KUKY THE LYRICAL MISTRESS
Music and Life Backdrop
Born and bred in Bungoma as Salima Muigai – known professionally as KUKY a.k.a The Lyrical Mistress, she is a singer, songwriter and a rapper from Nairobi, Kenya. Kuky’s love for music begun at an early age but it was till high school where she started doing spoken word. This was a big lesson in terms of her pen game and till this day, Kuky identifies this as the biggest stepping stone for her transition into music.
In 2017 after secondary school, Kuky officially decided to venture into music fulltime. At this time she would use other artists’ beats and rap alongside them just to sharpen her rap skills. After a few releases Kuky took a break away from music and went back to school – university – to continue with her education. In 2019, Kuky came back into the music scene after graduating as a journalist and a marketer (Public Relations) to start doing cyphers and freestyles. Giving flowers to Ricco Beatz for introducing her to cyphers, Kuky acknowledges that the frequencies of the cyphers helped her build on her perfection and the more she was writing the bars the more she was sharpening her skills and confidence.
Drawing her inspirations from Kenyan music greats – Jua Cali, Nonini, Nyashinski, Khaligraph Jones and Sossun – and international hip hop greats – Eve, Lil Kim, Missy Elliot, Lil Wayne, Michael Jackson, Drake and Nick Minaj – created the best blueprint of her to build an incredible career on. Without a doubt Kuky is the definition of talent, mixed with passion, sprinkled with hard work and covered with determination. Through the cyphers – which Kuky was a part of for over a year – she met her current management (Asha Talent Management) and that was the turning point of her career. The fact that Asha Talent Management invested on her talent and believed in her, pushed her to the best version of herself.
Rap according to many is a male dominated genre of music, but the fact that Kuky grew up in a family of boys who would listen to hip hop all day long, helped Kuky adapt in the Kenyan rap industry and it’s evident because all of her projects are a reflection of a rap legend in the making. Rap is the way Kuky expresses herself, her surroundings and her feelings as it comes with freedom of both words and creativity an area where she and her team excels in.
Kuky’s vison is clear – to be the best version of herself which is the best female rapper in history across all of music. Her lyrics which to many they are thought provoking, message oriented and catchy, plays a very big role in her being able to stand out from the rest. Her versatility when it comes to different beats, melodies, features and collaborations have attracted a massive fan base across different genres of music around the world.
Discography
Her catalogue has received mixed reactions across different music critics and fans both locally and internationally. Kuky has one album under her belt and this is after the release of successful singles that left her fans and music fans yawning for more.
Albums
- Gold
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On 22nd September 2022, Kuky released her much anticipated album “Gold”. The album showcased her versatility when it comes to production, message, lyrics and rhymes, and it cuts across all genres from Reggae, Rhumba, R&B, hip hop and even kapuka hence the album’s name “Gold”. According to Kuky, the experience of working on the album was eye opening ranging from production to writing and in the process she learned and understood a lot that she didn’t know before as an artist.
Her team has been supportive throughout the process and in return Kuky has also understood that as a female rapper you can loosen up a little bit and still be feminine on the songs. Gold the album made Kuky crave for more time in the studio because as a creative she discovered she could do more. The making of “Gold” was like a reborn of Kuky and since then her mind set and perspective has really change and also her pen game has really grown.
The album had 9 tracks with no features.
Track List
- Kuky The Baddest – Intro
- Amua
- D Day
- Zegede
- Cheza Rhumba
- Sina Rada
- Maching
- Mi Sijali
- Kuky The Baddest – Outro
From the beat to lyrical delivery Kuky’s debut album stands out as one of the best album openers from a rap artist. As a music fan Kuky is worth listening to because she got a lot still to offer.
KUKY THE LYRICAL MISTRESS
