Brian Ouko Omollo (born 12 June 1990),[1] known by his stage name Khaligraph Jones, is a Kenyan rapper known for his singles "Mazishi" and "Yego".[2][3] He released his debut full-length studio album Testimony 1990 in June 2018.[4] Jones has received numerous awards during his career. He was nominated for Best Male Artist at the 2018 AFRIMMAs, won Best Hip Hop Artist at the 2020 AFRIMMAs, and was nominated for Best International Act at the 2020 BET Awards.
His mother gave him the name Ouko Robert in reference to the late Kenyan politician Robert Ouko, who was assassinated c. 13 February 1990.[7][8][9]
Career
He officially began his career in 2008 at a function called Words And Pictures.[citation needed]
He won Channel O Music Video Awards's Emcee Africa in 2009, a highly visible competition that catapulted him to international acclaim almost instantly.[10]
In June 2018, he released his debut full-length studio album dubbed Testimony 1990.[11]
In 2018, he was crowned Best Rap Act of the Year at the fifth Annual AFRIMMA Awards held at House of Blues in Dallas, Texas in 2018.[12][13]
He was named the best Hip Hop act at the Soundcity MVP Awards in January 2020.[14][15] The ceremony took place at the Eko Convention Center in Lagos, Nigeria.[16][17]
In 2020, he was nominated for the BET Awards.[18][19] His nomination was for the Best International Flow category.[20] He was up against South Africa's Nasty C, Brazil's Djonga, Ivorian Kaaris and eventual winner, grime rapper Stormzy from the United Kingdom.[21][22] In May 2021, he was named the East African Rapper of the Year at MTN Uganda.[citation needed]
In 2021, Jones partnered with Odibets, a sports betting company under their Odimtaani initiative to launch the OdiNare rap challenge. This challenge led to a collaboration between Jones and Kenyan rapper Chepkosgei that was executive produced by Riverstarz Music Entertainment.[23]
Controversies
On 10 November 2015, musician Juliani posted a picture on his social media of fellow hip hop heavyweights Jones, Octopizzo and King Kaka. He captioned the photo with "The only one with more bars than the three combined is me!!". What initially started as friendly banter triggered an online argument between the musicians that went on for hours before Jones released a diss track meant to silence the rest. While Octopizzo chose to stay out of the disagrement both Juliani and King Kaka responded to the diss track with their own.[24] Over a year later, King Kaka revealed during an interview that the feud was indeed very serious and that were it not for some external mediative interventions, it could have resulted in bloodshed.[25]
In January 2020, a feud broke out between Jones and Nigerian rapper Blaqbonez. This was after Jones won the Best Hip Hop Act ahead of him and others at the SoundCity MVP Awards 2020 held in Lagos, Nigeria.[26] Blaqbonez released a video and a diss track complaining about Soundcity's decision while disregarding Jones. Hours later Jones responded with a diss track titled "Best rapper in Nigeria".[27]
In August 2023, Jones sparked controversy by releasing a diss track targeting Tanzanian rappers. This led to backlash from Tanzanian rappers including Rosa Ree, Msodoki Young Killer, and Motra The Future.[28][29] Bongo musician Harmonize, with whom Jones has collaborated previously, condemned the disrespect on Tanzanian artists.[citation needed]
Political views
In April 2021, Jones led a team of 30 artists from the Kenyan creative industry in a meeting with then Deputy President William Ruto.[30] This was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and at a time when the working relationship between then-President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy Ruto had deteriorated. Although it was confirmed that the main agenda was to discuss the concerns of the artists and to receive their suggestions and proposals, a notion was created that the artists who attended the meeting endorsed Ruto's candidacy for the upcoming 2022 Kenyan presidential election.[31][32] During the meeting, Jones made a passionate appeal to Ruto for a solution to the plight that faced "hustlers" who were hurting in the background with some struggling to afford food and ret. Jones went ahead to promise that if their concerns were addressed, he would campaign pro-bono for Ruto across the country.[30] Prior to the meeting, Jones had initially reached out to both Ruto and Odinga via his Instagram and only the former had responded and later set up the meeting with the representatives from the creative industry.[33] Musicians Octopizzo and King Kaka, who were not part of the delegation that met Ruto, took to their social media platforms to castigate Jones and the other artists for being "opportunistic" in using COVID-19 as a guise for their political affiliations.
Just a few days before Ruto assumed office as president, Jones released his song "Usiache Akemewe" ("Don't Let Him Be Scolded"). In the song, he urged the President-elect to protect his competitor Odinga, who had been facing increasing ridicule after he lost the election.[34]
Discography
Albums
Testimony 1990
Testimony 1990, Khaligraph Jones's Debut Album
Jones released his debut studio album Testimony 1990 in June 2018. Testimony 1990 is a testimony of his life, his troubles and those of his country Kenya.[35][36][37]
Jones released his second album on 7 March 2022 exclusively on the Boomplay streaming service. It accumulated a total of 1 million streams in six days on the streaming platform. He later released it on other streaming platforms on 13 March 2022.[citation needed]
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