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Tag: hip-hop

  • Hip-hop pioneer, Afrika Bambaataa dead at 68

    Hip-hop pioneer, Afrika Bambaataa dead at 68

    Afrika Bambaataa, one of the founding figures of hip-hop culture, has died at the age of 68, the Hip Hop Alliance has confirmed.

    In a statement, the organisation said Bambaataa helped shape a “global movement rooted in peace, unity, love, and having fun”, paying tribute to his role in the emergence of hip-hop as both a musical genre and a cultural force.

    Born Lance Taylor in the Bronx, Bambaataa grew up during the era of the black liberation movement. In 1973, he co-founded the Universal Zulu Nation, an international hip‑hop awareness group.

    In his later years, Bambaataa’s reputation was overshadowed by allegations of child sexual abuse and trafficking, which he denied.

    TMZ, which was first to report his death, said the artist died in Pennsylvania due to complications from cancer on Thursday.

    Bambaataa was born to Jamaican and Barbadian immigrant parents.

    As a teen, he became a member of the Black Spades gang, parlaying his leadership abilities to form the Universal Zulu Nation, which sought to channel youth culture away from violence and towards creativity.

    His 1982 hit ‘Planet Rock’ won him global recognition and is credited with shaping hip-hop in the 1980s.

    His vision for hip-hop transformed the Bronx borough into “the birthplace of a culture that now reaches every corner of the world”, said Reverend Dr Kurtis Blow Walker, the executive director of Hip Hop Alliance.

    Throughout the 1980s and beyond, he continued to collaborate widely, working with musicians including James Brown and John Lydon, and contributing to politically conscious projects such as the anti-apartheid song Sun City in 1985.

    Bambaataa led Universal Zulu Nation until 2016, stepping down after allegations of sexual abuse surfaced from the 1980s and 1990s.

    He denied the accusations in a statement, saying they “are baseless and are a cowardly attempt to tarnish my reputation and legacy in hip-hop at this time”.

    In 2025, the rapper lost a civil case in which he was accused of child sexual abuse and trafficking after failing to show up in court, The Guardian reported.

    Hip Hop Alliance acknowledged that the allegations complicated his musical legacy, which “has been the subject of serious conversations within our community”.

  • Rapper in court over terrorism charges

    Rapper in court over terrorism charges

    Hundreds of supporters of Irish rap band Kneecap protested outside a London court, as one of the band members appeared charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly supporting Hezbollah.

    Liam O’Hanna, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged in May, accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag during a London concert in November.

    He arrived at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London with other band members to cheers from a sea of supporters brandishing banners and chanting “Free Palestine” and “Free Mo Chara”.

    Wednesday’s hearing dealt with legal arguments, with the defence team seeking to have the charges thrown out on a legal technicality.

    The court adjourned the case until September 26 for a decision.

    Since the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah was banned in the UK in 2019, it has been an offence to show any support for it.

    In recent months, Kneecap has grabbed headlines for provocative statements denouncing the war in Gaza and against Israel.

    The hearing comes amid a growing UK controversy over government moves to prosecute those deemed to show support for banned organisations.

    More than 700 people have been arrested, mostly at demonstrations, since the Palestine Action group was outlawed in early July under the Terrorism Act 2000.

    The government ban on Palestine Action came into force days after it took responsibility for a break-in at an air force base in southern England that caused an estimated £7.0 million (KSh. 1.2B) of damage to two aircraft.

    The group said its activists were responding to Britain’s indirect military support for Israel during the war in Gaza.

    Supporting a proscribed group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

    Supporters of the Irish band protested outside the courthouse/Justin Tallis(AFP)

    Provocative

    There has been huge support for Kneecap and O’Hanna, Liam Og O hAnnaidh in Irish, from the band’s fans since his first court appearance in June.

    Mary Hobbs, 31, from Belfast told AFP on Wednesday: “I’m glad I could make it. I took a day off just to be here.”

    “The charges are ludicrous, ludicrous. The justice system is just broken when you have things like this happening.”

    Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the previous hearing that the case was “not about Mr O’Hanna’s support for the people of Palestine or his criticism of Israel”.

    “He is well within his rights to voice his opinions and his solidarity,” Bisgrove said.

    Instead, the prosecutor said, the case was about O’Hanna wearing and displaying “the flag of Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist organisation, while allegedly saying ‘Up Hamas, up Hezbollah’”.

