Navy Kenzo

The duo of singer/rapper and award-winning producer Nahreel and singer/rapper Aika fuse hip-hop, pop, R&B, and Tanzanian Bongo Flava in their project Navy Kenzo. Following a string of hits including 2015′s “Game” featuring Vanessa Mdee, they released their official debut album, AIM (Above in a Minute), in 2017.
A couple since they met as students in India in 2008, Nahreel (Emmanuel Mkono) and Aika were both members of Tanzania’s Pah One in the early 2010s before forming Navy Kenzo in 2013. Mixing not only various genres but English and Swahili in their songs, the group had their first hit with “Chelewa (Bokodo)” in 2014. They followed it with hits like 2015′s “Game” featuring Vanessa Mdee and 2016′s “Kamatia,” before issuing their official full-length debut, AIM (Above in a Minute), on the Industry Studios label in early 2017.
The pair continued to deliver stand-alone dance-pop hits such as 2018′s “Fella” and “Katika” (featuring Diamond Platnumz) and returned with another album, Story of the African Mob, in 2020. Its guests included, among others, U.K. rapper Tiggs Da Author and Ghanaian musician Mugeez. ~ Marcy Donelson