Keko is an amazing lesbian rapper from Uganda who currently lives in Canada while her homeland, sadly, remains not yet queer-friendly. And Keko makes the most perfect summer music: tight hip-hop with dance beats and African flavor. I have only heard this album recently but very quickly became obsessed. I adore Keko’s voice and her intonations, and the hooks in the music. It’s like Missy Elliott and Nelly had a child back in the 2000s, and now the child is of age. The feeling I get from her music is youthful, breezy, full of hope. Listening to a fellow immigrant make music that I love now, and would also love when I was 16, makes me realize that some things never change, and that I can start again, and be young again, if I need to. Keko did! I wish I had a car to blast her music out of my window, like “Get Ur Freak On” back in the day.
Strides by Keko
Released by RCA Records in 2016
