take place one last time.

Built from anticipation and suspense, Tapi! ends with a ritual dance scene, with a smoky play of light and shadow, close-ups of bodies covered in a mud concoction of charmed ashes and water, and a slowly surging drone score signifying the spiritual climax. Since Kenya’s independence from the British empire, colonial systems are retained and enforced as a mode of independent state life. Practitioners of spiritualism such as Utapishi remain outcasts.

The film «Tapi!» by Jim Chuchu was officially selected at the Norient Film Festival NFF 2021. See full program here.

This text is part of Norient’s essay publication «Nothing Sounds the Way It Looks», published in 2021 as part of the Norient Film Festival 2021.

Bibliographic Record: Rhensius, Philipp. 2021. «Editorial: NFF 2021 Essay Collection.» In Nothing Sounds the Way It Looks, edited by Philipp Rhensius and Lisa Blanning (NFF Essay Collection 2021). Bern: Norient. (Link).

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Biography

Kamwangi Njue is a multidisciplinary artist, writer, and experimental beatmaker working with artists and others from Nairobi, Kenya. He has developed, participated, and delivered a range of collaborative projects and events including performances, shows, exhibitions, texts, and readings. For Norient, he curated the virtual exhibition «Norient City Sounds: Nairobi» in 2022. Follow him on LinkedIn, and Bandcamp.

Links

Nana Akosua Hanson: «Q&A It Must Make Peace, Tapi! & Contradict» (Norient)

Published on January 15, 2021

Last updated on April 09, 2024

Topics

Spirituality

Colonialism

Dance

Ritual

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Specials

Nothing Sounds the Way It Looks

Norient Festival

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