    After Wednesday’s hearing, O’Hanna thanked the crowds outside the court for their support and urged everyone “to continue to speak about Palestine” and what is happening in the conflict with Israel.

    The raucous punk-rap group has denied the accusations and said the video that led to the charge was taken out of context.

    Daring provocateurs to their fans, dangerous extremists to their detractors, the group’s members rap in the Irish language as well as English.

    Last year, the group was catapulted to international fame by a semi-fictional film based on them that scooped multiple awards, including at the Sundance festival.

  • Toxic Lyrikali, Koshens tease “Backbencher” remix

    Toxic Lyrikali, Koshens tease “Backbencher” remix

    Jamaican dancehall artist, Garfield Delano Spence, popularly known as Konshens, has released a teaser of his collaborations with Kenyan lyrical powerhouse, Toxic Lyrikali.

    The teaser was released on Konshens’ social media pages and was later shared by Toxic Lyrikali.

    The buzz comes just weeks after the release of Toxic Lyrikali’s viral hit “Backbencher,” which has garnered over 2 million views on YouTube. The track is currently holding the No. 2 spot on Kenya’s top music trending charts, just behind Bien’s “All My Enemies Are Suffering.”

    Toxic Lyrikali, who first shot to fame with his song “Chinje”, released nine months ago, has become the face of a new wave of Kenyan hip-hop. Known for his gritty, authentic street rap that reflects the everyday struggles of life in Nairobi’s Eastlands, he continues to earn praise for his raw authenticity

    In a recent statement, the “Thugnificent” rapper criticised the culture of buying features and urged upcoming artists to focus on perfecting their art and to invest in high-quality production.

    The former footballer has said in the past that his main focus “right now” is music, which he distributes through his label and collective called Mboka Doba, meaning “money from music” in Sheng. He is also building a platform that supports local creatives, dancers, videographers, and artists.

    The two have yet to announce the release date for the remix.

  • Diddy trial: Kid Cudi tells court about his torched car

    Diddy trial: Kid Cudi tells court about his torched car

    US rapper Kid Cudi on Thursday described having his home broken into and his car set on fire amid music mogul Sean Combs’s rage over his one-time girlfriend, Casandra Ventura’s, relationship with the rapper.

    The highly anticipated testimony from the famous rapper Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, follows last week’s bombshell testimony in Manhattan federal court from Ventura, who said she was physically and psychologically abused for years by Combs.

    The once-powerful music industry figure is on trial for sex trafficking and racketeering.

    Mescudi described one day when Ventura called him, sounding “scared” and “nervous” as she told him that Combs had found out about their fling.

    Mescudi said he had thought Ventura and Combs weren’t together any longer when he started seeing her, but took her to the Sunset Marquee hotel for her safety.

    “I just wanted to put her somewhere she’d be off the radar,” testified Mescudi, who told jurors he knew that Combs abused Ventura.

    As the pair hid out, Mescudi said they received a call from Combs’s assistant Capricorn Clark, who said she had been forced to ride along to Mescudi’s home, where Combs had gone inside.

    Mescudi called Combs, who said, “I’m over here waiting for you.”

    When he arrived, he didn’t see Combs, but he did find his dog, which was usually allowed to roam free around the house, locked in a bathroom.

    Mescudi said his impulse was to fight Combs but instead he called the police.

    Shortly thereafter in January 2012, Mescudi said he received a call from his dog sitter who said the rapper’s car was on fire.

    Jurors were shown six photos of the mangled, ruined car that was found next to a Molotov cocktail.

    Asked by prosecutors how he reacted to the discovery, Mescudi, who took the stand in a black leather jacket and white tee, said simply “what the fuck.”

    Ventura previously testified that in his fury over the love triangle, Combs had threatened to blow up Mescudi’s vehicle.

    ‘Just so angry’

    Prosecutors say Combs was the kingpin of a criminal enterprise for decades, a ring that wielded its power including through arson, bribery and kidnapping.

    Combs, 55, is also on trial for sex trafficking; if he is found guilty of the alleged federal crimes, he faces an effective life prison sentence.

    Ventura told jurors that Combs — who she says coerced her into “freak-off” sex marathons with male prostitutes for years — flew into a violent rage after he learned of her romance with Mescudi, lunging at her with a wine corkscrew and threatening to make public sexually explicit footage of her.

