Nyashinski

Nyashinski is Nyamari Ongegu, a Kenyan rapper, singer and songwriter born on 8 April 1984. He met Roba and Collo at Nairobi School, and in 1999 the three formed Kleptomaniax. The trio’s records on Ogopa DJs, including “Freak It”, “Haree”, “Tuendelee” and “Swing”, made them one of the defining acts of 2000s Kenyan hip-hop.

In 2006 he moved with his family to Delaware in the US and spent ten years there as a truck driver, away from music. He came home in 2016 and made one of the great Kenyan comebacks with “Now You Know”. “Malaika” followed in 2017 and won a Mdundo Award. His debut album Lucky You (2020) moved between gentle love songs and harder street records.

He has since released the EPs Therapy (2022), Good Old Days (2024) and To Whom It May Concern (2024), and started his own headline show, Shin City, in 2022. In 2025 he signed with Sony Music East Africa and released his second album, Yariasu.