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Nyashinski’s ‘Yariasu’ ushers in bold new era with SONY Music deal
Kenyan singer-songwriter and rapper-producer Nyashinski (Nyamari Ongegu), who recently released his second solo album Yariasu and signed a partnership deal with global music giant SONY Music Africa.
The past few weeks have marked a new chapter in the career of Kenyan singer-songwriter rapper/producer, Nyashinski, with the release of his second solo album Yariasu, and a partnership deal with global music industry giant, SONY Music Africa.
“It is a relief obviously, when you finalise a project, any project, and put it out to the world,” Nyashinski (Nyamari Ongegu), told the BDLife in an exclusive interview a few days after an exclusive black-tie album listening party hosted with his brand partner Johnny Walker Black Label. “It is exciting when you release it (the album) for the world to hear it. It is exciting to present it and show what East Africa has to offer.”
He offers a clue to his newly discovered creative freedom on the refrain of the track, Grateful: “no apologies…they don’t have to like me, I’ll be alright,” Nyashinski sings. “This album is me. It is my honest work. It is me putting in my all at the moment, to share a message, encouragement, inspiration, entertainment, in my own way,” he asserted.
Kenyan singer-songwriter and rapper-producer Nyashinski (Nyamari Ongegu), who recently released his second solo album Yariasu and signed a partnership deal with global music giant SONY Music Africa.
Photo credit: Pool
It has been a long wait since the 41-year-old’s last album Lucky You released during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. “It has been a lot of boldness, a lot of risks, a lot of experiments with this album. This is a pan-African world album for and to the world,” he said.
The cryptic album title has triggered a guessing game among fans online, and Nyashinski explained how it came about. “Yariasu is just a name I coined. I want to name my albums, from now henceforth, like I would name a child, or children. Something special for me.”
He described the project, from the conception to the final body of 13 songs as “easy”. “I have producers that I have worked with before, like Kevin Midonzi (K da Great) and others, like Gustino Luwis (GL), whom I am working with for the first time.”
On the opening song Legendary he sings about his mission to inspire “a generation of rebels” but also admits to his own human frailties. “I am sharing what I want to be, who I want to be. Where I want to go. I want to inspire people to reach higher. To be legendary in what they set out to do,” he explained. “I want people to be bold. I am going ahead of you, not because I am better than you, but because I am bold, so you can also be inspired to be bold. Broaden your mind and your palette. Don’t be overly critical of what you create.”
The sparse instrumentation on the song was a deliberate arrangement to draw attention to the message which sets the tone for the Yariasu story. “It is so personal, I produced it myself,” he revealed.
The lyrics of Don’t Play with My Money will resonate with the Nyashinski fanbase because of the trademark no-hold-barred delivery, though he denies any implication that the message is directed at anyone in particular.
“Because you have mentioned this song, I am certain that with time, you will see more and more people using it, especially the chorus. It applies to most, if not all, of us. It doesn’t matter if you are rich, like I say in the song “even if my money long….” No one wants someone to play with their money. People work hard for what they earn; they have got to protect it.”
Tai Chi was the first single released from the album, and while the message is aspirational, it also challenges the notion that success comes on a silver platter. “Tai Chi is a song that I wanted to do for my day one fans, my home fans, my Kenyan fans. It was important that we released it as the first single from the album. I hope that I have and will encourage hustle, being careful in whatever you do, while having fun in life.”
The mood on the album varies from the inspiration to hard reality to feel-good songs such as Dubai, the romantic feel on P.I.C, and even the rumba influenced ode to the African lady, Elegance. “This album is a mix of several moods. Like I said, I wanted to be bold and hopefully have something for everyone,” said Nyashinski.
Kenyan singer-songwriter and rapper-producer Nyashinski (Nyamari Ongegu), who recently released his second solo album Yariasu and signed a partnership deal with global music giant SONY Music Africa.
Photo credit: Pool
In announcing a partnership with Nyashinski, SONY Music Africa described him as an artiste who represents everything that the world needs to see and hear from East Africa.
“We always had in our plan that we would one day go beyond East Africa. That day came, and we needed a partner who would help us achieve this. SONY has loads of data, teams with special skills, relationships, and connections that we can rely on to get the music much further, much faster, much more efficiently than we could do on our own,” said Nyashinski.
Even though people may pick their favorites on the album, his expectation is that over time, everyone gets to connect deeper with the music and find different songs that resonate with their experiences in life.