    “He was just so angry,” she said during her four days on the stand. “He told me about videos that he had that he was going to release, and how he was going to hurt Scott and I.”

    Mescudi corroborated testimony from Ventura saying that when confronted about the scorched car, the powerful music mogul played dumb.

    “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mescudi said Combs told him.

    Asked by prosecutors what Mescudi took that to mean, the rapper replied: “That he was lying.”

  • Kneecap member charged with terrorism

    Kneecap member charged with terrorism

    A member of Irish rap group Kneecap has been charged with a terror offence for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a London concert, police said on Wednesday.

    Liam O’Hanna, 27, known by his stage name Mo Chara, is accused of showing support for the Lebanese militant group, who are proscribed by British authorities, during a performance on November 21.

    London’s Metropolitan Police said officers from its Counter Terrorism Command launched an investigation after a video of the event surfaced online in April.

    O’Hanna is accused of displaying a flag “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation” in contravention of the 2000 Terrorism Act.

    The rapper, from Belfast, is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18, police said.

    The group had been scheduled to perform at a festival in London on Friday.

    The charge follows growing scrutiny of Kneecap’s performances after footage circulated online showing provocative political statements made by the band on stage.

    One video appeared to show a band member shouting: “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah.”

    Those groups, in Gaza and in Lebanon, are banned as terror organisations in the UK and it is a crime to express support for them.

    Censorship debate

    The band, known for its confrontational style and Irish nationalist messaging, has denied supporting violence or banned groups.

    It said video footage had been “deliberately taken out of context”.

    The backlash led to the cancellation of several of the group’s shows, including in southwest England and Germany.

    The group’s songs include “Get Your Brits Out” and “Better Way To Live”.

    The controversy has sparked a wider debate about artistic expression and political censorship.

    The family of Conservative MP David Amess, who was fatally stabbed by an Islamic State group follower in 2021, called for an apology while the party leader Kemi Badenoch called for the band to be banned.

    In a statement in April, the band denied promoting extremist views and apologised to the families of Amess and Jo Cox, who was murdered in 2016 by a neo-Nazi sympathiser a week before the divisive Brexit referendum.

    “We do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah,” the group said.

    Nearly 40 musicians and groups, including Pulp, Paul Weller, Primal Scream and Massive Attack, have publicly backed Kneecap, accusing authorities of suppressing creative freedom.

    Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin had urged the band to clarify whether they supported the groups or not.

    An attack in Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

    Israel’s military response in Gaza has triggered a humanitarian crisis, with the territory’s health ministry on Tuesday putting the death toll at 53,655.

  • Rap trio, Kneecap, investigated by UK counter terrorism police

    Rap trio, Kneecap, investigated by UK counter terrorism police

    British counter terrorism police have launched an investigation into online videos of Irish rap group Kneecap after the band denied supporting Hamas and Hezbollah or inciting violence against UK politicians.

    The announcement came as nearly 40 other groups and artists, among them Pulp, Paul Weller and Primal Scream, rallied around the band in an escalating row about political messaging at its concerts.

    Other artists who have offered their support include The Pogues, Massive Attack, Dexys and Thin Lizzy.

    “As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom,” the group said in a joint statement.

    They added there had been a “clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform” the trio for their criticism of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, as well as of British colonialism in Ireland and beyond.

    Since the row erupted, Kneecap has had several concerts cancelled, including one in southwest England and three in Germany.

    According to the PA news agency, festivals in the Czech Republic and the Netherlands were also monitoring the situation.

    London’s Metropolitan Police said two videos had been “referred to the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit for assessment by specialist officers, who have determined there are grounds for further investigation into potential offences linked to both videos”.

    The investigation was “now being carried out by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command and inquiries remain ongoing at this time,” it added.

    Kneecap on Monday apologised to the families of murdered British politicians and denied supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.

    Call for ban

    The row began after police on Sunday said they were examining video footage.

    One video appeared to show a band member shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.

    Those groups, in Gaza and in Lebanon, are banned as terror organisations in the UK and it is a crime to express support for them.

    Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin had urged the band to clarify whether they supported the groups or not.

    Video also emerged of the Belfast rap trio at a 2023 gig, appearing to show one member saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”

    The family of Conservative MP David Amess, who was fatally stabbed by an Islamic State group follower in 2021, called for an apology from Kneecap, while the party leader Kemi Badenoch called for the band to be banned.

