Kenyan Hip Hop has gone through multiple changes ever since the beginning of rap back in the 80s. The country has seen artists come and go. Hip Hop has been revolutionized so many times but has always maintained that ability to create awareness while still entertaining.
The birth of Shrap/Trap and mumble rap ruled our Kenyan airwaves between 2015 and 2019 before the Gengetone era took over. Mumble rap was extremely popular and it led to the birth of talents such as AD Family, Tunji, TNT and Jovvie Jov. Most urban stations in the country supported this genre as the World witnessed the overwhelming mumble rappers that kept coming up.
After Covid, everything went back to normal. The genre disappeared and Gengetone took over, albeit, for a while. The trash lyrics and the ghetto atmosphere it created did not sit well with most Kenyan music fans so it was discarded.
Drill took over in the Hip Hop circles as it became apparent that Kenyan rappers were also not being left behind in the Pop Smoke and Grime era. Buruklyn Boyz showed up. Wakadinali became stars from it.
TNT were all but underground this whole time. Until last week. The Hip Hop group dropped a project together. Twenty Eights, a member of the duo, the proceeded to drop a solo EP called Rich Before Rap. The project is good. It is. But the fanbase has shifted.
The duo really impressed in the Khali Kartel cypher 2 when they showed up but since their craft went viral they have struggled to gather more fans. Last week I commented on the same by saying that they played to a certain fanbase, which is not good.
Their fanbase fell off after Trap died. They have continued to have an influence in the urban centers which makes them invisible to the rest of the country. Mumble rap lost it’s touch and getting that fanbase back is next to impossible at the moment.
You can check out the Title track here
