Lafudhi Hip hop Poetry in Sheng

by G. Rongi

ip-hop may represent the most revolutionary development for poetry in recent decades, and yet its creativity and uniqueness is still unknown. The book Lafudhi, a Swahili word which means “flow, twang, accent” explores a Kenyan poet and lyricist who grew up in a freedom fighters’ family surrounded by memories of Mau Mau. This book includes a biography of G.rongi, lyrics from his first album, Njaraw, and his most recent album, Position ya Power, as well as several unreleased poems. Central songs of Position ya Power are translated into English. Lafudhi is the first poetry book in Sheng, a language which emerged in the 1960’s multicultural environment of Nairobi and which combines mainly Swahili, English and Kenyan vernacular languages (Kikuyu, Dholuo, Luhya…). Examining the language and techniques of a Kenyan hip-hop artist, this book of hip-hop rhymes argues that a new world of poetry awaits us if we only put aside our preconceptions of hip-hop and new mixed languages.

138 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 31, 2016