Premiere: Nabalayo & NKC ‘Mwizi I’

Kenyan artist, producer and vocalist Nabalayo and NKC have teamed up for a new EP, ‘Mwizi’.

Set for release on UK DJ and producer NKC’s Even The Strong label in April, the EP combines both artists’ distinctive sounds: Nabalayo’s Kenyan folk and electronic pop fusion style Changanya, and NKCs heady percussive club music. 

Nairobi-based Nabalayo is a member of the Wengi collective on Currents.fm alongside artists such as recent DJ Mag interviewee KMRU and [MONRHEA]. She released her debut album, ‘Changanya’, last year, in which she laid the groundwork for her style of the same name – drawing a line from traditional Kenyan music to futuristic electronic pop with an intricate percussive edge.

The duo’s sounds merge perfectly across the EP, which features three alternate mixes of a new collaborative track, along with a NKC remix of Nabalayo’s ‘Mwana wa Gorofa’. You can hear the EP’s opener, ‘Mwizi I’ – a chiming, UK funky-infused Afrohouse roller with lyrics exploring “theft of voice, musical identity and self-expression” – below. 

‘Mwizi’ will be released on 2nd April. You’ll be able to buy it from Even The Strong’s Bandcamp.