I consider my commitment to the Kenyan art scene to be one that utilizes the power of entertainment, in providing education on different key issues affecting Kenyan population.
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More importantly my work utilizes music as a tool for community empowerment and is now noted worldwide. This is captured in Prof. Mwenda Ntaragwis book titled “East African Hiphop: Youth, culture and globolization”.
| I consider my commitment to the Kenyan art scene to be one that utilizes the power of entertainment, in providing education on different key issues affecting Kenyan population. Over the past two years I have conducted interviews at The Hampshire College addressing various topics on East African Hiphop, including the historical context, the role of popular culture as a mode of expression and tool for public education and the possibilities of using the avenue to address various community needs. More importantly my work utilizes music as a tool for community empowerment and is now noted worldwide. This is captured in Prof. Mwenda Ntaragwis book titled “East African Hiphop: Youth, culture and globolization”. In my tenure as an activist, i have engaged in a number of socially conscious projects, collaborating with institutions such as the Sarakasi Trust, French cultural centre, Goethe institute and the British council. More than being a poet and Hiphop artist I am the co-founder of Words and Pictures (WAPI) - an acclaimed youth arts project in Nairobi which serves as a monthly platform for upcoming artists (for which i was nominated for the British Council’s International Youth Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2006). I convened a project called ‘Hip Hop Parliament’ in the midst of the post-election violence 2007/2008 in Kenya, as a means to engage Nairobi’s youth in positive dialogue across ethnic lines. In addition I am the founder of Maisha Yetu – a non-profit arts organization for youth, and I also worked at Ghetto Radio 89.5fm as an editor for their online journal www.ghettoradio.nl . The performance spaces I have created highlight on Africa’s plight of Aids, Poverty, unemployment and war. Activities carried out in these forums mitigate on negative ethnicity and uses popular culture to enhance collaboration and involvement in community work amongst Kenya’s youth, as we look ahead to the 2012 Kenya elections. |
Books
Music