Sing to Me: Jua Cali with Enika and "Niimbe"

Today's random tune is by Kenyan hip hop artist Paul Julius Nunda, better known by his stage name of Jua Cali. He is very well known for forming a recording studio called Calif Records, which is responsible for turning out many East African hits. Jua Cali himself raps in Swahili and Sheng (a form of Kenyan slang derived from Swahili and English), and in a popular style of Kenyan rap called genge which was invented by artists at his recording studio. He released his first single in 2001 and has put out three solo albums and has garnered many Kenyan and African music awards. This song, Niimbie, can be found on his 2015 album Ngeli Ya Genge. It features Enika, a Tanzanian R&B singer, and the song is a remembrance of a time in the singers' lives where they worked hard, before they became well known and famous.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jua_Cali; http://mauriyambo.blogspot.com/2017/01/jua-cali-and-enika-in-nostalgic-call.html