It seems like every deejay in Nairobi has left out for the USA! Apparently thanksgiving in Atlanta is a big thing for African deejays so my quest to check out the HipHop Nairobi radio and TV situation kinda stalled. My man DJ Kay-Dee came through though and blessed me with an hour long mix of the cream of Kenyan HipHop that you can hear this Thursday night on the HipHop M1X Show. So, to plan b…

Tuesday is Market day in Nairobi so my last day in Kenya was spent at the town centre market. The streets were as full as ever so Sammy parked his pimped out Toyota Carib across the other side of the city centre to the market so we had to walk to the market. I imagine walking in downtown Nairobi to be like walking in downtown New York (I’ve never been to NY so can’t really say): there doesn’t seem to be any right of way for pedestrians when it comes to crossing the road! We passed K’Osewe again on the way so it was all about the Ugali and beef again! I also tried some amazing blackcurrant drink as made by a world famous brand. Why do we only get orange, lemon and fruit punch flavours in the UK? The blackcurrant is by far the best flavour! I’ll be writing a letter…

After the food and drink, we got to the market.

I wish I had pictures to show you but after blogging last night, I had a Tusker or two…or five which meant my head was very fuzzy this morning. I therefore left the camera in the hotel room. Portugal has Superbock; England has Carling; the USA has Budweiser; Kenya has Tusker! (as this is a BBC blog, I am duty bound to let you know that lots of other beers are available – some at reasonable prices!).

The market was nothing like any other market I’ve ever seen. Set up on the side of a hill, the market vendors had set out their wares on sheets they’d laid out on the dry muddy ground and as soon as they saw us, they were all over us! Every kind of carving, painting, piece of jewellery, pipe or drum was for sale along with traditional African clothing and Bob Marley T-Shirts!
“Where are you from my brother?”
“The UK”
“Oh, you like Arsenal?”
Was a typical conversation! Those Gooners get everywhere… Prices were also instantly inflated to tourist levels but we had Sammy to negotiate for us in Swahili. Without knowing the language, I think his opener was “Aw come on, don’t rip these guys off…they’re not American, they’re English!”

Apart from the drunk guy who called me a ‘stupid American ba**ard’ (I would have been offended at being called an American but I just put it down to that local beer working it’s magic again!) everyone was really friendly. Shrewd when it came down to business (especially one guy who followed us around the entire market with a pipe that MissisJam had briefly considered buying for her dad until he told us he wanted the equivalent of £50 for it) but the market and the people we met definitely is a highlight of the trip.

So that’s the end of my Kenyan adventure. I’m currently in the hotel room having had a nice meal of meat at Carnivore again this evening with MissisJam buzzing around me packing everything ready for our early morning flight back to Heathrow. I wanna thank Sammy for being the best tour guide we could have wished for, Big Kev the Tru Blaq crew, the mystery booking agent in the UK who got me the gig and the people of Kenya who made me feel very welcome. It’s been amazing. Next time I come though, Radio, TV & the clubs are being hit up; Mombassa; the Masai Mara and maybe even Dandora (aka the scariest ghetto I’ve ever seen) will get hit up MistaJam style.

Before the blog returns to usual service, I’ll leave you with this gem. Silverstar are out here next week. The flyer has them billed as the hottest FEMALE dancehall deejays in the UK. Wonder if the men in Kenya will be disappointed? Gussy - make sure you shave!!