Kenya is a country where stress hits you from all corners. There is rarely any peace; whether it’s a mubaba stealing your sidechick by offering her a Saudi Arabia type of contract, prices surging upwards like milk in an unmonitored sufuria, or your unsubmissive wife throwing tantrums like she is a Maths teacher and you’ve just scored 12%. By the way, kwani kurudi home at 4 in the morning ni kitu ya kukasirikia mtu?
Anyway, given all the stress, deejays have emerged as the real source of therapy. Now more than ever, there are tons of clubs, and tons of YouTube mix channels, resulting in tons of mixmasters who all do a good job. But which ones have really towered above the rest? Which ones can lift you up and down or simply give you proper entertainment when you want to enjoy yourself?
-
Grauchi
For the past few years, Grauchi has effortlessly guided both clubbers and the “sikunywangi pombe” gang through marathon sets packed with hit after hit. Every Saturday morning, the hands of Grauchi The Great go on to manufacture a fresh musical concoction, courtesy of a segment called ‘The Wake Up Call.” These mixes — which are now nearing the 200 mark — have all stood the test of time. We should also not forget that “The Lockdown Sessions” has grown to be one of the most popular deejay platforms on YouTube and it’s Grauchi that made it popular. Almost every major Kenyan deejay can now be found it.
Away from YouTube, Grauchi has remained a Godzilla inside clubs. He hypes up walevi every few minutes and even makes a point to dance with them from time to time. It’s no surprise that every lounge scrambles to have him on their prime spots of Friday and Sunday nights. My former friend Sam (who no longer talks to me because girls love me more than him) once got furious after a girl he had gone drinking with refused to leave the deejay area where Grauchi was doing his thing. It was pure drama. Too bad clubs don’t sell popcorns. Anyway, kudos to Grauchi too for those creative prints on his t-shirts. My favorite one is “Tumerudiana na hatutaki advice yenu.”
-
Dj Xclusive
I once learned that a yellow-yellow Mwende that I was hitting on was the same yellow-yellow Mwende that DJ Xclusive was hitting on, so I aborted mission out of fear. I know that if he hits me with a Zidane-like header on the chest, I’ll forever be coughing the way Harmonize does at the beginning of each song. That guy has big-everything. Big hands, big head, big feet. Most importantly, he has massive talent. He never shows signs of fatigue on the decks, not matter how long he has been going. Even better is the fact that he hypes himself up.
Today, many deejays rely on hypemen to make their scratch sessions interesting, but Xclusive is ever glad to commentate on his own mixes, and in a much more inventive mnner than any other deejay that does the same thing. This might be due to the fact that he is also a radio presenter at NRG. The artistry is truly remarkable. Who else can read traffic updates and still curate a perfect playlist for both the airwaves and the nightspots? If it wasn’t for Grauchi’s luminosity, Xclusive would easily take top spot.
-
Joe Mfalme
Joe Mfalme has the star power. I once saw a video of women seriously harassing him inside a club. One even had him on a submission lock, you would think it was the UFC. She was like, “Mfalme unaenda na mimi home or else…” Or else what, lady? Who will fight for the boy child in this country? We need to be defended. If it was men doing the same thing to a female deejay, there would be a feminist maandamano that would rival Baba’s greatest hits. Anyway, who said us men mind being harrassed? Harass us please. I’m sure Joe Mfalme didn’t mind. Only his wife did.
Anyway, Mfalme ranks high on this life because he is the most consistent one out of the new school deejays. Many deejays have come and gone but the former Capital mixmaster has kept it going for over 10 years. He is like what Eric Omondi is to comedy. He even survived an attempt to cancel him after the whole debacle with Shaffie Weru. You have to stan that because a lot of people always struggle to remain relevant. Good thing is that he seems unlikely to stop any time soon. Keep it going, Joe.
-
Gibbz Tha Daqchild
Gibbz Tha Daqchild, aka, The King of Good Times, should change his name to Gibbz Tha Dirty Child. Anyone who has seen him deejay live will agree. The mix master is very vulgar, constantly throwing in words like dinya and mboroh as he transitions from “Go Pato” to “Wotifai.” You might think he is commentating on a Johhny Sins porn video. But that’s part of the reason why he is so great. Gibbz has come a long way too, having sold mitumba and served as a resident deejay earlier in his career. By the way, if you are a resident deejay at any club, you need to get out of your comfort zone the same way Gibbz did. Slavery sucks. You deserve better for your talents. But if you don’t have any talent, stay there. Jobs are hard to find.
