RAP, RAGGA AND REGGAE IN
NAIROBI

JAMES OLWANO LUKAYE

This is a rapper that we only briefly met and talked to. When he is performing in a club he uses the tracks of other rappers/musicians which he knows that he can rap fluently and accurately with.

He told us about the club scene:
There is also a showtime where people come and express their skills. You go and tell the DJ what kind of beats you want, by which musicians and then he remove the voice from the song and then you only receive the instrumental, you don't come with the instruments from home.

He also raps at different parties. The themes vary according to the context. It can be gangsta rap, religious rap - in English, Kikuyo, Luo or Swahili. He rapped at a seminar organised by the British Council on the sitiation of street children:
It was a kind of slow because most of them were local people, different ages. You can't perform something which is faster. You have to rap something slow so they can catch every word.

Here is a short rap sample that James Olwano Lukaye performed when we interviewed him.

TO
THE SCENE IN NAIROBI

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