大象传媒

It seems like every deejay in Nairobi has left out for the USA! Apparently thanksgiving in Atlanta is a big thing for African deejays so my quest to check out the HipHop Nairobi radio and TV situation kinda stalled. My man came through though and blessed me with an hour long mix of the cream of Kenyan HipHop that you can hear this Thursday night on the HipHop M1X Show. So, to plan b鈥�

Tuesday is Market day in Nairobi so my last day in Kenya was spent at the town centre market. The streets were as full as ever so Sammy parked his pimped out Toyota Carib across the other side of the city centre to the market so we had to walk to the market. I imagine walking in downtown Nairobi to be like walking in downtown New York (I鈥檝e never been to NY so can鈥檛 really say): there doesn鈥檛 seem to be any right of way for pedestrians when it comes to crossing the road! We passed K鈥橭sewe again on the way so it was all about the Ugali and beef again! I also tried some amazing blackcurrant drink as made by a world famous brand. Why do we only get orange, lemon and fruit punch flavours in the UK? The blackcurrant is by far the best flavour! I鈥檒l be writing a letter鈥�

After the food and drink, we got to the market.

I wish I had pictures to show you but after blogging last night, I had a Tusker or two鈥r five which meant my head was very fuzzy this morning. I therefore left the camera in the hotel room. Portugal has Superbock; England has Carling; the USA has Budweiser; Kenya has Tusker! (as this is a 大象传媒 blog, I am duty bound to let you know that lots of other beers are available 鈥� some at reasonable prices!).

The market was nothing like any other market I鈥檝e ever seen. Set up on the side of a hill, the market vendors had set out their wares on sheets they鈥檇 laid out on the dry muddy ground and as soon as they saw us, they were all over us! Every kind of carving, painting, piece of jewellery, pipe or drum was for sale along with traditional African clothing and Bob Marley T-Shirts!
鈥淲here are you from my brother?鈥�
鈥淭he UK鈥�
鈥淥h, you like Arsenal?鈥�
Was a typical conversation! Those Gooners get everywhere鈥� Prices were also instantly inflated to tourist levels but we had Sammy to negotiate for us in Swahili. Without knowing the language, I think his opener was 鈥淎w come on, don鈥檛 rip these guys off鈥hey鈥檙e not American, they鈥檙e English!鈥�

Apart from the drunk guy who called me a 鈥榮tupid American ba**ard鈥� (I would have been offended at being called an American but I just put it down to that local beer working it鈥檚 magic again!) everyone was really friendly. Shrewd when it came down to business (especially one guy who followed us around the entire market with a pipe that MissisJam had briefly considered buying for her dad until he told us he wanted the equivalent of 拢50 for it) but the market and the people we met definitely is a highlight of the trip.

So that鈥檚 the end of my Kenyan adventure. I鈥檓 currently in the hotel room having had a nice meal of meat at Carnivore again this evening with MissisJam buzzing around me packing everything ready for our early morning flight back to Heathrow. I wanna thank Sammy for being the best tour guide we could have wished for, Big Kev the Tru Blaq crew, the mystery booking agent in the UK who got me the gig and the people of Kenya who made me feel very welcome. It鈥檚 been amazing. Next time I come though, Radio, TV & the clubs are being hit up; Mombassa; the Masai Mara and maybe even Dandora (aka the scariest ghetto I鈥檝e ever seen) will get hit up MistaJam style.

Before the blog returns to usual service, I鈥檒l leave you with this gem. Silverstar are out here next week. The flyer has them billed as the hottest FEMALE dancehall deejays in the UK. Wonder if the men in Kenya will be disappointed? Gussy - make sure you shave!!