Musician Liboi is releasing a new album dubbed HATUA, which explores healing, identity and growth.
Derived from the Swahili word meaning action or a step, the project is a personal journey formed by growth, uncertainty, reflection, and self-discovery.
She describes the album as an answer to a bigger question, such as, now that we understand ourselves and the world around us, how do we choose to show up in it?
The title came organically from a previous creative chapter.
Last year, Liboi produced and curated Hisia, an event series centred on emotional awareness and vulnerability.
At a time when life felt overwhelming and emotionally loud, Hisia was a space for introspection and feeling. That is what later informed Hatua, an album about transition, evolution, and the uncomfortable space between who one was and who one is becoming.
Although the final tracklist is still being completed, Liboi says sequencing has been one of the most intentional parts of the process. She does not present isolated songs; she envisioned the album as an emotional journey, guiding listeners through moments of reflection, healing, uncertainty, and hope.
“The project draws from real-life experiences, relationships, internal conversations, city life, and personal growth,” she says.
At its core, it explores identity and the responsibility individuals have in creating safer emotional spaces for themselves and others.
Liboi incorporates traditional African instruments such as the kalimba, mbira, and litungu, grounding the project in feeling and cultural resonance.
Nairobi, the album’s first single, set for release in June, introduces listeners to that world while reflecting on the emotional and social realities of the city she calls home.
Themes of growth, emotional honesty, collective healing, and the conflict between chaos and peace run throughout the album.
“Many of the songs depict a fractured world; how can people contribute to healing rather than harm, both individually and collectively?” she says.
Among the tracks, Nairobi currently feels closest to her heart. Beyond introducing the tone of the project, the song reflects the present while inviting listeners into conversations around identity, growth, and shared healing.
Throughout the making of the album, she found herself thinking about uncertainty, nostalgia, exhaustion, healing, clarity, and hope. She does not conceal those emotions; she chose to allow them to exist honestly within the music.
While she admits an album may never feel completely finished emotionally, there came a point where she realised she had expressed what needed to be said for this chapter of her life and let it rest.
For Liboi, taking a step at this stage of her life means reclaiming authorship over her own narrative. It is about resisting externally imposed identities, embracing self-expression, and choosing movement over fear.
“Every creative project becomes a timestamp of who an artist is at a particular moment, and Hatua is no exception,” she says.
She starts her songs as observations, conversations, memories, or patterns before slowly transforming into sound. Even the choice of instruments becomes part of the emotional space and reflection.
The connection between wellness and music was also intentional. Music, she says, has long served as a form of healing and emotional grounding in her own life. Sometimes wellness exists in feeling understood, seen, or emotionally present.
With this particular project, she hopes listeners engage in more honest conversations around growth, trauma, transition, emotional health, and identity. She wants the music to create space for reflection and not offer conclusions.
During the album’s listening party two weeks ago, she had hoped audiences would leave feeling present, connected, and safe enough to experience whatever emotions the music brings forward.
“People heal and grow in community as opposed to in isolation. The people around us influence how we create, heal, and evolve just as we influence them in return,” she says.
Live performance, she says, strengthens that connection further by adding humanity to the songs. Audiences experience emotions differently, discovering nuances that recordings alone cannot fully capture.
In her creative process, some songs forced her to face emotions she had not fully processed, while others had to be left behind during the creative process. Still, she believes those difficult moments produce the most honest art.
The journey taught her that growth can be uncomfortable and that vulnerability is essential to truthful storytelling. More than anything, the album has transformed her approach to artistry, making her less concerned with perfection and more invested in truth, connection, and community.
“I want to fully inhabit this era before rushing ahead. I hope to eventually take Hatua on tour in Kenya and beyond, while trusting the project to open new creative doors in the future,” she says.