Amani is a swahili word that means peace and tranquility, the lull just before a storm. Amani was born Cecilia Wairimu.

She started singing, performing and participating in church talent searches at the tender age of six. While at primary school level, she composed songs and wrote poems. She even won some national competitions/contests in the early 90's.

Astar "The Light" Richard Njau, more affectionately known as Astar (“A” as in ABC, not “A” as in Apple”) is a born-again gospel artist who spreads the word of Christ through rap music and spoken word. “Astar”, as he describes it means “The Light That Leads To The Light".

He says, “Basically I aim to lead non believers to Christ. My purpose is to teach guys about what Christ did...

E-Sir was born Issah Mmari, in May 20th 1981 in California, Nairobi, Kenya. He went through primary school at St Ann's Junior Academy and later attended high school at Brook-House Senior School. It was during high school that E-Sir started rhyming and writing poetry initially for fun.

In 1998 E-Sir decided to take his music seriously and achieve his lifelong dream, of owning a recording studio. For two years he shopped around for the right producer without much success.

Eric Wainaina grew up in Kenya where he was influenced musically by international artists such as DRC’s Papa Wemba, Senegal’s Youssou N'Dour, Lokua Kanza and Paul Simon.

He started performing with Five Alive, an a cappella group that performed in churches, functions and clubs in Kenya. They produced a CD and even went on to tour Europe the same year. The group disbanded in 1997, and Eric enrolled in the world reknowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA.

Esther Wahome has been described as the voice of gospel music in Kenya. Her father was also a musician.
She is famous for her Kuna Dawa song (a Swahili adaptation of the Kikuyu song Ni kuri dawa) which redefined crossover appeal and became a hit in Kenyan nite clubs. The song also garnered her a Kora award.
Other hits include Furahia, Mapenzi Yake, Milele Milele and Asali.

Gidigidi Majimaji is a hip hop duo from Kenya. It is made up of Joseph Ogidi Oyoo(Gidigidi) and Julius Owino (Majimaji). Their music is a fusion of hip hop/rap and African music. They mostly sing and rap in their native language called Luo.
The group came into being 4 years ago after they were spotted by Ted Josiah, a Kenyan producer. Prior to this, they had won several talent search contests in Nairobi. They stood out as unique artistes and their penchant for rapping in Luo (as opposed to Swahili and Sheng) united them.

Their first single, Ting badi malo, became an international hit.

Jamnazi Africa is an Afro-fusion group/band from Kenya. The group is led by Michael Otieno, who is musically also known as Owilo. JaMnazi means 'like a coconut' in the Giriama language. They wanted to use their talents for many purposes - just like a coconut. The band includes him (lead vocalist), Milton Ongoro (singer/guitarist), Peter Daliti (lead solo guitarist), George Okoth (bass leader), John Losa (drummer), Jerlous Kataliko, Yusuf Onari (drummer), Alpha Nyuki (keyboard) and Julius Ochuondo (solo guitarist).

Their music is Afro-fusion, and can be classified as Benga music.

Jua Cali is a genge/kapuka musician from Kenya. He was born Paul Nunda on the 12th of September 1979. The name Jua Cali comes from an estate in Nairobi called California. It is also the inspiration behind Calif Records. Jua Kali itself is also a Swahili term meaning informal sector.

He started rapping when he was in Jamhuri high school. He got more actively involved in music in 1998 after finishing school. He formed Calif Records with his good friend and producer Clemo in 2000 and the label has turned out to be one of the best in Kenya.

The story of Just a Band begins on February 7th, 2003. Dan had just returned to Kenya from three years of travelling with a Touareg caravan led by Hazim Barghai, the 17th Mendicant Designate of Nubia (now deceased). He had long resolved to join the Brotherhood of the Nubia, and one day become a Designate, but a mishap during a routine exorcism (the massive crater thus formed remains a tourist site) left him hankering for peace and normalcy.

