Hey usic junkie}},

I hear Mercury is in Retrograde in Cancer. What does that mean, you ask? I don’t know either lol.

Anyway, we’ve entered the season of 4 days of events like it’s a part time job. Which it kinda is. Let's start from the beginning…

Last Thursday, we finally held Hadithi Hangout Chapter 19 at Santuri Salon. It was chill hangoaut where we remembered the Kenyan women who’ve fought for our freedom and the social justice centres keeping people in informal settlements safe and seen. And of course reminded ourselves that real revolution is kupendana 🫶🏾

Afterwards, we grabbed our books and head to the World's Loudest Library at The Mist. The topic for the night was Incognito Mode and we discussed everything from surveillance states such as Rwanda to smart cars which spy on you. And as Bizi Bingi played smooth African tunes, we swapped books and went home with new ones.

On Friday, I didn’t attend the Live Jam Session at K1. Why? The live set was only one-hour long, not convincing enough to leave The Mall. The B2B session between the 6 Kenyan artists was dope though, at least from this video.

Instead, I watched an immersive VR film about an adventurous Italian engineer called Luigi Broglio who launched the first satellites from Kenya’s coast in the 1960s. True story btw. Thanks to filmmaker Vincenzo Cavallo and Black Rhino VR.

Afterwards, I attended Zahabu Sundowner, ate at a Westy kibandaski and did a fun DJ Raha practice of kapuka vs genge. Because that’s the season we’re in.

And before leaving the Mall at sunrise, I danced to Badman Bantou’s closing set at The Mist. Which included never-heard before remixes of Kenyan classics like Msenangu from the coast. A prelude of his performance this Friday at Moonshine (more on that below)

On Saturday, I slept all day - as we all should. And at night, I stepped out to Thika Town to celebrate my cousin’s 18th birthday at the most commercial club you can ever visit. You know, the ones with endless tables and chairs and no central dance floor?

Everyone at the VIP section was celebrating a birthday, from all the cakes and displays I saw. At least they played Kenyan music, from your Amanis to your Watendawilis. But by 2am I couldn’t bare it anymore so I went home.

Sunday was at least a piece of my cake. The finale of Dance Life Festival 2026 at Kenya National Theatre was a proper treat with Rwandese and Tanzanian contemporary dancers, fiery Burundian drummers, and Liboi playing 3 African instruments: kalimba, mbira and lititi. That’s the baby of a litungu and nyatiti btw.

But the most striking performance was Melting Ice from Kenya which was so accessible it had voice overs to explain every section for those who couldn’t see. And among the dancers were a visually impaired person, an amputee and a paraplegic. If they can dance despite their disabilities, who are we not to?

And after resting again on Moonday, we were back on the streets on Tuesday. Not for SabaSaba demos but to celebrate World Kiswahili Day aka Siku ya Lugha ya Kiswahili Duniani.

How? By launching Mwalimu Mutisya wa Kioko’s poetry anthology book Usaliti wa Jasho la Alosto.

As the MC aka msimamizi wa sherehe (hehe), I led a breathing exercise and welcomed performances by Mwalimu Mwendwa’s children, Indian-Canadian poet Sunita Sararaj, and spoken word artist Dorphanage + Tanzanian musician Vitali Maembe. They sang and spoke about mother tongues, panAfricanism and nyama nyama nyama.

A panel discussion with writers Wangari, Mutisya and Oyamo opened conversations on the future of Swahili (mustakabali wa Kiswahili). Mwalimu Mutisya then read two poems from his anthology and we launched the book with 5 ululations - Kikuyu style. And then ended the night listening to taarab, eating Swahili snacks and cake. 

The biggest takeaway from this event was this: language is dynamic and so Swahili is allowed to evolve beyond the old Swahili sanifu we learnt in school. If matatu has been added into the kamusi, I would like to propose another sheng word: mwecheche!

OPPORTUNITIES OF THE MONTH

Are you ready to fly

• Enrol in 9-month paid fellowship in London for early career journalists - 10th July

• Get funded to research and publish a longform nonfiction article - 12th July

• Join this music residency in Europe for artists and researchers working with  sound, music, and technology - 31st July

• Submit your short film to Doha Film Festival and get screened internationally - 1st August 

• Win a $10,000 grant to throw an electronic music party wherever you want - 9th August

EVENTS OF THE WEEK

History of Taarab Music in East Africa at Alliance Francaise

If you didn’t celebrate World Kiswahili Language Day , here’s your chance to. Postponed from Tuesday to Thursday, Alliance Francaise is hosting a lecture and concert on Taarab Music, an authentic music style from the East African coast aka mwambao wa Afrika Mashariki. Hehe, I’ll be doing a lot of this from now on.

We’ll immerse ourselves in beautiful taarab melodies and see those instruments live with Mbarak Ali Haji and Lelele Africa on stage. Maybe even have a conversation on the future of Taarab = TaaRnB 😏

Moonshine Nairobi at The Mist

As part of their global tour, Montreal-based Moonshine has finally landed in Nairobi for the third time. In case you’re wondering, Moonshine is a post-border multidisciplinary collective creating lunar-aligned events on African and Afrodiasporic club culture. 

This year’s edition features Canadian DJs Pierre Kwenders and San Farafina, Congolese DJ P2N, and local heroes Sissmiong, Getty DJ, Coco Em, Badman Bantou and Sukuma Wiki (yes, that’s an artist name). Expect Afro-electronic sounds, amapiano, house, Congolese rhythms, global bass, riddims and even Gengetone (my new favourite). So come ready to dance with brothers and sisters from around the world this Furahiday 💃🏾

Retracing Kenya's Songs of Protest at Alliance Francaise

And speaking of pan Africanism, have you heard of Retracing Kenyan Songs of Protest? On Moonday we’ll watch this Kenyan documentary by Ketebul Music that celebrates the 'protest' music from 1963 – 2013 and the brave musicians behind it. 

Following this free screening will be a panel discussion on GenZ and politics featuring Ketebul founder Tabu Osusa, artivists Neema, Njuki and Mwongela Kamencu aka Monaja. We'll talk about the importance of artivism in civic education and social accountability. And experience it in action through another conscious performance from Vitali and Dorphanage ✊🏾

When you find out what this Mercury Retrograde means, hit reply and let me know, okay? We need to illuminate each other through these dark times. And I’ll teach you Swahili in return 🙂

Until next time
Stay high on music
Furaha