When the current British High Commissioner met Kenyan creatives on March 2nd early this year, it seemed a little out of place because of her position. Jane Marriot seemed way too important to be meeting influencers and other Kenyan artists. The move was not strange because the Commission has been involved in Kenyan art since way before and has been one of the stand outs when it came to supporting Kenyan Hip Hop.
According to CTA, an interview done by the legendary Budha Blaze, the British High Commission was looking to support Hip Hop when he was still working as a professional artists manager. Blaze revealed that the Commission had a huge contribution to the genre.
“I handed in my CV, they looked at what I had done and chose me as one of the guys they wanted to work with,” Blaze mentioned. He said that at that time the British Council came up with a project called the Creative Industries. Blaze mentioned that they wanted to see how they could engage with the creatives.
“They put together me, Monky, Mwafreeka. There were underground artists that were working for the benefit of Kenyan Hip Hop industry,” he continued.
Blaze noted that the Council was impressed with the project they had started by the name WAPI which stood for Words and Pictures. He talked about how the Hip Hop industry started getting all the attention with the likes of Ukoo Flani rulling the airwaves and Kalamashaka thriving.
The Kenyan underground Hip Hop became way too big as most clubs in Nairobi started playing the music leading to Blaze deciding to come up with an idea to have all these cyphers, rap battles and performances in one space.
“People went to Carnivore to see Nameless so why don’t we create our own vibe to become big as those guys, because people had turned a blind eye to Hip Hop,” Blaze said. He asserted that people in the Hip Hop community looked at Kapuka with a sneer and did not want to be associated with the genre that was getting so many Kenyan artists shows and turning them into stars.
“Kleptomaniaxx grew from the beef that was between Kapuka and Hip Hop. If you look at Nyashinski, who is one of the best artists in Kenya, he grew so much from the beef,” Blaze commented.
This goes to show that behind the wheels, the British Council had a hand in trying to create a space for Kenyan music especially Hip Hop. They built the momentum that led to the birth of acts such as Octopizzo who was under DJ Pinye’s management.
Khaligraph Jones and King Kaka also came up through WAPI which was pushed by the the British High Council.
Nice