Get the latest gossip
‘People think it’s just for emo or gothic kids’: the Kenyan metalhead leading a new wave of African rock
Martin Kanja, AKA Lord Spikeheart, covers everything from colonialism to his grandmother in music that mixes African culture with metal. He hopes to help more artists like him break through
Fourteen years on, Kanja, AKA Lord Spikeheart, is a veteran of African metal, redefining the boundaries of the genre with the experimental sounds of his debut solo album, The Adept. Using heavily distorted lyrics and sounds, from muffled screams to high-pitched squealing, Kanja expresses anger over the everyday oppression he sees across the continent, such as land inequalities originating from the British colonial era, China’s debt-trap diplomacy, and exploitative resource extraction. Photograph: YWSKanja’s new album borrows from that chapter, challenging the boundaries of metal through collaborations with artists in different genres such as trap, hip-hop and noise, particularly those experimenting in their own fields, including the American rapper Fatboi Sharif and the Japanese producer Saionji BBBBBBB.
Or read this on The Guardian
