Defying almost all the rules in the book, a new breed of musicians is commanding the attention of Pulsers with their crazy acts. With their low-cost videos, the number of views they are attracting on YouTube are insane. They need neither your TV listing nor the radio show countdown.
Their level of wildness will have you question their X-rated lyrics and ratchet dance videos. The Internet is their playground. You would wonder how they have amassed such wild following.
Singing in hood groups mostly from Eastlands, the young blood has made dance moves like ‘Odi’ and ‘Kanyanga Lami’ a national dance code among the youth and have in the process formalised the street slang, the new sheng that comes with phrases like ‘lamba lolo’, ‘cheza na nare’, ‘wamundeges’ and ‘wamunyonges’.
In all the aforementioned videos, they feature girls twerking and grinding, which was mostly a reserve for select artistes but now it’s a feast for everyone. They also feature the signature dances moves.
So big is the demand for them that clubs are playing their songs on heavy rotation, no one seems to resist this dance moves. From Eastlands to Lavington, we are jamming to their beat.
Ethic entertainment
The poorly-shot and directed Lamba Lolo track is what thrust them into the limelight and soon everybody was singing along to the anthem. Nearing one year since its release, the song has garnered 3.3 million views.
Seeking to tap into their growing fame, Kansoul came on board and they did New Position, which now stands at 3.1 million views. Ethic have gone ahead to release Saba and Instagram, which both have one and 1.2 million views respectively.
The members were individual artiste when they did Lamba Lolo, but after the success of the song they came together to form the group. Their songs have featured prominently in Dallas Mavericks home games courtesy of DJ Poison Ivy.
Ochungulo Family
When Nairobi MCA’s sought to eject county speaker Beatrice Elachi, she is said to have used pepper spray on them as one MCA would narrate to the media.
The MCA used the word ‘Krimino’ (criminal) to describe the act, which Ochungulo family tapped into and had Krimino, a follow-up to their first song from Bora Uhai. The group has then released Thutha, Na Iwake and its remix.
The songs are doing well online with the least garnering over 300,000 views and have bagged them notices if their current appearances in events are anything to go by. Na Iwake has been played by BBC 1Xtra in the UK.
Rico Gang
Their first song Dance It Up got a mere 19,000 views. This marked their entrance into a new front for them as they sought to break into the industry. Their second song F**k Boy has over 700,000 views.
The sudden rise in the number of views was a clique of followers they were creating for themselves and now almost everyone was talking about the group.
In their new song
Boondocks Gang
Following in the footsteps of Ethic, this group has so far released songs, with the least garnering 17,000 views. Their lyrics are all about ‘weed’, parties and sex.
The trio comprises of Exray, Maddox and Furnace who believe they are original from the rest as they actually speak the reality of the ghetto side.
Just as their name suggests “Boondocks means ghetto or hood and we are a unique anthem as we are trying to beat all whack MCs out there,” says Exray.
The group is dedicated to dropping new singles working together with the likes of Ochungulo, Gwass and other artistes and their fans should sit back and relax as they drop new hits. “Rieng was our biggest jobs to date, which garnered more than 350,000 views but more is coming,” Exray adds.
Psycho (Team Kata Tenje)
This group, comprising of Francis Juma-the manager,
Representing Kangemi 23 as their hood, the dancehall, Afro musicians grew up together and later met at Joseph Hill’s house where they played instrumentals and, as they put it, the vibe just flew and that is how they came up with their first song Kata Tenje although they have 6 more songs.
“We think at the moment Ethic are our biggest competitors because they copy our music. If you listen to our Kata Tenje well and listen to Ethics’ Instagram and Pandana you can clearly feel our original touch. They basically copy our vibe,” says Frank, the group’s manager.