King Kerby: Kenyan Sound has Shifted (KSHS)
I first connected with Nairobi based A&R manager and creative Philip Koth back in 2021. He introduced me to interview Buruklyn Boyz, the first Drillers rapping in Swahili. They were also the first artists on Spotify radar program in Africa, who featured on Boiler Room Nairobi and GRM daily as 1 of 7 of the ‘hardest Drill tracks around the world’.
Since then the Kenyan sound has indeed shifted. Koth, who spoke with me at the University of Westminster earlier this year, told the MA music management students how “the alternative scene in Nairobi is always changing. Today it’s a different crop of creatives coming up in the way they think and how they express themselves” through music, art, fashion, technology, and activism.
King Kerby, a local pioneer of the Kenyan new wave, has a new EP titled “KSHS—the Kenyan sound has shifted” and he could not be a more perfect example. It’s not just his Alt-RNB sound that’s immaculate, it’s his energy and intention. As he tells Deeds Magazine, his sound, conscious lyrics, fashion and collaboration are all about “showing the world that we can have fun, turn up whole being healthy, mentally and emotionally intelligent plus spiritually in tune”.
kerby tells us about the EP:
“Lately, the KSHS project has been healing me. This project speaks to how i have been unlearning self limiting beliefs about money. Grew up in spaces where we internalized scarcity and adopted negative self talk. KSHS is me shining light as King Kerby, it represents how I am in real life. I am the kind of person to do work that is not for money”.
“Kenya $hillings, named with a triple entendre, represents more than just currency—it symbolises a mindset where sound becomes identity and a medium of exchange. This EP aims to shatter limiting beliefs about wealth, redefining what it means to be prosperous while celebrating us ,Kenyans with rich genre bending sonics”.
“A question to my fans and the audience: When’s the last time you consistently did something that isnt for money?”
“With KSHS, its personal and wholesome. I want this project to feel like home, like a new home after years of struggling to find home”.
