Various Artists - Kilio Cha Haki (A Cry for Justice)

(UP2U.TO Foundation/ UP2U001)

Nairobi Yetu (meaning 'Our Nairobi') is a collective of 38 rappers and musicians from various slums in Eastlands, a notorious ghetto in Nairobi, Kenya. The album 'Kilio Cha Haki' was made possible by Dutch organisation UpToYouToo which financed and set up a temporary makeshift studio in the slum area. For a month this became the local hangout for aspiring Kenyan rappers.

Starting with the plaintively sung intro (in English): "I was born in the street. I was born in the slum, raised in the slum. In the valley of Mathare." (Mathare is a slum area in the Eastlands). The reality of the slums really hits you here as the songs are about political corruption, AIDS, gun crime, poverty, abortions, rape and death. The Eastlands MCs impress with their brilliant flow which would put a lot of US rappers to shame, and musically this album is very varied with stand-out tracks being the jazzy Fanya Tena', 'Sisi' with its beatboxing and the dubby, Lingala-influenced 'Pesa Pesa'. More information can be found on the Kilio Cha Haki website .

Reviewer : JJC

Pesa Pesa (clip)