ONE ON ONE WITH KENYAN HIPPIE

May 9, 2025 21

Written by Edwin Agesa AKA Bloga Flani ,

Have you ever heard of tattooed models? In Kenya? Our writer sits down
with Kenyan Hippie, a musician, tattooed model and content creator to
talk about her journey in art.

How did you get into music?
It was Jimmy Okungu who got me into music. I always loved doing it
because I was involved in drama, music in high school. It started
seriously after I met my husband. I used to post cover songs but never
thought of myself as a musician. Jimmy reached out and convinced me to
get into music because he believed in me that much. He told me Wakenya
would be a good name for me instead of Kenyan Hippie. I currently have
two songs out with one of them being Bony and Clyde which is a song
about how I met my husband.

What Kind of music do you do?
I like different styles of music but I think I would categorize it as
Afropop. As per my upcoming album, there is a lot of RnB, Afrobeat and
EDM in there, but let’s just go with Afropop.

How has been the journey so far?
When I started I did not know how it was going to work. Jimmy was in
Kenya and I was in the States. I can send you a beat. We collaborate,
you record on your phone and send it to me so I can make corrections. I
learnt that I was very good at being in the moment, especially in the
studio. Another thing I realized is that music is also pricey. It’s also
a lot of work promoting my music but you have to see yourself as a
brand. Jimmy told me I have to keep promoting my work, especially on
social media. I am a fulltime mom, full time at work and so doing this
was a bit challenging.

How is it being a tattooed model?

I was going through some stuff but I always loved tattoos. I planned to
get a tattoo after getting my eyebrow piercing. I did a butterfly tattoo
and I loved it. I did a photoshoot and sent it to a magazine called 247
Ink Mag in New York. The publisher liked it and called me for a
photoshoot in New York. I had imposter syndrome after the call but I
still went in October 2019. I did the shoot with Steve Azarra but he
died immediately after. After that I did multiple shoots and have been
featured in five magazines now. I would love to get to a point where I
work with commercial brands and maybe model some of their clothes
because you would not find dark skin people with good tattoos. There are
not a lot of people who are as tattooed as I am in Kenya but the culture
is growing.

How is it being a Kenyan artist based in the US?
It is a little bit tricky because the distance also makes it difficult
because of the recording sessions where we can do brainstorming and
exchange ideas. It is a bit tricky to promote your music when you are
away from the audience. Having to work with a studio outside your
producer’s studio is a bit more cumbersome but with technology we make
it work.

What is your motivation for being a tattoo model?
I want to show people that you can have dark skin and have good tattoos.
I just want to state that you can have dark skin and have beautiful
colored tattoos because you don’t see a lot of those done well. You can
be a mom, a career woman, dark skin and have beautiful tattoos. Our
ancestors used to modify their bodies all the time.

How do you see the Kenyan music industry?
I wish Kenyans appreciated their people more than they appreciate
others. Kenyans tend to enjoy other genres instead of their own local
music. However, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t people who listen to
local content. I feel like the culture is growing though. I wish there
was more Kenyan music being pushed on the airwaves and I’m glad there
are more artists using their native language. My own music also
incorporates Swahili and Kikuyu. People like Nadia Mukami, Nameless and
Eric Omondi are some of the artists that have supported me in the past
and I wish we could do the same for other artists.

You can find her as @kenyahippie on Instagram.