Kariuki Kikuyu: Profile of a Jamaican Hip Hop Artiste
The thumping bass beats and spitting braggadocio rhymes of hip hop artists, EPMD, Redman and Das Efx, served as an introduction to the world of rap music for Kariuki...
Kariuki discovered hip hop when he was eleven years old. So entranced was he with what he heard that he became a converted fan of the music. Since his childhood years of the 1990s, this personable young man has matured from merely being an ardent fan to an emcee who commands the microphone with engrossing lyrical wordplay.
The revelations that Kariuki makes in his music are sometimes philosophical, other times social or sexual, yet whichever always brutally honest. Despite the fact that his subject material can veer into R-rated territory, Kariuki's confident verbal swagger gives him a captivating presence that keeps the listeners ear perked up to hear more.
As a Jamaican whose country is more recognized for its reggae and dancehall music genres, the aspiring rap artist who holds down a day job as an Accounting Officer said he believes it is the heart of the music that matters the most, not where it comes from. He says that having a day job that is far removed from the career he idealises "inspires me to write a lot because I know that's not where I want to be."
Kariuki has performed on Mystic Urchin's Tuesday Nite Live, Da Underground and most recently, Simple Chaos Entertainment's WordPlay. Catch him onstage on WordPlay again in October, 2008.
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