First lady of Kenyan music

Nazizi Hirji popularly referred to as ‘The First Lady’ is among the select few veteran female Kenyan hip-hop, reggae and dancehall artistes. At only 16, her first single Ni sawa tu was already making ripples in the Kenyan scene.  

She then went ahead to compose her first proper hit, Mama. With those now-memorable lyrics ‘Mama, mama nataka kuwa rapper’, her face was thrust into the music scene but it was not until October 2000 when she became a force to reckon with. That is the time she became part of Necessary Noize together with singer Kevin Wyre and rapper Bamzigi. Their self-titled debut album under Audio Vault Studios, which contained hits like Clang Clang, and La Di Da, catapulted them to fame.

Bamzigi later left due to personal reasons— leaving the duo to steadily grow in popularity and later to release a second album Necessary Noize II: Kenyan Gal, Kenyan Boy in 2004 which included popular regional hits such as Kenyan Gal, Kenyan Boy and  Bless My Room . Although mainly hip-hop based, the group also did some reggae and Rhythm and Blues tracks. Their socially conscious lyrics that deal with issues affecting youth such as AIDS, drugs and politics gained them traction in a wider audience. Together with Ugandan ragga musician Bebe Cool, they released music under the name East Africa Bashment Crew. Due to their fast rising popularity Necessary Noize was nominated at the inaugural (2008) MTV Africa Music Awards.

The duo also collaborated with the Tanzanian hip-hop group Gangwe Mobb with Tunajirusha hit. Guest on their debut album included Mizchif from Zimbabwe, Jerry Doobiez of K-South and Mombasa based artiste Nyota Ndogo.

Nazizi and Wyre also did solo productions, before and during the existence of the group.

Some of the awards won as Necessary Noize include the 2004 Kisima Music Awards for Best Group and Best Music Video ("Kenyan Gal/Boy") and Best Ragga Group, 2004 Chaguo La Teeniez Awards and the 2006 Pearl of Africa Music Awards (PAM Awards) for Best Group (Kenya).

On top of these they have been nominated for various awards among them the 2005 Tanzania Music Awards for Best East African Album, 2006 Channel O Music Video Awards, Best reggae video, 2007 Pearl of Africa Music Awards for Best Kenyan Group.

In 2008 Nazizi decided to take a low profile as far as music goes because she needed to concentrate with family matters, having been newly wedded.

“We got married in December 2008 in a simple and private wedding. Vini Hamza Leopold, my husband, and I both value privacy. I’ve always wanted people to know me for my music and not my personal life. Vini is supportive of my career, but he does not like to be at the forefront and I respect that,” she notes.

They soon welcomed a newborn to their union and according to Nazizi having a baby is life changing. It has made her more responsible and she has had to ditch her previous life. “Before, my reply to invitations to perform abroad would be, ‘when?’ And if they asked me to stay three more weeks I would oblige, but those days are gone. Now I want to know the first flight in and out so that I can be home as soon as possible,” Nazizi says.

As a solo artiste Nazizi has had a successful career in addition to being a member of the popular Kenyan group, Necessary Noize; the East African group, East African Bashment Crew (EABC); and, the newly formed all female MC international hip hop group, Lyrikal Roses.

She has also completed a joint album’ Motherland’ with Jamaican reggae star Ginjah.

As a solo artist, Nazizi released a number of singles including her latest dancehall hits, Take the People Away and Can’t Have Mi Man. Take the People Away was nominated for a Channel O Video Music Award (2011).

She has won 17 awards, including CHAT Female Artist of the Year seven times in a row and most recently Best Directed Video and Video of the Year at the Channel O Video Music Awards (2007) for the hit EABC song Kube.