Nairametrics| Safari is the Swahili word for Journey. In geography, it stands for a trip to view wildlife. A fitting title for Victoria Kimani’s debut album. Safari, the album is a pot purri of sounds. Influenced by her growing up across different places. Kenya, Nigeria and the United States. Surprisingly, the Kenyan sound is the most dominant on the album. At fifteen tracks, including the intro and an interlude, the album is just the right length.
The journey through this album, has a few bumps in between. The very strength of this album, is also its weakness. While she rides the Kenyan sound quite nicely, it becomes monotonous to listen to after a while. Features by label mate Ice Prince and Phyno, come off flat. My money sounds like a poor copy of Rihanna’s BBHMM. The gems on the album, March Along the Social Consciousness song and Black Girl featuring Jesse Jagz come off too short.
The Nina Simone intro and Brenda Fassie interlude show an appreciation for history and culture which is rare these days. She closes the album nicely with the track GOTA featuring Airline. In all, one is better off buying some of the individual tracks on itunes, than the album as a whole.