Dream Warriors were a Canadian hip hop duo from Toronto, Ontario, comprising King Lou and Capital Q. Described as "a pair of deft, intelligent rappers" by John Bush of AllMusic, they were major contributors to the jazz rap movement of the early 1990s. Their 1991 debut album, And Now the Legacy Begins, was cited by Bush as one of the finest alternative hip hop records of the golden era. Before the release of their second album Subliminal Simulation in 1994, the duo became a group with the addition of rapper Spek and DJ Luv. In 1996, they released a third album, The Master Plan, before the two new members left the group a year later. Though their subsequent releases did not garner similar commercial success as their debut, the duo released a well-received greatest hits album in 1999. Their final album, The Legacy Continues..., was released in 2002.
Kevin Brereton, better known by his stage name k-os, is a Canadian alternative rapper, singer, songwriter and producer. His given name may also be cited as Kheaven, a spelling he later adopted.
Jazzyfatnastees is a vocal duo, Tracey Moore and Mercedes Martinez. Originally a vocal quartet, they landed a deal with Tommy Boy in 1993. In 1997, their contract with Tommy Boy ended, two other members Stevvi Alexander and Arlynn Page left the group, and the current duo moved to Philadelphia. When the group was still a quartet they appeared along with many other 90's African-American R&B and Hip Hop girl groups in the song "Freedom " on the Panther soundtrack such as En Vogue, SWV, TLC, Xscape, For Real, Brownstone, Jade, Y?N-Vee, Salt-N-Pepa, Female, BlackGirl, Changing Faces, Zhané, Terri & Monica and several other African American R&B and Hip-Hop girl groups. The soundtrack also featured African American female solo artist and female solo rappers and was released on May 2, 1995. In 1996, while still under contract with Tommy Boy the quartet appeared on a 4-Track CD single "De La Soul 4 More Featuring Zhané" which was released under Tommy Boy Records and the quartet released a song on the single titled "Baby Baby Baby Baby Ooh Baby"
Gidi Gidi Maji Maji is a Kenyan hip hop duo from Nairobi. Its two members are Maji Maji and Gidi Gidi. Their lyrics are mostly in Luo language, with some English and Swahili. Unlike most local hip hop artists, GidiGidi MajiMaji do willingly mix African rhythms with their music. According to popular entertainment guide Ghafla, their music is a "fusion of hip hop/rap and African music [which] they mostly sing and rap in their native language called Luo."
Hubert Mbuku Nakitare, commonly known by his stage name Nonini, is a Kenyan rapper and former radio presenter. He is often referred to as the Godfather because he is very well known.
Ogopa Deejays are a Kenyan music production team and record label formed in the late 1990s who gained regional fame and popularity due to standards of their production work.
Necessary Noize was a Kenyan hip hop group.
Swabri Mohammed, better known by his stage name Redsan, is a Kenyan reggae and ragga musician. He is one of the most renowned ragga and dancehall artists in East Africa. His popularity has extended to the rest of Africa, parts of Europe, the United States, and the Middle East.
Boomba music, also referred to as kapuka, is a form of hip pop music popular in Kenya. It incorporates hip hop, reggae and African traditional musical styles. The lyrics are in Swahili, Sheng or local dialects. It is associated with the Ogopa Deejays and is believed to have originated in the late 1990s with artists such as Redsan, Bebe Cool and Chameleone. It went on to dominate East African airwaves after the release of the Ogopa Deejays' first album in 2001, which included artists such as the late E-Sir, Nameless, Mr. Lenny, Amani, Mr. Googz and Vinnie Banton amongst others.
Jason Edward Dunford, OGW, OLY, also known as Samaki Mkuu, is a Kenyan Olympic swimmer, media personality, rapper and entrepreneur. During his swimming career he was predominantly a butterfly and freestyle sprinter winning gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, Universiade, All-Africa Games and African Championships, and reaching finals at the Olympics, World Championships and Short Course World Championships. He also held African, Universiade and Olympic records. He has worked as a broadcast journalist for the BBC, is a co-founder and adviser to software company, Safi and currently serves as the CEO of Baila Entertainment whilst performing as Samaki Mkuu, one half of the rap duo Romantico & Samaki Mkuu.
Paul Julius Nunda, better known by his stage name Jua Cali, is a Kenyan rapper and record producer. In 2000, together with record producer Clemo, he founded Calif Records where he has been ever since, producing music which dominated East African music alongside Jose Chameleone of Uganda and Mr. Nice of Tanzania. Jua Cali performs in Swahili and Sheng in a popular Kenyan style of rapping called genge.
Simon Kimani, more popularly known as Bamboo, is an MC who represents Kenya and lives in New York City. He was raised in Inglewood, California by parents of East African descent, and at the age of 17, his parents sent him to Nairobi, Kenya to eschew the potentially dangerous life they feared he might have if he stayed in Inglewood. Bamboo transferred the success he was beginning to have in California to Nairobi, acquiring a record deal and producing his first album, Nairoberry, with his group K-South in 2001. He formed the record label Project 254 in Nairobi with Kenyan emcees Tim Waindi and Attitude. Bamboo is also a member of the record label The Grass Company, and he states that he intends to re-record a previously released album "exactly the way [they] did it in Kenya but now with state-of-the-art equipment" in Atlanta, Georgia.
Tim Rimbui, better known as "Ennovator" is a Kenyan record producer, sound engineer and songwriter who has worked with many prominent Kenyan and East African artists. He is generally thought of as one of the leading music producers in Kenya. With the foresight of being creative, innovative and unique he chose the name Ennovator, which would best describe his sound and approach to music production.
Kleptomaniax is a rap group from Nairobi, Kenya. The group consists of three members: Roba, Collo and Nyashinski.
Lovy and Christian Longombas were a duo from Kenya performing a mixture of Hip hop and Soukous. Christian Longomba died on March 13, 2021 after being diagnosed with a brain tumor in May 2015.
Nyota Ndogo is a musician from Kenya who performs taarab-influenced pop music.
Mercy Myra Grundberg, better known as Mercy Myra, is an R&B musician from Kenya.
Mr. Googz is a musician, preacher and author from Kenya.
Andrew Kabiru Karuku, popularly known as Abbas Kubaff, is a Kenyan hip hop artist who was raised in the Kariobangi South, Nairobi. As a member of the rap group K-South, and later as a solo artist, Abbas has shaped and pioneered rap music in East Africa from the in 1995. K-South was a trio formed by Abbas, his brother KC and neighborhood friend Bamboo. The group split in 2005 after KC went missing and Bamboo move to the United States. As a solo artist Abbas is famous for hit songs such as "Chapaa" and "Tokelezea". He won a Chaguo La Teeniez Awards award in 2008 and a Golden Mic award in 2011. In 2006, Kubaff released his debut album Angabanga. He has toured extensively in Europe and has performed in Nairobi as the opening act for Coolio, Lost Boyz, Maxi Priest and Akon. In 2014 he released his fourth studio album known as Ghettoholic.
Odi pop is a Kenyan music style which involves localized hip hop and draws influences from reggae and Dancehall music to build on an African Rhythm base performed in sing-along rap in heavy Kiswahili/Sheng language. There are several sub-genres stemming from this umbrella term including Gengeton, Dabonge, Debe and others. The music is spearheaded by Kenyan youths and most of them are pursuing their careers as music groups opposed to solo careers.
