Swagga Releases New 'Vile Nafeel' Off Latest Album ;Fanya Justice'
4 May 2020
Born Augustine Kavindu, Swagga mastered the art of performing urban hiphop becoming the best and winning every rap contest he entered including Group Africa and Cocacola events at the age of nine. Both his father and grandfather were classical composers, musicians and performers, so it is no surprise that he was introduced to live performance at the early age. He did not grow in an urban setting like most other music artists but later moved to Nairobi from to do music and in 2005, he recorded and released his first single "Wazim" which featured in his debut album "Ndani Yangu" published in 2008. This album earned him a nomination as the most promising African Artiste category at a Germany awards in 2009. By December 2011, the album had sold over one hundred thousand copies (100,000) which was platinum sales by the Kenyan standards at that time. Still, in 2011 he released his sophomore project, a simultaneous release of two albums titled "Swagga Flani" and "Last Episode". Swagga Flani was a 14 track album that featured an originally arranged instrumental of the Kenya National anthem, “Wakenya”, “Nayo Nayo”, “Mr.President” and “Nikubalie” among other songs. Last Episode album had 12 songs.
In 2013, Swagga published his 4th album titled “Wazito”. The most notable songs in this album are “Come Twende”, “Daktari”, “Summer Lyfe” "Swaggaboy" and “Hii Mziki” a song that enjoyed airplay here in Kenya. This album was closely followed up with his 5th “Short Message” in 2015 and the 6th “Mhesh” in 2017. He has also released an MP3 Audio Compilation titled Swagga Top 40 Songs that features the best of the best from his albums all time and his 7th album titled “FANYA JUSTICE” released in 2020.
In 2015, Swagga teamed up with other light minded artists and to form the Kenya National Union of Musicians (KENUM) with the aim of streamlining the music industry in Kenya. He became the first secretary general before being elected as president in 2016. The main objectives for KENUM were to demand for increased airplay for Kenyan content locally and internationally, lobby for effective laws on arts and ensure increased collection and distribution of music royalties. KENUM later teamed up with other music associations and unions to form the Kenya Gospel and Secular Artists Federation (KEGSAF) where Swagga became the vice chairman of the federation. As a leader in the music industry, he had the opportunity to be in the team set up by Parliament and the Ministry of sports, Culture and the Arts in Kenya to fast track the process of creating the Music Bill and the Copyright Amendments Act. He has also been in the forefront in actualizing of the Music Policy, Film Bill, Film and Stage Plays Amendments Bill and Various CAK Regulations among other legal and professional frameworks to achieve a better creative industry for Kenya.
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