Artist Profiles: Ayub Ogada
Job Seda, better known as Ayub Ogada was born in 1956 in Mombasa on the coast of Kenya. At the age of six he accompanied…
Artist Profiles: Eric Wainaina
Eric Wainaina grew up saying that he was going to be a doctor, but his love for music reigned supreme. Shocked at first by his…
Artist Profiles: Extra Golden
Extra Golden is an international collaboration between Kenyan and American musicians. Americans Ian Eagleson and Alex Minoff were formerly of the band Golden; Kenyans are…
Artist Profiles: Samba Mapangala
Samba Mapangala was born Congolese, on the banks of the Congo River, in Matadi, the busy port city 100 miles up from the river’s mouth…
Artist Profiles: Jabali Afrika
Jabali Afrika is a Kenyan band with a unique mixture of African rhythms. This is a truly multi-faceted band whose members are not only adept…
Artist Profiles: Kenge Kenge
Kenge Kenge breath new life into Kenya’s Luo musical roots, continuing its evolution, from the hand-made instruments of the past, through the popular guitar-based benga,…
Artist Profiles: Suzzana Owiyo
Suzzana was born in Kasaye of Nyakach Division in Nyando District, near the lake city of Kisumu. As a young girl, Suzzana was blessed with…
Artist Profiles: Zein L’Abdin
Zein L’Abdin, from Mombasa, was one of the pivotal figures of the Mombasa taarab scene. He was born on the Island of Lamu where he…
Artist Profiles: Issam Rafea
Born in Kuwait on 1971, Issam has studied in Kuwait and Syria at the High Institute of Music in Damascus as a student of Fayez…
Artist Profiles: Bakyt Chytyrbaev
Kyrgyz musician Bakyt Chytyrbaev came across the kyl-kyjak in his early 20s. While traveling in neighboring Tajikistan he saw it in the hands of a…