Nairobi Music

Exiting your car on the inside lane is never good. But when our taxi is rear-ended amid the mayhem of Nairobi’s Waiyaki Way, we get asked to leave, putting slow but heavy traffic and few road markings between us and the curb. “Westlands Mall is just down there,” the wheelman points as we make an uncoordinated dash for it. The Kenyan capital is a stifling 30°C today, and most foreigners who arrived last night are en route to safari, far from this chaotic carriageway. Instead, DJ Mag’s destination is one of the oldest shopping centres in town, where key players from the local electronic music scene and visiting guests are gathered for East Africa’s first symposium on sound technology. Dubbed Kilele, it spans a week, with the mall’s cool basement hosting daytime sessions. A combination of open-minded management and empty units has nurtured a creative cluster down here — studios, a venue, more. Lunchtimes and sunsets move to the rooftop car park, where DJs serve drum & bass, refined grooves, hip-hop, and ambient. Attendees get acquainted over cold Tusker lager, stewed meats, veggies, rice, and views across a city of 4.4 million, riding between floors in elevators soundtracked by local coding artists, BYTE Collective, or the aptly-titled field recordings, Sounds of Nairobi. Both remind us that rhythms are everywhere in town. Nights take different forms. London’s Houseology boss Funk Butcher spins soulful but solid beats at outdoor BBQ spot Moov. There’s a mind-melting 45-minute A/V show by Kenya-based Ugandan Sharon Onyango-Obbo in the mall's pitch-black Slaughterhouse space, and Philip Charo’s band Khonjo Kolio perform a condensed version of zaire — a hypnotic, immersive coastal dance he co-created; concerts usually last well over six hours.

Martin Guttridge-Hewitt

https://djmag.com/features/rewiring-nairobi-new-era-electronic-music-kenyas-capital