The trend of sampling “zilizopendwa” is somehow becoming a trend that new school rappers are hoping on. Flag 42 artists Jerry, Benady, Phonez, Jemedari & Kimathi did it with Ngayo, a jam that I absolutely enjoy.
Now this urban Hip Hop crew 125, has done the same thing on their latest jam, Taabu. You may or may not have heard of 125. If you have, you’re definitely at par with what’s happening in Kenyan entertainment. If you haven’t, well, I’m about to school you. As always 🙂
From their name it’s easy to tell that they definitely represent the diaspora within Kenyan, Rongai. That’s the area code. The members of the group are Dandan, Rabsari and Sydney.
How did they come together? Well, Dandan and Rabsari were underground rappers who decided that it was time to put 125 on the map. Sydney joined the duo later with his vocals thus bringing the crew to full formation.
If you think that this is a relatively new crew, you’re wrong because they may be young but they have been in the game for a minute collaborating with established acts such as Rabbit, Dela, Xtatic, Didge, Khaligraph Jones and more.
Their first big break came in 2015 with the release of their track “Can’t Take It” that featured the talented Sage. It was produced by Dillie, who also acts as the crew’s mentor.
125 is looking planning the release of their album, How we Do It, this year. Dillie has handled the production on all the tracks.
Their latest single Taabu (Swahili for trouble) which is the first single off the album features Red Acapela, an upcoming urban folk duo comprising of Yabadoo and Steve.
The instrumental was inspired by a zilizopendwa track from one of Kenya’s late music great’s Daudi Kabaka.When asked about the sudden sample of classic tunes, Rabsari said that this could be our way of having a “Kenyan sound” such that it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, you know a Kenyan tune when you hear it. It’s also a way of paying homage to the greats, those that were making waves in the music industry way before most of us were born.
Taabu is currently available for sale on Waabeh, an online music platform fashioned around iTunes that was developed by Tim Rimbui. The track’s just released video was directed by Brian Mhando.
Follow 125 on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to keep up with their next releases as they build up to their album.
Check out the video below; yay or yay?
