Popular Musician Chris Kantai Passes On

Popular musician Chris Kantai alias Kantai passed away on Wednesday morning after experiencing breathing complications as narrated by a family member on Citizen TV.

The rapper passed away at St. Francis Hospital in Kasarani, where he was taken two days ago aged 42 years. 

He was well known in the Kenyan HipHop industry as one of the best Kenyan rappers in time, among other top rappers like Abbas Kubaff, Mashifta, Bamboo and many more.

With hits like Kantada, Jinga Hii, Nare, and Quest among others, Kantai was in the early 2000’s considered the best hip-hop artiste in the country by far, in terms of content released and his hits enjoying heavy rotation on radio.

He bagged numerous awards in the Chaguo La Teeniez Awards popular in the early 2000's

He went silent over the years leaving his fans with questions oh his whereabouts. Rumors went round that he had turned into an alcoholic, an allegation he denounced.

“The blogs make it look like alcohol has taken over his life, there was just a photo of a beer mug with keg in it and all of a sudden there is propaganda that I have hit rock bottom. Those might not even be recent photos. People have this perception of who Kantai is supposed to be rather than who he is. I deal with a lot of issues that people don’t know about and I don’t open up to anyone easily,” he noted.

Kantai, however, resurfaced when he did a collaboration song with Kenyan rapper Khaligraph Jones in 2016 of a song titled Ting Badi Malo that hit the airwaves.

He will, however, will be remembered for being part of the Kenyan hip-hop industry, and for his fluency in both English and Kiswahili. The most memorable lines in his songs included “ I have got issues that can’t be absorbed by a tissue” and his famous song that most people identify with "Huyu ni nani G".

He is survived by a wife and one child.

Fellow Kenyan celebrities have taken to social media to express their grief and mourn their fellow musician.

“I'm so very sad to hear this. He was one of the most talented individuals I ever met. We had so many great conversations about life and music. May you rest now Kantai,” read a post by Eve D'Souza.

 

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