Wakadinali is a Kenyan hip hop group from Nairobi, Kenya, also called RongRende, formed in the early 2010s.
The group consists of three members: David Munga Ramadhan, professionally known as Domani Munga; Churchill Mandela, professionally known as Scar Mkadinali; and Salim Ali Tangut, professionally known as Sewersydaa.
The trio comes from Nairobi’s Eastlands area and is known for their gritty lyrics, street-oriented narratives, and their genre that blends gengetone, drill, and hardcore hip hop.
Wakadinali has become one of the most influential rap groups in Kenya.
They gained mainstream recognition in 2020 through their album ‘Victims of Madness’, which featured hits like “Njege/Sanse”, “Morio Anzenza” and “Avoid Those People”, seeing them being credited for redefining Kenyan urban hip hop by incorporating the ‘sheng’ language, which is known as a street slang and highlighting life in Nairobi’s Eastlands.
Origin and rise of Wakadinali
The trio released early freestyles and mixtapes on YouTube, building a grassroots fan base. Their music reflected life in the informal settlements, reflecting on themes of survival, crime, politics, and city struggle.
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‘Ndani ya Cockpit 1’ was their debut album in 2017, followed by a second album in 2018, ‘Ndani ya Cockpit 2’.
Breakthrough
In 2019, they collaborated with Kenyan rapper Dyana Cods to release the single Morio Anzenza, a Sheng phrase that translates to ‘day ones’.
In 2020, Wakadinali released the ‘Victims of Madness’ album, which brought them into the mainstream.
The album consists of 15 tracks that heavily rely on drill sounds, unlike their previous tracks, which relied on trap sounds.
It included hit songs like XL, Extra Pressure, and Morio Anzenza, and the album’s name was said to invite the audience to view crime and criminals differently. A common theme of the album is gun violence, with songs such as “XXL” entirely focused on the topic.
In the album, Wakadinali frequently hints that gun violence does not always originate from the gangsters, but rather from police officers, police brutality being a common theme in songs such as Njege Sanse and Kim Jong Un.
In 2021, in collaboration with Sir Bwoy, they released ‘Geri inengi’, a single that gained them more mainstream recognition, with the song popularizing the Sheng phrase “Subaru ya Mambaru,” which translates to a Subaru car full of police officers.
In 2022 and 2023, Rolling Stone listed their song “Mc Mca” as one of the top 40 afropop songs of 2022, and “Sikutambui” among 40 Best Afropop Songs of 2023.
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In the same years, Wakadinali were the second most-streamed local artists in Kenya on Spotify and the most-streamed artists in Kenya on Spotify, respectively.
They were also the fifth-most-streamed hip-hop artists in Kenya, having released three albums: Easy and Haitaki Hasira in January 2022, and Ndani ya Cockpit 3 in December of the same year, which emerged as the 10th-most-streamed album of 2023 in Kenya.
In 2024, Wakadinali were the second-most-streamed musicians in Kenya on Spotify.
“Umoroto” is also one of their most-viewed early drill tracks, and the trio has also had a high-profile collaboration with Khaligraph Jones, releasing the single “Tourist.”
“No Money No Job” is a recent 2025 release reflecting the economic struggles of Nairobi’s youth.
2025 achievements
In early 2025, Wakadinali was the highest-earning Kenyan artist in royalties from leading streaming services.
They ranked among the Top 5 most-streamed artists in Kenya, with over 835,000 listeners and 1.1 million hours of play.
Their album ‘Victims of Madness 2’ pulled in over 5.7 million streams on Spotify, making it one of the most-played local albums of 2025.
The group made history at the 2025 UnKut Hip Hop Awards on December 4, 2025, by achieving a feat that had never been accomplished in the awards’ six-year history.
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