Mvroe

Mvroe is part of the East African Wave, a Kenyan art and music collective that brings together Ukweli, Jinku and NV Funk among others. As part of the group, Mvroe has been keen on developing a distinct East African sound. He started DJ’ing in 2012, working with subgenres of music including afrohouse, grime, trapsoul and triohop, with a variety of artists, most notably Joseph Kiwango.

‘Tell Me’ and ‘Brown Eyes Looking for You’ with Kiwango feature drone-like background sounds against echoing vocals. Mvroe’s more recent solo productions have a grim and gritty quality, reminiscent of trap music. ‘Gvrls’, which is the title track of his upcoming project, features highly synthesised and electric sounds, which are growing to be predominant features on his sets.

His early EP Finding Sound is a compilation of instrumentals that demonstrate Mvroe’s experiments with sounds and styles. TRVE received acclaim from fans and other artists including Muthoni the Drummer Queen, Just a Band and Octopizzo.

Among his favourite artists are Drake, Lil Wayne, and Wiz Khalifa

“because of their energies when they get on stage.”

Mvroe taps into this energy before his own shows.

“I meditate, hug my angels, play a song from (Drake’s) Thank Me Later and just relax until it’s time to work.”

For his EA sound, Mvroe says he is

“trying to get his Wayne on.”

Joseph Kiwango

Joseph Kiwango’s collaboration with Karun in ‘Need U the Most’ has been positively received in the music scene. The soulful duet, which is part of Karun’s Indigo EP, is masterful arrangement of that highlights Kiwango’s husky, breathy voice. He is featured on various tracks in the album and has become a prominent artist in productions by Kenya’s art and music collective, East African Wave.

Although it has been a while since Kiwango released a solo track, he is a promising performer and is adaptable to a variety of sounds. Among his early tracks is ‘Bow Down’, produced by Black and IBNCASH, which teases with a hip hop vibe. Compare this with ‘Don’t Trust ‘Em’, a deceptively simple song with repetitive lyrics and a mellow vocal delivery. Kiwango’s range can be attributed to his favourite artists, including Travis Scott, Erykah Badu, Kanye West and Cosmic Homies.

Based on his collaborations, Kiwango seems to have settled on a mellower vibe, what he calls

“turned up sensual vibes.”

His performance routine, which is definitely one to look forward to, involves lots of practice runs before shows, timing moves with lyrics and most interestingly, outfits.

“However, on stage, everything practiced becomes secondary to the energy of the crowd and day.” 

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