TAKE 5: Adam Kiboi
Adam Kiboi is a creative consultant in the entertainment industry. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- I’m too loud and always too passionate about what I’m working on.
- The coolest part about what I do is the people.
- In my third year as an economics student at Daystar University, I was drawn away by the creative industry from what was, in my opinion, a dull degree that would lead to a dull career.
How would you describe yourself and what you do?
Have you ever put four avocados on one plate of githeri, (Mixture of maize and beans) and thought it was too much? I’m the kind of person who lives with that constant struggle. I’m extra. I’m too loud and always too passionate about what I’m working on.
The project I am currently working on, the Electric Picnic Festival in Ireland, is one of the biggest in that part of the world. It’s a massive celebration of music and madness. My boss runs Trenchtown in that part of the world, which I help him with.
We’re setting up Afrikaya, an area wholly dedicated to African music, music of African origin, African culture – specifically the nyabingi drum and its contribution to reggae music. We plan to go on tour with Irish Dub Selektas, Lavosti and other artists, from Nairobi to Dar, Zanzibar, Lusaka, Harare and back.
What’s the coolest part about what you do?
To be honest – the people. Later this year we’re visiting four countries in Europe with Kenyan icons such as Lavosti and artists like Cian Finn who throw out the rule book and create dub music that is so avant-garde, it deserves its own genre.
How did you land here?
Let’s just say that in my third year as an economics student at Daystar University, I was drawn away by the creative industry from what was, in my opinion, a dull degree that would lead to a dull career.
Have you been involved in a project that you could describe as unusual?
Once, when working for a certain production company, we were tasked with moving ivory and paintings out of shots from the location we were using.
The company didn’t have copyright licences to feature the art, so we had to move it. Some of it included 200-year-old ivory pieces weighing 150kg!
Who are some of the artists you would like to see perform in Kenya who you haven’t interacted with in your line of work?
Damian Marley and Nas together. Apart from “Distant Relatives” being one of the greatest collaborative albums ever released, it inspired the name of a lodge I hold dear. Lastly, Shabba Ranks, because ‘rudeboy dancehall’ is timeless. Watching him perform on stage is on my bucket list.
