Kenya: Khaligraph Jones releases Invisible Currency album

The musician revealed the news on Instagram after he posted the album cover on 3 March. “What is your favourite banger so far? #Invisiblecurrency,” the ever-boisterous artist, also known as Papa Jones, addressed his legion of followers.

The 17-track album features collaborative offerings from renowned African acts such as Nigeria’s Rudeboy, Ghana’s Blackway and Tanzania’s Alikiba as well as a number of major and lesser-known Kenyan performers. These guests help infuse a mixture of musical genres, including Kenya’s ohangla, to expand and enrich Khaligraph Jones’ hip hop repertoire. 

On ‘Am on the move’, the East African rapper and his West African counterpart Blackway deliver rapid, punchy bars that would make every hip hop head glow with admiration. ‘Wanguvu’ featuring Alikiba incorporates bongo flavour, while ‘Tsunami’ featuring Scar Mkadinali is a nod to drill fanatics.

Khaligraph Jones told local press that working with different artists on the project was a fulfilling and eye-opening experience, and called the album “the best new thing.”

“Every time you work with different people, you get to explore other sides of yourself and they show you something new. It was amazing,” the rapper told The Standard newspaper.

Since releasing his debut album Point of No Return in 2014, the 31-year-old has ingrained himself in Kenya’s collective imagination, and is arguably the country's biggest rapper at the moment.

His other full-length offerings are Autograph, Testimony 1990, Eff Off and The Take Over.