Kenya: Lastii drops debut EP Doba za Wagenge

The eight-track project is available for streaming and download on all major digital platforms.

Doba za Wagenge, which translates to ‘music for the people’, was preceded by the singles ‘TikTok (Whine)’ and the album’s title track, which have gained traction for their unfiltered take on the daily dealings of the Nairobi youth.

Lastii, a newcomer on the Kenyan hip hop scene, is quickly gaining recognition for his relentless rhyming and raw, impactful storytelling delivered in the musical language of his generation – gengetone.

The architect of the project is DJ and producer GI who discovered Lastii through a tip from his taxi driver.

“One day we were chilling during the COVID lockdowns and he showed me a video of his boys freestyling on his phone and Lastii was one of them,” GI said. “They were freestyling to Nyashinski’s ‘Hapo Tu’ beat and I liked his bars, flow and cadence. I can't really say what it was, I just caught a vibe and I knew I had to work with him.”

The new project features many undiscovered talents including Malika, Kosti Mgaza, Mysling Nadra and Toxic Westside.

“Most of these guys are Lastii’s homies and the tracks mainly came from a bunch of freestyles and demos we’d do for practice,” GI added. “We’d search for beats online and just record random demos. When we knew we had a solid track, we’d approach the producers to buy or lease their beats. The few original beats we had were made by Lastii's homies K-Wise and Nagi.”

Production on the EP is courtesy of Nagi, Neevo, Blanq Beatz, K-Wise, Afrvka Beatz and Roc.