Electrifying Grammy nominee Thrills Fans at Carnivore

Nairobi is set for a massive Electronic Dance Music (EDM) party this Easter with an event headlined by some of the world’s most successful producers and DJs.

American Grammy award winner, Diplo who is the creator behind some of the biggest global pop hits at the moment, will be performing during the Kenya Nights at the Carnivore Gardens.

This is the second time Diplo is playing in Nairobi after his sold out maiden show in 2014. Diplo will be on the decks alongside Walshy Fire, the Jamaican-American DJ, MC and record producer. The two are also members of the group Major Lazer, whose hit song “Cold Water” features the vocals of Bieber and Danish singer MØ.

In Cuba

Their 2015 hit song ‘‘Lean On’’ has more than 1.9 billion views on YouTube and is currently the second most streamed song of all time on the Spotify digital music service.

In March 2016, Walshy and Diplo became the first major pop act from the US to perform in Cuba after the reinstatement of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

EDM has been experiencing a boom around the world thanks to access of the music on the Internet and huge interest among the young generation.

The music itself consists several dance genres and subgenres, including house, techno, trance, drum and bass and dubstep.

Diplo started as an underground DJ borrowing diverse sounds and rhythms from Brazil, China and other parts of the world.

Today, he is arguably the world’s top electronic dance music DJ/producer and heads Mad Decent, an independent record label that he founded in 2005 and has championed global dance music.

He produced two songs on Beyoncé’s highly successful 2016 album “Lemonade” which earned him a Grammy nomination. Over the last decade, he has produced songs for among other artists, Shakira, Chris Brown, Usher, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars and PSY. He won two Grammy awards, Best Dance Recording and Best Dance/Electronic Album in 2016 for his work with Jack U, a project with producer Skrillex. The 39-year-old whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz was born in Mississippi and grew up in Florida.

His stage name is the short form of Diplodocus, which comes from a childhood fascination with dinosaurs.
Besides his credentials as an MC, Walshy Fire is a sought-after remix producer blending hip-hop or R&B rhythms with reggae artist vocal tracks. He has released a series of mix compilations, remixes of songs and mixes for artists like Chronixx.

As the MC for Major Lazer, Walshy has performed on some of the world’s most prestigious stages and worked on the production of the group’s two albums, “Free the Universe” and “Peace is the Mission”.

House Music

The Kenyan Nights show also features another headline act, the DJ and producer, Wankelmut from Germany, who mixes different grooves and moods from house music and techno. His breakthrough came with his unofficial remix of “Reckoning Song” by Asaf Avidan and the Mojos, which was eventually released and topped the charts across Europe in 2012.

His second single may not have had similar success but “My Head Is A Jungle” released in 2013 still made it to the dance charts in Italy and the UK Wankelmut has remixed songs for Hozier, Lenny Kravitz and Karin Park and has played as a DJ on dance music radio shows and at some of the world’s biggest festivals.

Here in Kenya, the fan base for EDM has been growing, thanks to a handful of artists and DJs who upload their ‘mixtapes’ on Internet platforms like Soundcloud.

Blinky Bill who is best known as the front man of Just a Band will be playing a DJ set on the night along with DJ Kace (African Mzungu).

DJ and producer Suraj whose first original production was “Wawere” a combination of Dholuo lyrics and modern electronic music is also on the bill.