Allan Kingdom: The rapper with Tanzanian blood attracting international attention
After helping hip-hop megastar Kanye West debut new song “All Day” last week,
Allan Kingdom is making headlines around the world. Few rappers get the
chance to collaborate with hip-hop’s self-proclaimed savior, so this
support from West means a lot—and as we learned on Tuesday, Kingdom
didn’t just help Kanye in the song’s live performance butappears on the studio version of the track, too.
All of this is leading many to question, who is Allan
Kingdom? Although many in The Current’s audience are familiar with
Kingdom’s work, all this national attention is piquing new interest.
Complex, a web magazine and national hip-hop news source, focuses on Kingdom in a new video report;
he’s a 21-year-old artist, born Allan Kyariga, who’s lived in St. Paul
since the age of nine. The son of a South African father and a Tanzanian
mother, he grew up listening to African music before discovering
artists like André 3000, Pharrell, and Kid Cudi. Now, he’s a graceful,
inventive rapper who’s releasing both solo material and collaborations
with others.
Kingdom’s
music often has a hazy, floating feel, with spacious soundscapes
punctuated by ambient percussion; his style evokes a sense
of vulnerability that sometimes underscores, sometimes contrasts with
his lyrics. When Kingdom started making music, he told David Campbell
when he visited The Current’s studios last fall,
he “couldn’t find a producer that fit exactly what [he] wanted to do,”
so he started designing beats for himself. Since then, he’s spent a lot
of time in his bedroom, writing and perfecting songs on his computer.
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Allan
with his Tanzanian mom Lau Kyariga in Minnesota. Lau owns the famous
Arise Beauty Supply store at Msasani Kwa Mwalimu in Dar es salaam and
the mega hit hair product Ebenezer that is sold world wide
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Allan
is met with his mom Lau Kyariga at the airport in Minnesota returing
from London where he went to perfome at the BRIT Awards with Kanye West
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