Born and raised in Kenya, Kambua is a budding artist in the world of afro-fused music. Kambua’s love for music was evident from a tender age and has developed into a career over the years. Kambua has worked as an actress for Heartstrings Ensemble in Kenya. She was also the voice for commercials such as Delmonte and Sunlight. Before pursuing a solo career, Kambua worked as a background vocalist for various artists. In the summer of 2007 Kambua completed a performance program at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA.

Kasa was born in Kenya.
She's a female singer based in the UK.

Her mixtape, Juu- Africa rising came out in July 2008.

Some of her songs include Uko wapi, In the zone, Hair down, Play, Shida ni nini, Bega, Weh ni nani, Touch touch, Jah Bless, Badilika, etc

Kleptomaniacs is a Kenyan genge group. Kleptomaniacs means habitual thieves. It is made up of Nyashinski (Nyamari Ongegu), Munkiri (Robert Manyasa), Depicto / D.E.P. (Collins Majale).

The members were all in high school at Nairobi School where they composed songs and took part in various competitions and shows.

They became the first ever Kenyan artistes to release a song while still in school and were produced by the famous Ogopa DJs. Their debut single was called 'Freak It' and it was released in 2002.

Sharon Wangwe was a rapper/singer/musician from Kenya. She was known as the First Lady of ‘Calif Angels’. She was a ‘ghetto hip-hopper’.

Sharon lost her father at 17. Her father Wangwe was a former member of Moreno Batamba’s Orchestra Moja One Band. Soon after, Sharon decided to be composer and a singer so as to keep her father’s legacy. She started rapping in 1998 when she was in her first year at Luuya Girls’ School in Bungoma.

•Vicky Longomba member of T P OK Jazz of Franco Luambo Makiadi.
• Father: Lovy Longomba key member of 80s hit band Super Mazembe
• Uncle: France based Awilo Longomba, master of popular technosoukouss
• Sister: Fili, dancer and choreographer for lingala music maestro Papa Wemba The twins….. Something you didn’t know….
• Lovi’s musical interests include playing drums, keyboards, and music production. He has also taken a keen interest on musical animation.

Mr. Lenny was born Lenson Njuki. His music features various styles like afro pop,afro hip hop, lingala, zouk, salsa, etc.

He is the son of Dr Leonard who sang the famous Nyayo Philosophy song.
He hopped from one group to the other from 1999-2002 until he released his first single, Cash Money, which became a big hit with Ogopa Deejays. He alsohooked up with Indiginas and he featured in his song M.O.U which also was a big hit. Another big hit he featured on was Juju by Nameless.

He is best known for his collaboration with big Kenyan artistes.

David Mathenge, a Kenyan musician is known as Nameless in musical circles. "There are two kinds of people in the world, those who have got names and those who are nameless." He does genge music which can also be classified as hip hop. He is a university graduate and architect.

Necessary Noize is a Kenyan hip hop and reggae group. It was originally made up of Nazizi Hirji aka First Lady, Kevin (Wyre) Waire aka Love Child, and Bamzigi. Bamzigi ans Nazizi are rappers while Wyre is a singer. Bamzigi left the group due to personal and label disputes. They also make dancehall, R&B and ragga tracks. They sing in both English and Swahili. They have won several awards, as a group and as solo artistes, making them one of the most successful East African group of musicians.

Necessary Noize was formed in October 2000.

2007 was a year full of projects for the ever bubbly and multi-talented Nikki. Work on her first album ‘Twisted Straight’ was finally completed and while this is her first album to ever be commercially released, the singer had earlier worked on a solo album that was completed but never released. The twelve track album featured the collabo with Nazizi ‘Sita Lia’ that was leaked to local media. The singer’s new thirteen track album features performances by Collo of the Kleptomaniacs, Wyre, and Gift, an artist signed up to Ja Rule’s record label, Murder Inc.

Pam Waithaka is a Kenyan R&B singer.

She was part of the group Sema, which won the Kenyan version of the Coca Cola Popstars in 2004. Other group members were Kevin Waweru and Sanaipei Tande. They released an album called Mwewe which had tracks like Ngoma, Fire in your kiss, Njoo, Furahi Day, Tu klub wasee, Njoo, Heaven, Love, Poa Sana, Sakalakata, Ni yeye, etc

In 2005, the group disbanded and Pam was ultimately blamed for the split. She was also accused of dating one of the group's managers (Homeboyz Entertainment).

