5 Incredibly Silly Kenyan Songs That Eventually Turned Out To Be Massive Hits

These are the tracks that made you go WTF at first, then slowly but surely you came to love them.

1. Fimbo ya Pili

“Nye nye nye, hatutaki nye nye nye, ukileta nye nye nyeeeeee… fimbo, CHAPA!”

First time we heard this song at the office, we had a baraza at the office, with DNA’s sister, Tina Kaggia, in attendance. We grilled her and asked her, “What the hell was your brother thinking?!” We were so wrong. The market spoke, and the song was incredibly well recieved, even growing on us eventually in the office.

2. Manyake

“Manyake, kama priizes, manyake, ka balloon zina maaji, juala ndio unahitaaji!”

This song was so bad that producer Clemo admitted to how he had to remaster the song severally just to get something coherent out of Circute and Joel. All the effort paid in the end, as the controversial subject matter of the song got tongues wagging, leading to massive airplay on the radio and in the club.

3. Kinyaunyau

“Onyango shika dame, kamata… HA… iyee mama!”

What a childish song with nonsense lyrics, right? WRONG. This song was so big, it spurred Wahu into crafting a song in response to it. That’s the only time that has happened in Kenya.

4. Boda Boda

“Nitado-warr? Nita-ride boda boda, nita-ride boda boda!”

Madtraxx debuted on the Kenyan music scene with the silliest lyrics he could come up with, and a dumb-looking dance to boot! A HUGE risk that paid off in the end, as “Boda boda” became a smash hit that year, and Madtraxx has ridden the wave ever since, becoming known for having silly, yet fun tracks.

5. Vaseline

“Napenda vaseline, napenda vaseline, mi napenda vaseline!”

Walanguzi’s raunchy spin on Rick Ross’s “Hustling” would have been deemed way too over the top on the first listen, but eventually what happened was that college students really took to the parody song. Perhaps a reflection of their real life activities, eh?