News | Radio 254

New Music on the Radar June 21 (Buruklyn Boyz, Jovial & Otile Brown, Toxic Lyrilali and Gwaash)

Welcome to the June 20 edition of New Music on the Radar, where we track the pulse of Kenya’s evolving soundscape. This week’s roundup offers a diverse sonic buffet — from the sharpened symbolism of Buruklyn Boyz’s Machete, to the heartfelt vows exchanged in Jovial and Otile Brown’s wedding anthem I Got You. Toxic Lyrikali rides a Jamaican riddim into Nairobi’s lived reality on Backbencher, while Gwaash teams up with […]

June 20, 2025 11

Article

Maandamano Season 2: Kenya’s Protests Against Police Brutality Intensify

Kenya is witnessing a resurgence of widespread protests, dubbed Maandamano Season 2, a powerful echo of the June 2024 anti-Finance Bill demonstrations. Sparked by the brutal death of 31-year-old teacher and blogger Albert Omondi Ojwang in police custody, these protests shifted focus from economic grievances to a searing demand for justice against police brutality. The organic movement returning to the streets was aptly captured by an X user going by […]

June 16, 2025 18

Article

New Music on the Radar – JUN 13(Njerae,Asum Garvey, Fadhilee Itulya,Malosh)

This week’s picks are for the real lovers—four songs that stretch genre lines while staying rooted in local narratives. From soul-stirring Afro-Indie reflections and raw Swahili rap confessions to playful coastal ballads and high-energy dancefloor anthems, the JUN 13 edition of New Music on the Radar celebrates both musical experimentation and emotional honesty. Whether it’s Njerae reaching across continents, Asum Garvey switching cadence, Fadhilee Itulya revisiting ancestral grooves, or Malosh […]

June 13, 2025 10

Article

King Kaka attends 2025 BET Awards

Someone recently asked me, how did King Kaka get to the BET Awards? And that is when I realized that the purpose of King Kaka’s trip to the US might have been informed by the fact that King Kaka had been invited to attend the BET Awards that was happening in June 2025. The 2025 and 25th BET Awards took place on June 9, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in […]

June 11, 2025 14

Article

U.S. Kenya Creative Economy Forum 2025: A Game-Changer for Kenyan Music

Last Thursday, Nairobi buzzed with creativity as the U.S.-Kenya Creative Economy Forum 2025 kicked off at the plush Emara Ole-Sereni hotel. Organized by the U.S. Embassy in Kenya and the American Chamber of Commerce Kenya (AmCham), this landmark event brought together over 300 industry heavyweights, policymakers, and artists to unlock the potential of Kenya’s creative sector. For Kenyan music lovers, the forum’s ripple effects could reshape the industry, with stars […]

June 11, 2025 43

Article

Keeping Up With The Discourse : Is the Kenya Police Service Devoid of Humanity?

The tragic death of Albert Ojwang, a 31-year-old teacher and social media influencer from Voi, has ignited a firestorm of grief, outrage, and questions across Kenya. On June 7, 2025, Ojwang was arrested at his family home in Kakot, Homa Bay, for allegedly posting “defamatory” content about Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Eliud Lagat on X. Less than 24 hours later, he was dead in a cell at Nairobi’s […]

June 9, 2025 19

Article

New Music on the Radar JUN 6 ( Matata, TheLuchi, Willy Paul, An21 KE)

Welcome dear readers to the first weekly music round up of June 2025.We feature a punchy raw rap single from An21 KE and Karis from the Recipe EP that debuted earlier this week on radio 254 exclusively. Two Alternative or (Odi Pop if you love genre names so much) have released songs with almost similar titles, Tiki Tako by Matata and Tikitaka by TheLuchi, what are the odds of that? […]

June 6, 2025 40

Article

Keeping Up with the Discourse: A New IEBC, Old Challenges, and a Restless Youth

Kenya stands at a pivotal moment in its democratic journey with the National Assembly’s approval of Erastus Edung Ethekon as the new Chairperson of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on June 4, 2025, alongside six commissioners. This long-overdue reconstitution aims to restore a crippled institution tasked with safeguarding the nation’s electoral integrity. Yet, the shadow of history looms large—decades of politicized commissions, electoral malpractices, and a rising tide […]

June 5, 2025 5

Featured

We Do Not Have a Kenyan Music Industry At least Not Yet

We are willing to take an unpopular stance by boldy stating that there is no such thing as a Kenyan music industry. There are several efforts by different groups and individuals seeking to build and establish a Kenyan music industry, but we are just not there yet. Luckily, our generation is one of the most informed and likely to be the generation that provides a solution. As far as music […]

June 4, 2025 7

Article

Asum Garvey Takes Centre Stage in Sol Generation’s Publishing Revolution

Sol Generation, the artist-first label founded by Afro-pop giants Sauti Sol, has entered a new phase—one that places publishing at the core of its business model. This pivot signals a deeper commitment to protecting artistry and narrative ownership, and no one embodies this shift more completely than their latest—and most talked-about—signing: Asum Garvey. Asum Garvey’s journey to Sol Generation is a masterclass in independent momentum. From his early days with […]

June 3, 2025 13