Redsan, whose real name is Mohammed Swabri is one of Kenya's most popular artistes. He is known as East Africa's king of dancehall. He is known to do ragga and dancehall music.

Mohammed entered the music scene after winning the Star Search competition at Nairobi’s Carnivore in 1998. After doing some opening acts for Hardstone, he became one of the famous Ogopa Deejays' first artistes. He had joined up with Lucas Bikedo from Sing Sounds, who then formed Ogopa DJ’s.

Born in September 1986, Stella Mwangi aka STL realized her potential in music at the age of Six. Her interest in music resulted from racial discrimination she was subjected to following her family's move from Kenya to Norway in 1991. Music made her feel good about herself and at the age of eight she could relate to Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, NWA and Salt & Pepper . In 1998, she worked with an African Youth group known as "The Rise" where they produced an album called "Maroon" which was released in Norway 2002 and had among its tracks the single 'All about the Benjamin'.

Swahili Nation is made up of Andrew Muturi, Robert Muturi, Ken Kayongo, Charlie Todwong. They are known as the premier group to outdoor R&B music from East Africa. It was the brainchild of the Muturi brothers, Andrew and Robert, and the late Cool James.

Andrew and Cool James started off rapping together but it was not until Robert joined them that the group ‘Swahili Nation’ came into being. Cool James went solo in during the life of Swahili Nation.

Tattuu is made up of Angie 'Rabbo' Ndambuki, Debbie Asila and Angela 'Shinde' Mwandanda. The group was dubbed the Ogopalets after their producer, Ogopa Deejays. Tatuu is the Swahili word for 3 - three.

Debbie attended State House Primary school, Buru Buru secondary school and Daystar University. She is now a radio presenter and actor. Shinde, who was born in Washington DC, studied at Lavington Primary, State House secondary school and the Buru Buru Institute of Fine Arts (BIFA. She is now working in Public Relations.

Uyoga (formerly Them Mushrooms) is a reggae band from Kenya. Uyoga means 'magic mushrooms' and refers to a mystical species that grows wildly across the depths of Africa’s rain forests. They are seen as East Africa's premier band.

It was made up of Teddy Kalanda Harrison (retired), Billy Sarro Harrison, John Katana Harrison, Dennis Kalume Harrison (now deceased) and George Zirro Harrison who left the group for a solo career.

Valerie Kimani is a Kenyan musician whose music embraces styles like jazz, r&B, Afro-fusion, rumba, etc. She is seen as cross between Jill Scott and Joss Stone.

Valerie is a young, fresh, energetic and passionate musician. She became famous after emerging the winner of East Africa's reality show Project Fame in 2006.

She won a three-year recording contract with Gallo Records in South Africa.

Her debut album, Baiskeli, was released in 2007.

Rosemary Wahu Kagwi is an R&B artiste from Kenya.

While she was a student at Precious Blood Secondary School, in Riruta, she wrote her first song called 'Showers of Blessings' (with a friend) as a tribute to God for the national academic success that the school enjoyed.

Wawesh (Robert Wawero Kiboy) is a Kenyan artist, songwriter and producer. He is based in Sweden and has been representing African hip-hop in the Diaspora while maintaining a great popularity in Kenya and beyond. He is also known as Kiboy.

He debut single, Mjanja was very popular in Kenya and became a street anthem. His sophomore single, Wawero also was a huge hit in Kenya.

Wiwy (Florence Wambui) is a Kenyan dancehall/hip-hop musician. She is a recording and peforming artist from Nairobi, Kenya.

From Wiwy
I've been in the industry for a year and a half. My first single 'what would you do?' was produced by Tedd Josiah, both the song and video. It did pretty well and debuted at number 16 in the EA charts. 'Watch out' which I co-produced did equally well and has been nominated for Kisima awards this year.