Additionally, Gibbz is one of the few deejays that can handle all genres without struggling. He perfectly represents the Kenyan culture too. I’ve seen him play a Luhya song, loop in an Ohangla beat somewhere before expertly switching to a Kamba tune, and then journeying all the way to a Madillu hit. And he makes all these tunes interesting by dancing to them and cracking jokes while at it.
-
Dj Perez
Dj Perez and I were in the same boarding primary school and from early on, I could tell he had gifted hands like Ben Carson. Whenever there was a sudden blackout, he would spin the butt cheeks of several unsuspecting girls in quick succession, then he pretended like nothing happened. No girl ever found out which curious male fingers were responsible, but it was Perez all along.
On a serious note, Dj Perez is quite the maestro and he never feels the need to gloat. Show me another Kenyan deejay with 480,000 subscribers on YouTube like him. I’ll wait. Even Grauchi and G-Money’s “The Good Company KE” doesn’t have such numerical advantages and neither does Joe Mfalme. Numbers don’t lie.
-
Dj Shinski
Dj Shinski is yet another mixmaster that can really lift up your mood on YouTube when you are at home stressed, remembering how Njeri drank all your Tanqueray at The Loft and went away with Dan instead of you. Whether it’s Afrobeat, Dancehall, or Amapiano, it doesn’t really matter. Shinski will shuffle them all in a very satisfactory manner. You never get to see him around much because he spends most of his time in the US.
While many other Kenyan deejays still yearn to go international. Shinski has been there and done that. Over the course of his career, the spinmaster has gone on to perform in countries such as France, UK, Canada, Belgium, Kenya, Antigua, and Jamaica, among others. Besides that, he used to be an engineer, so he actually has the brains to go along with the adroitness.
-
Kym Nickdee
You have to respect Kym’s hustle. He became popular years ago when his mixes spread from one matatu to the other, and from one laptop to the next, as quickly at STIs spread in Nairobi nowadays. Since then, he hasn’t slowed down. Kym is one of the few deejays that never misses a gig.
You can always tell how good someone is at their craft from how well they are able to pass the skills onto others. As the founder of a deejaying school, Kym has proven that he knows what he is doing. And unlike other entertainers that live fake lives, Kym’s evidence of success is all there for everyone to see. He drives a cool Benz, lives in a great neighborhood and doesn’t shout about his wealth from the rooftops like many others do.
-
Crème de La Crème
I love a great redemption story. A few years ago, Crème had given up to the point where he had relocated to his rural home. This was the same time he also had issues with his wife. Life was tough, but he came back. Today, you’ll still find Crème grinding hard in clubs and providing the same kind of magic he did years ago.
Crème also never gets proper flowers for his contributions to the industry. At some point, Crème was Kenya’s Deejay Khaled. He went on to release a number of collaborations with Kenyan artists but stopped when the hype died down. He might not be making headlines as much as he used to, but Crème remains in the conversation, thanks to pure hard work and resilience.
-
Dj John
I’m not sure why Dj John is still mixing. Who knows? If he wants to be the Gianluigi Buffon of the deejaying world then he has every right to do so. The Homeboyz Radio co-owner can be found almost every weekend in Milan Lounge And he is still as good as he was when he used to headline that show called H2O on KTN close to 20 years ago.
John is arguably the Jay Z of the Kenyan deejaying world. He is one of the pioneers and still hasn’t fallen off. Given his achievements, he is a good person to go to when it comes to business advice. Any deejay that’s hoping to remain financially stable forever should look up to John.
-
Ruffest Dj Moh
This list would be incomplete without the Ruffest Dj Moh, who also happens to be the honcho at Moh Spice Entertainment. Like John, Moh also has great business acumen. His company has been around for a while and it’s still doing well.
Most importantly, Moh churns out better reggae mixes than any other deejay. He has surpassed Kris Darlin by a mile and he continues to be a major draw in all the popular clubs in Nairobi. Moh has helped erase the assumption that reggae is a genre associated it “sufferiation.” Thanks to him, everyone loves. Every couple of minutes, he’ll hit you with a tune that makes you go, “What’s the name of that?” or “It’s been long since I heard that tune. Reminds me of far.”