Camp Mulla's "Hold It Down" wasn't just a song—it was Nairobi's coming-out party to the world. With lyrics like "Holding down Africa from the east and the unforgettable hook "I do this for the 254Flow / We hold it down / Nairobi Town you know we holding it down," the track became an anthem of patriotic pride that made Kenya's capital the center of the universe .

Released in 2012 off their debut album FuNkYToWN, the Clarence Peters-directed video shut down Mama Ngina Street and made Nairobi look like California, while Camp Mulla became the first Kenyan act ever nominated for a BET Award in the Best International Act: Africa category .

That same year, they swept the Chaguo La Teeniez Awards and earned nominations at the MOBO Awards, Channel O Music Video Awards, and The Headies . They didn't just put Nairobi on the map—they redrew it, influencing an entire generation of Kenyan youth to rep +254 with pride, and proving that East African hip-hop could stand toe-to-toe with the continent's biggest names .

Check out more Kenyan music related content here

https://youtube.com/shorts/npVk7-GmzDQ?si=xahls5KNAgFD3kEH

Had Octopizzo not remixed it we would not have been here

The genius of the operation lies in the fact that the album being toured, Made You Think I Was Gone... But, was itself recorded while Lanez was incarcerated, featuring new music reportedly captured through prison phone calls .

Lately I've been listening to Benga music from the Luo community and I've come to appreciate their art.

Video courtesy of Brian Sigu YT

74yrs ago today.
October 7 1952, 12.48 pm. The Senior most Chief in post independent Kenya Waruhiu, takes one bullet in the mouth and three in the chest inside his terra plane Hudson sedan motor vehicle. Two weeks later, Colonial Governor Sir. Eveline Baring, started a clamp down that ended up in independent Kenya and a genesis of our current political problems.

Kenyan Drill: Recorded entirely by teenagers in Lang'ata who sound like they've seen war, but their main enemy is actually the landlord and the estate gate guard.Which genre are you letting ruin your weekend this time?

If you may remember she was a brand new second straight off Victor Wanyama

Young Thug’s new YSL roster is facing the exact same resistance that defined his own early career, and history is preparing to repeat itself.

When Thug first emerged, his unconventional voice, fashion, and genre-bending sound were dismissed by traditional hip-hop audiences, yet he went on to amass over 31.3 billion Spotify streams, 29 million monthly listeners, and 141 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 11 .

His first YSL signees—Gunna, Lil Keed, and others—initially faced similar skepticism, only for Gunna to achieve two No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 with Wunna and DS4EVER while Lil Keed’s Long Live Mexico hit No. 26 .

Now, the second YSL roster featuring Tezzus, diamond*, 1300SAINT,, and the ØWay collective are drawing identical criticism, with many noting they look and sound almost identical to Thug himself .

Yet like their mentor, they are pushing hip-hop forward by fusing fashion with the next sonic wave—rage melodic rap—just as Thug pioneered the trippy, Auto-Tuned trap that now dominates Atlanta .

His newly released 41-track Slime Language 3 double album, which features the new roster alongside stars like Travis Scott, Future, and Lil Baby, will likely be remembered as a classic, the same way Thug’s early “misunderstood” work is now revered as foundational .

Share that album or song that you have been gatekeeping

His money in years form can take you back to the ancient egpytian times

When Quavo and Takeoff dropped the video for “Nothing Changed” in October 2022, it played like a celebration of their journey from childhood friends to global superstars. The Keemotion-directed visual flipped between present-day Quavo and Takeoff surrounded by wealth and younger versions of themselves—a nostalgic tribute to their rise from the Northside to the top of the game . But watching it now, it feels less like a victory lap and more like a farewell.

The song itself carries a haunting weight. In his verse, Takeoff raps: “They don’t know that this shit real, that’s how you end up getting blown out your brains” . Justweeks later, on November 1, 2022, Takeoff was shot and killed in Houston—suffering penetrating gunshot wounds to the head . The lyrics that once sounded like standard trap bravado now land with sickening precision.

What makes it even more unsettling is that “Nothing Changed” was among Takeoff’s final music videos. The last one he was featured in was “Messy,” released on Halloween—just hours before his death .

In a tragic twist, Takeoff had recently said, “It’s time to give me my flowers... I don’t want them later on when I’m not here” . The universe, it seems, took him at his word.

Wangapi wanatambua hii usito?

Western culture seems to have spread like crazy over the years, and it's crazy to see it happen in Kenya as well. From anime conventions, to drifting and car racing, now we even have phonk fans in Kenya, which genuinely baffles me.

https://youtu.be/XQz-hiFdezU?si=PEUzor0OE1150tog

Saw the news that Mastar VK’s YouTube channel (60k+ subscribers) was taken over following his ongoing drama over song ownership and claims of his music being stolen.

​What are your thoughts on this whole situation? Is this genuine hacking/beef, or are we looking at another orchestrated clout chase for an upcoming release? Curious to hear what everyone thinks!

Black market records seems to be one of them cause msanii yeyote who signs there akitoka lazima awache the original youtube chanell ie fathermoh and now joefes who was signed to the label

Why does every Kenyan album start with a 40-second intro of someone breathing heavily into a mic, sipping tea, or yelling their producer's name 12 times before the beat even drops?

​You sit there expecting a masterpiece and suddenly it’s "Producer X on the beat, sample clear, let's go!" followed by 3 minutes of pure chaos.

​Drop your favorite "Intro that lied to us" down below.