    Other politicians have urged organisers of the Glastonbury festival to drop them from this year’s line-up.

    In its denial issued late on Monday, Kneecap said video footage had been “deliberately taken out of context.

    “Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah,” it said, adding the band would never “seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever”.

    “To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt,” it said, also referring to Labour MP Jo Cox who was murdered in 2016 by a neo-Nazi sympathiser a week before the divisive Brexit referendum.

    Amess’s daughter Katie, however, welcomed the investigation by counter terrorism police.

    “Kneecap’s rhetoric is not only abhorrent but poses a direct threat to the safety and well-being of elected officials,” she said.

    The war in Gaza was caused by an attack in Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

    Israel’s military response in Gaza has caused a humanitarian crisis and killed at least 52,243 people, mainly civilians, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian territory’s health ministry.

  • Khaligraph Jones blows up chart with new album

    Khaligraph Jones blows up chart with new album

    Award-winning rapper Khaligraph Jones is celebrating his new album becoming one of the top albums in Kenya.

    The album, The Book of Jones, is currently at number 3 on the iTunes Kenyan chart alongside Playboi Carti, Partynextdoor and Drake, Ariana Grande and Lil Durk.

    Celebrating the album being in the top 10, on Sunday, Jones thanked his fans for the support and urged them to continue streaming.

    The rapper also shared a video of himself performing one song from the album for his family at his newly built mansion.

    “Had a chance to perform “Family” for the 1st time from the Book of Jones Album ft Timmy Blanco and it was a blessing. Keep on streaming the album and thank you for the Support.” Jones shared.

    The album, which was released on Friday, features a number of Kenyan artists including Nyashinski, Timmy Blanco, Silverstone Barz, Abbas Kubaff and Dyana Cods.

    The album also features the popular track, “Khali Cartel 5”, the sixth single from the album, released in March.

    The almost 12-minute track showcases a diverse lineup of East African rap talents, including Jakk Quill, Ruyonga, Fresh like Uhh and Mex Cortez.

    Veteran Kenyan rapper Abbas Kubaff, renowned for his influential role in shaping Kenya’s rap scene in the early 2000s, features on this track, bringing a nostalgic yet fresh energy to the cypher.

    “Khali Cartel” is a series of cyphers initiated six years ago, which Jones has said previously, has been instrumental in spotlighting emerging rap talents from East Africa, not just Kenya.

  • Abbas Kubaff features on Khali Cartel 5

    Abbas Kubaff features on Khali Cartel 5

    Kenyan hip-hop legend Abbas Kubaff has made a return to the spotlight by featuring in Khaligraph Jones’ latest cypher, “Khali Cartel 5.”

    The almost 12-minute track, released on Thursday, March 6, showcases a diverse lineup of East African rap talents, including Jakk Quill, Ruyonga, Fresh like Uhh, Dyana Cods, and Mex Cortez.

    Abbas Kubaff, renowned for his influential role in shaping Kenya’s rap scene in the early 2000s, brings a nostalgic yet fresh energy to the cypher. Additionally, his feature bridges the gap between different generations of Kenyan hip-hop, similar to Chiwawa’s appearance in Khali Cartel 3 and also highlights Kenya’s rap evolution over the years.

    The “Khali Cartel” series, initiated six years ago, has been instrumental in spotlighting emerging rap talents and the fifth installment is no different, featuring artists from East Africa, not just Kenya.

    Prior to the video’s release, Jones wrote on X, “The whole of East Africa has been represented.”

    Previous cyphers have featured artists such as Span KOB, Don Jowlz, Petra, Sagini, Steph Kapella, Twenny Eights, Timmy Blanco, Katapilla, Xtatic, Bey T, Breeder LW, Silverstone Barz and Rekles.

    According to Khaligraph Jones, also known as Brian Ouko Robert, the cyphers have been a way for him to use his platform to mentor and promote upcoming rappers, fostering growth within the East African hip-hop community.

    The release of “Khali Cartel 5” has sparked conversations among Kenyan fans, with many praising the cypher’s dynamic composition and the seamless blend of veteran and emerging artists. However, some fans have said it didn’t offer anything different from the other cyphers.

    In a humorous response to the criticism, Jones asked content creator and celebrity chef Ombachi to begin writing his verse in the Gusii language.

    “Okay, the next one tutaimba na Kikisii, @ombachi13 anza kuandika verse.” Jones tweeted.

    Watch the cypher below.