Kenyan Afrofunk Musician KG Omulo Releases Ayah Ye! Moving Train

Singer-songwriter KG Omulo has a new album titled Ayah Ye! Moving Train, which is available today. KG Omulo performs in American clubs with calls for justice and his powerful Afrofunk. “I can be conscious and get people stirred up instead of bringing them down,” Omulo explains. “I make positive music that educates without judging. I want to create awareness and still make people dance.”

Omulo has deep musical roots. His family was very devout, although they were open to political discussions. His mother had conservative religious views, but still shared the Motown soul hits and the East and West African music classics of her youth with her son.

His family emigrated to the United States, living in Rhode Island and later in Florida. “I had to start from scratch,” he says. “I needed to find common ground, a cross-over point. I’m one of those people who can adapt to the immediate surroundings. I could have stuck to what I was doing so well back in Kenya, but that didn’t make sense in Florida.”

The result was a funk and rock-infused form of Afrobeat and Afropop that is visible in Ayah Ye! Moving Train. “I always think as I’m making music, ‘This doesn’t end here, even if this one situation doesn’t work, life goes on,’” Omulo reflects. “I want people to live, to love, to fight for what they believe in. To belong and to care about others. If you can reach that special place in your heart, you can achieve anything.”