Hey music junkie

This was one of the randomest weekends ever. As in I never expected I would end up where I did, but I did. Here's a lesson on going with the flow.

After work, my Thursday night plan was to attend the Nairobi R&B gig at KODA Nairobi. Mostly because I wanna play there someday so I wanted to have a feel of what the vibe is. Instead, the winds blew me elsewhere.

First, I ended up in a studio listening to Emma Cheruto’s fire demos. I almost played my recently mastered single “Sirudi” but the universe refused. Y'all just have to wait till it's out.

And then a friend called me to Beit e Selam. You know, that pricy restaurant in Parklands where Senegalese-Swedish couple Sousou and Maher performed back in February. Still as fancy as I left it.

This time, I was welcomed by - get this - Ohangla music! I had to confirm who was playing, and indeed it was BBrave on the decks. The same French DJ who organizes the pan-African music party LaSauce in Nairobi and Accra.

He moved to mugithi then ndombolo and kompa. And I danced with strangers who ended up being acquaintances. While admiring the exquisite art on the walls, from African masks to colourful paintings and even red roses.

Before leaving at 1am, I hugged the giant mugumo tree guarding the wall. And left feeling impressed but also challenged. Why is it that foreigners are the ones who play authentic African music in middle class spaces like these? 🤔

As you probably know, my Friday night plan was to attend my first KE Takeover. But once I went up to Zahabu Sundowner at The Mall rooftop, I couldn't come down. Watched the sunset, met interesting people, and sipped jaba too.

One highlight was dancing to Mr LU*’s bouncy DJ set on the new wooden dancefloor with other music junkies. And laughing at a brother’s jokes so much I started crying. Talk about healing through laughter 😂

And when the rain interrupted Odera’s out-of-this-world set, we moved to The Mist. And found Hiribae playing the bassiest qgom remixes of Kenyan classics which put us all in a dancing frenzy. Music has never slapped that hard, jeez!

Of course when you enter the Mist, expect to leave when it's closing time i.e. 5am. In hindsight, I was never meant to go to Masshouse that night. It's not really my vibe.

After some day errands and a few hours of sleep, I was back to The Mall in the evening. But why when I could be busy sleeping?

The main reason was to watch Muti Musa live. I first met the Rwandese-Korean artist (picture that fusion) on Thursday at Santuri and was impressed by his African kitenge style. He invited me to catch his show before he left the country on Sunday.

It was hard to say no.

And mahn, it was so worth it. Even though the Saturday night crowd was small due to the rain, we felt the fire in the basement. He rapped, sang and danced to his conscious music carried by hiphop, funk and Afrohouse beats.

One Rwandese song about a fallen brother plus the accompanying traditional dance was so touching I almost cried. And in another song about quantum healing, he literally bent light with his hands. Now this is the conscious dance floor music we were talking about last week 🙌🏾

While BananasOverdose and El Chi performed, I spent the rest of the night looking for benga, mwomboko and ohangla songs. I've decided if no Kenyan is gonna play our folk music uptown, I will. Plus whoever else is willing to join the movement 💪🏾

Sunday was for babysitting - no children were harmed in the process. On Moonday, I attended the Irish Kenyan symposium at Kenya National Theatre. While I missed half of the event, I caught lunch, a jam session and panel discussion.

Some scholars challenged the common statement “Music is a universal language”, because music is full of context and culture. Tabu Osusa of Ketebul Music demonstrated how music can be used as a weapon of mass reconciliation, such as after 2007 POV. And we realized how similar Irish and Kenyans are, other than being both colonized by the British.

And to end the afternoon session, the musicians played a song they had just come up with called “Share The Rain”. With kalimba, nyatiti, accordion and other folk instruments on stage, we clapped, sang and felt like we were one. Because music brings us together.

Now let it bring us even closer these coming days, sawa?

PLAYLIST OF THE MONTH

Music of the month - February 2026

While we're already half past March, you still deserve to listen to these new jams. Flier is still on a roll, Mejja dropped an album, and Sumbua npw has a music video!

Karun looks like an ocean goddess in “Feel You”. A girl called KENI is openly in love with a “Mzungu Man”. And “Ghetto Loving” by Ywaya Tajiri is probably the best reggae song you'll hear today!

EVENTS OF THE WEEK

Kenyan Funk Affair at Chronos Lounge

Do you remember the time when we had a Kenyan Funk Party during Hadithi Hangout? Well this Thursday, we're taking it to Chronos Lounge in Lavington. And to be honest with you, I'm still in disbelief because #dreamcometrue

The music policy? The funkiest Kenyan hits from the 70s up to date. With Friday being a public holiday, come let's boogie the night away under the disco ball starting 9pm 🕺🏾

The Mist Friday

Post Zahabu, The Mist on Friday night is a proper plan - proof up above. And this Friday is a fully-female DJ lineup with Avocado.the.DJ, Nowisgood and DJ Shock. While Kenyan visual artist Shutterdust will project crazy visuals all through the night.

Expect fiery Afrohouse, gqom and batida - which is African electronic dance music from Angola/ Portugal. Whether it rains or not, we will dance 🕺🏾

Nairobi Dub Club at The Mall rooftop

On Saturday, the hottest dub party in Nairobi is back! Umojah Sound System always delivers deep bass-heavy vibrations and conscious messages to heal our minds, bodies and souls.

On the vinyl decks are Kenyan-based Daudi Dubs, Ugandan-based Jah Marshall, and Majestic Bee from Amsterdam. We'll also experience a special performance by nyatiti player and Luo singer Kake Wakake. Basically, we're going to rasta church on a Saturday night 🙌🏾

May you have a random weekend that takes you not where you think you should go, but where you need to be. Because the universe loves to surprise you. Just let go and let it flow 🙂

Until next time
Stay high on music
Furaha