Kenya to host African musicians on Valentine’s Day weekend

Reekado Banks will perform at the Diamond Plaza II in the country's capital city, Nairobi, on 13 February. This will be the musician’s debut performance in the country after his gig was cancelled in November last year. The ‘Rora‘ hitmaker was scheduled to headline the second edition of Nai Fest at the Ngong Racecourse, but did not make the appearance due to nonpayment.

Zikode will hold two concerts in the same city on 12 and 13 February. The first show will be held at The Dome Rooftop in Westlands, followed by another performance at the Waterfront in Karen. The songstress will then hit the country’s second-largest city, Mombasa, on 14 February at the B-Club before making her final performance at The Dome.

Zikode achieved global fame after being featured by Master KG on his global hit ‘Jerusalema’. The singer has gone on to make a name for herself and has amassed a number of accolades, including the Best Female Artist Award and a cash prize of $6 600 at the 2020 KZN Entertainment Awards. The annual awards ceremony recognises local artists who are considered to be doing an outstanding job of raising the cultural flag high both locally and abroad.

After ‘Jerusalema’ was released in December 2019, the song went viral around the world with the help of the #JerusalemaDanceChallenge. In September 2020, it became the most Shazamed song in history, and the music video has garnered more than 300 million views on YouTube. In Kenya, the dance challenge was taken on by the National Assembly and the Kenya Forest Service, as well as a number of companies such as Kenya Airways, Naivas Supermarket and Agility Kenya.

Public events in Kenya are permitted during the day with limited attendees due to the ongoing COVID-19 regulations and a curfew between 10pm and 4am. On 31 January, the country‘s tally of COVID-19 cases was more than 100 700 with over 1 700 deaths.

Purchase tickets to the Reekado Banks event here.