Sauti Sol

Sauti Sol is a Kenyan Afro-pop band from Nairobi comprising members Bien Aime Baraza (vocals & guitar); Polycarp Otieno (guitar); Willis Austin Chimano (vocals, saxophone & guitar) and Delvin Mudigi (vocals, percussion & drums). The group mixes their soulful voices with vocal harmonies, guitar riffs and drum rhythm. Sauti Sol blends warm resonant pop with traditional Kenyan influences.

It was formed in 2005, starting off as an acapella group. Bien, Chimano and Delvin previously met in Upper Hill High School where they performed in Voices in the Light, a high school music group. After that stint, the trio met guitarist Polycarp at Alliance Française, where they would frequent and decided to form Sauti (Swahili for 'voice') and immediately wrote their first song, 'Mafunzo ya Dunia' (Life's Lessons) that would later feature in their first album, Mwanzo (Swahili for 'beginning'), which was released in August, 2009. Their sophomore album, Sol Filosofia, was released in February, 2011.

In June 2012, Sauti Sol released Sauti Sol, self-titled EP and collaborative effort with South African avant-garde innovative rapper/producer Spoek Mathambo. Sauti Sol's recognition continued to rise in 2012, as they were nominated for and won the Most Gifted East African award at the 2012 Channel O Music Video Awards for their song ‘Shukuru’ with Tanzanian rapper A.Y. Sauti Sol were the winners of the Best African Group at African Muzik Magazine Awards (2015 AFRIMMA). On 15 November 2015 the group was awarded as the Best African Group at the All Africa Music Awards. In 2014 the group was awarded an MTV EMA Award for Best African Act.

On 29 April 2014, the band released ‘Nishike’. Its music video caused uproar in the Kenya media due to its steamy content, and ended up getting banned from most local TV stations. After ‘Nishike’, the band released their fourth single off Live and Die in Africa entitled ‘Sura Yako’ (Your Face). This was introduced by a spin-off Lipala dance competition run on Instagram that sparked an online dance movement in Africa and across the globe. Following the success of the competition, the band released the single's music video on 12 September 2014. In July 2015 the group performed at a State House dinner hosted by Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta for President Obama during his three day visit to Kenya. The band's third studio album, Live and Die in Africa, was released in November 2015. This is the first album under the band's imprint Sauti Sol Entertainment.