Kenyan band Matata, based in Oslo, are redefining East African pop with their “Think Local, Act Global” philosophy.
The lights dimmed, and a roar erupted from the crowd at Nairobi’s Masshouse as four silhouettes took the stage. Freddy Milanya, Richie Mathu, Marcus Ojiambo, and Festus Mwenda — better known together as Matata — didn’t just walk out; they danced into view, carrying the energy of a long-awaited homecoming.
It has been a strong 2025 for the Kenyan band. They spent the early part of the summer touring Europe with Bien, where the two acts performed their viral smash “Mpishi,” a collaboration that has pulled over 11 million YouTube views in just four months. The crowd sang just as loudly for Matata’s 2024 hit with Watendawili, “Inakubalika.”
The tour was an immense success, introducing the band to new cities and audiences with sold-out shows in Amsterdam, Hamburg, and London. Despite the milestones abroad, Milanya tells OkayAfrica that nothing compares to performing in Kenya.
“Anywhere you go, home is always the best,” he says. “Performing in Nairobi still gives us the biggest dopamine doses. The crowd is very engaged, very eager because we are not there most of the time.”
Indeed, “most of the time” the band isn’t in Kenya at all. Since the start, Matata has been based in Oslo, Norway, which is why their shows back home feel like full-circle moments. They underscore the group’s unique place in East Africa’s music scene: deeply Kenyan in style, proudly global in ambition. At a time when many artists reshape their sound to fit international tastes, Matata has leaned into their Kenyan identity. That authenticity is what is winning them fans both inside and outside the country.
They’ve taken Kenyan culture — music, dance, slang, even protest — out into the world, and brought it back fully intact.
The result is a band that has steadily built its name by staying authentically Kenyan while reimagining that identity in bold new ways, culminating in its biggest year yet.
“Our motto has always been, ‘Think local, act global,’” Milanya explains. “We always think as if we were in Kenya. Once we have that in place, we ask, ‘Okay, how does this fit on a world stage?’ How can we go somewhere in the inner city or somewhere in rural Europe and still have people relate to what we’re doing? That’s our motto, and so far we’ve found ways to make it work.”
“We always think as if we were in Kenya. Once we have that in place, we ask, ‘Okay, how does this fit on a world stage?’”
Photo by Matata
That mantra is not just a catchy phrase. For Matata, it is part of an intentional campaign they have been mapping out since the very beginning. The four Kenyan-born members first came together in 2016 while in Oslo, not as musicians but as dancers. With training in theater, dance, and music, they each also work professionally as theater artists outside the group.
By late 2018, the group had transitioned into making music together, a shift Milanya recalls as inevitable because they were each doing it separately anyway.
“We were always dancing together, so why were we doing music individually? That’s when we decided, instead of making music separately as well as dancing, we’ll just make the music together.”
Dance, however, remains the heartbeat of everything they create. This shared background has laid the groundwork for the explosive stage presence and dynamic music videos they are now known for.
“It comes naturally, it’s something we love, and over time it has become a primary component of our music,”
Milanya said. “We’ve always believed we were born to dance because it’s been innate since we were young. On top of that, we are professionally trained. For us, dance is a tool of communication that needs no words…it’s like a universal language.”
Their dance style as Matata is both deliberate and deeply cultural. Their often viral dances reflect what is happening in society, Milanya explained. “They become an extension of storytelling. Sometimes even trauma is processed through dance, because Kenyans are really good at turning difficult situations into something positive.”
That philosophy explains why Matata’s choreography feels instantly familiar to Kenyan audiences. Their moves are borrowed and reimagined directly from Nairobi’s streets and clubs, creating a kind of feedback loop where the band both reflects and shapes popular culture.
“We want to be an extension of what is already existing,” he explains. “We want to be part of the culture, not create a whole new culture."
This approach comes to life in the video of the recent single, “Tiki Tako” with Mejja. Playful, high-energy, and distinctly Kenyan in its humor and rhythm, Matata also introduced a signature dance to go with it. Within days of the video dropping, the moves had spread across TikTok and Instagram, fueling the song’s rapid climb toward two million views in a month.
When they performed it live in Nairobi, the impact was immediate. The crowd broke into the dance without instruction. That instant connection between audience and performer is the essence of Matata’s strategy: create music that sounds like Kenya, pair it with choreography that feels like the street, and let fans complete the loop by making it part of their own lives.
Despite their focus on Kenya, Matata has carved out a strong base in Oslo. There, the band has built a professional infrastructure by registering as a company, curating Matata-branded events, and even staging a theater production about their journey. These efforts have also helped them reach new audiences.
This dual positioning is what allows them to truly embody their ‘think local, act global’ mantra. In Oslo, they operate as professional artists with access to resources and platforms that expand their reach. But every lyric, move, and visual still points back to Kenya.
Carrying Kenyan culture abroad also means carrying its struggles. During the most recent anti-government protests, Matata used their platform to stand in solidarity with the youth-led movement.
“Anytime you speak, you risk offending people,” Milanya says. “But regardless, we do that not because we are Matata. We do that because we are humans. We do that because we are Kenyans.”
All of this is building toward the band’s next chapter: their new album, slated for release in November. Their latest single, “Mangware,” has them linking back up with Watendawili with a chance to repeat the success of the 2024 smash.
While they have yet to share many details about the album, Milanya hinted it will reflect both their growth on the road and their grounding in Kenya.
“We’ve toured, we’ve seen how people respond to different kinds of music, and we’ve grown a lot as artists. But at the same time, we are still staying true to who we are.”
