Who are the best rappers in Kenya? ..Over the last few years, the Kenyan Rap industry has experienced a rapid revolution from the ancient rap styles to modern ones blended with modern techniques of music production.
The history of Kenyan rap industry dates back to the 1990s when the industry was dominated by the likes of Jimmy Gathu to the times of E-Sir, Jua Cali, Nonini to the most recent players like Octopizzo and Khaligraph Jones. The list is endless.
Who are the best rappers in Kenya today.
Today, there are more than 20 rappers in Kenya producing the hip-hop genre of music that is mostly favorite for city dwellers especially the young people. The Kenyan Music industry is not that favorable though, and only few of these are doing well, making a good fortunes out of their music.
Top ten rappers in Kenya.
1. Khaligraph Jones.
‘Respect the OGs’ is the slogan for this seasoned and award-winning rapper who hails from Siaya county, Nyanza region of Kenya. He is populary known as Papa Jones, a name he likes mentioning at the beginning, in-between or at the end of his heated songs. He is arguably the best rapper in Kenya today.
The 31-Year-old father of 1 is not only a famous rapper in Kenya, but also in Africa and the rest of the world. Since he started his music career, he has released a number of hit songs that have catapulted his name to the international levels. He has received several nominations and won several awards in the music industry across the globe.
In 2018, he won the Best Rap of the Year award at the fifth annual Africa Muzik Magazine Awards (Afrimma) held at house of blues in Dalla Texas. He was also named the best Hip Hop act at the Soundcity MVP Awards held at Lagos, Nigeria in January 2020.
In 2020, he became the first Kenyan to be nominated to the BET Hip Hop awards under best international flow category. However, he lost the award to United Kingdom’s Stormzy.
Some of his hit songs include Yego, Best Rapper in Nigeria, Wavy, Hao ft Masauti, Khali Cartel, Tuma Kitu and Ni Kubaya. He has worked on several collaborations with other artists from Kenya, East Africa and Africa.
The ‘Yes Bana’ hit maker is married to his wife Georgina Muteti with whom they have one kid. He has an estimated net worth of 40 million dollars.
Currently, he continues to work on several projects while striking collaborations with upcoming artists as a way of promoting them, and seems to be doing good at it.
2. Octopizzo.
Though Many People seem to dislike him and his music, Octo’s taste and style of music is saucy and classy, and one who knows real meaning of Hip Hop Music cannot resist listening to his music. The rapper has released a number of tracks that have rocked the Kenyan music and entertainment industry with hype. He is also an actor.
Apart from his music career, Octopizzo is a philanthropist and a youth activist based in Kibra. He has founded an organisation by the name Octopizzo Foundation which is aimed at helping the needy in the society through partnerships with external donors.
He is also a founder of a refugee program known as ‘Artist for Refugee’ along with UNHCR and an awareness agent against violence.
Some of his hit songs include Noma Ni, Young Puffy, Ivi Ivo, Tergat Gang, could be us and Wakiritho ft Sailors. He has worked on collaborations with a few artists from Kenya but from the look of things, Collabos are never his cup of tea.
The rapper has won several freestyle awards and received nominations for international awards. In 2021, he became the first rapper in Kenya to make it to the Grammy Awards consideration list.
Octopizzo is married to his Mzungu wife with whom they have three kids; Zara, Stacy and Fredy. N