PROGRESS IS A PROCESS

Last year November 2015, the VLE crew got together at affiliate producer Miagi‘s crib to work on a project that would ultimately decide the direction the movement would take in the coming years. Unknown to the Vice Life artists at the time, their first real collaborative albeit experimental project “BAREROADS” would prove pivotal as a compass point for future collaborative projects amongst themselves.

“BAREROADS” wasn’t necessarily conceptualised much. It was contrived more in the moment without any results or impact aforethought. To put it plainly we just wanted to mess around with the UK grime sound a little bit and make a couple dope records while at it. It wasn’t really much of a challenge lyrically or in song writing structure, it was just us fooling around in the studio sort of breaking the ice if you will and laying the groundwork for the year ahead. And so bangers such as “Bang” featuring TwennyEights x Timmy Blanco were birthed. Crowd pleasers such as “Skengman” and “Tracksuit Mafia” featuring Damu x NMSO respectively were created.

But more importantly everybody got a peek into each other’s recording process. For the first time all four members were in one room not just turning up as usual but making music together. “It came naturally as we were all messing with each other before the music, but it was a defining moment because we got to find out what each individual’s hype was about and incorporated it into future projects” says NMSO. Standing on the balcony of Miagi‘s penthouse overlooking Mombasa Road as Pope Francis’ convoy sped down the highway, one truth was evident. These four extremely talented individuals had made a silent commitment to come together to redefine the shape and overall direction the hip hop game would take in Africa and make their presence felt worldwide.

As fans who attended our BAREROADS release party a few months later at Nairobi’s ultimate hip hop venue “The Alchemist” can definitively attest to VLE had made a strong entry into a market considered to be urban luxury hip hop. “We brought half the city out partly due to a wonderful roster of supporting acts but more so due to the momentum we had steam rolled in the months prior. Matter of fact by virtue of having the first successful hip hop gig at The Alchemist we inevitably laid down the framework for other acts to follow and do the same” insists rapper Damu.

Fast forward to June of 2016 and we put out “Audio Contraband” produced jointly by Kmusik and Ceezy. This time we hit our mark better with solid records such as “Platinum” and “Rolling” featuring Shappaman becoming instant hits with the crowds. Although TnT only linked up on “Pour Up” and Timmy Blanco‘s presence on the mixtape was largely missed, the project still fits as a street classic for the year 2016. With trippy trap beats from K-CEEZY as the duo is known collaboratively on projects, easy mellow hooks from TwennyEights and vicious bars from NMSO x Damu, the team stayed true to themselves and delivered an authentic audio equivalent of their contraband lifestyle.

In September of the same year, Vice Life rapper TwennyEights got together exclusively with producer Kmusik to craft a timeless masterpiece dubbed “SELF”. His debut solo EP was nothing short of incredible. Choosing to exit the mould Twenny chose to delve into more concrete subjects in his music such as higher consciousness, situationships with the opposite sex from love to lust, and personal convos with his alter ego concerning his dreams and ambitions. With no features he definitely distinguished himself as one of the best song writers of our generation and applied pressure on the rest of his team to build up strong solo catalogs.

A month later in October of 2016 NMSO came out with his “REVISITED” project, a follow up to his “PRELUDE” mixtape released a year prior. Linking up with producers cum djs Lu x Hitch, NMSO took us back to the golden era of hip hop with his choice of 90s instrumentals and hard hitting bars aimed at his competition and foes. Reminiscent of the demo tape days, the project consisted of a quick twelve minute dj mix of throwaway NMSO verses and a deliberate diss track aimed at former teen sensation and Camp Mulla member Shappaman as well as a foot note diss aimed at mainstream radio. This “REVISITED” project would also be the first time we got to hear about his “Boycottradio” campaign in slight detail and the beginning of his vlog series “No Longer Slept On”.

Not to let the year go by without making a strong statement, the Vice Life TnT duo of Timmy x Twenny as they are known whenever they link up on a track, blessed the Nairobi hip hop scene with the biggest mixtape of the year “2 BIRDS 1 PHONE”. Released on Dec 3 2016, the project is filled with heavy hitting bangers with production from a host of producers namely Kenani, Miagi, Ohana and Ceezy. When listening to the tape it is easy to understand why Timmy x Twenny on a track would be labelled TnT. No! Not just because the prefix T precedes both of their names for that would only explain the aesthetic appeal. In all actuality the TnT tag is quite literally a euphemism for the visual representation of the explosive nature and by product of placing these two Vice Life rappers together on a record. Quickly overtaking “Audio Contraband” as a street classic “2 Birds 1 phone” is definitely our favourite project of 2016 and plenty projects in the year ahead will have a difficult time comparing to this jewel.

As you can tell by now, it has been quite a year for us. We put out a total of five quality projects, by far a milestone in work ethic in comparison to all other record labels in Kenya. Is it safe to say that this has certainly been our year? Perhaps. But safety has never been a concern of ours. Instead it is more prudent to declare 2017 the year that will separate us in calibre from all other acts that may not necessarily be less deserving, but in all probability are less hard working. Wishing all our fans and supporters a happy new year and great tidings in the months ahead as we journey on together toward prosperity.

PRESS PLAY below to watch the official cruise music video What’s going On – VLE x TNT