Kabeaush\u00e9 is a pop artist, singer, rapper, and producer from Nairobi, based in Berlin \u2013 but those titles barely contain the universe he builds around himself. He is known for incorporating a wide range of influences from music, film, and painting into his extravagant works. When our interview begins, the first thing that strikes me is the wall behind Kabochi, a collection of artworks ranging from photography to posters and art pieces. As we speak, they feel like keys to his worldbuilding. The wall reflects his multidisciplinary talent and, in many ways, serves as a preview of his upcoming album:<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"blockquote","text":"KABEAUSH\u00c8 PRESENTS: IGGY SWAGGERING UNGRATEFUL INCESSANT LITTLE PEEEAAAAAAA","source":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"
(Yes, you read that right).<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":125195,"id":125195,"title":"Fred Odede_Kabeaush\u00e9 2","filename":"Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-2.jpg","filesize":739324,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/insight-into-the-world-of-kabeaushe\/fred-odede_kabeaushe-2\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"fred-odede_kabeaushe-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":125191,"date":"2026-02-25 15:25:21","modified":"2026-02-25 15:25:21","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1536,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-2.jpg","thumbnail-width":77,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-2.jpg","medium-width":1536,"medium-height":1920,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-2.jpg","medium_large-width":1536,"medium_large-height":1920,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-2.jpg","large-width":1536,"large-height":1920,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-2-1229x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1229,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1536,"2048x2048-height":1920,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-2.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":10,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-2.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":1536,"wpvr_mobile-height":1920}},{"ID":125196,"id":125196,"title":"Fred Odede_Kabeaush\u00e9 3","filename":"Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-3.jpg","filesize":714136,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-3.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/insight-into-the-world-of-kabeaushe\/fred-odede_kabeaushe-3\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"fred-odede_kabeaushe-3","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":125191,"date":"2026-02-25 15:27:08","modified":"2026-02-25 15:27:08","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1536,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-3.jpg","thumbnail-width":77,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-3.jpg","medium-width":1536,"medium-height":1920,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-3.jpg","medium_large-width":1536,"medium_large-height":1920,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-3.jpg","large-width":1536,"large-height":1920,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-3-1229x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1229,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-3.jpg","2048x2048-width":1536,"2048x2048-height":1920,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-3.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":10,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-3.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":1536,"wpvr_mobile-height":1920}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"4","caption":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"
At the time of our conversation, he\u2019s in the final stretch before stepping back into the live arena. \u201cIt\u2019s going really well,\u201d he says of rehearsals. \u201c<\/i>We have two more days, and then we go to Prague, Slovenia, and then mostly Germany. I\u2019m from Nairobi, I\u2019m in Germany, and I get to do this,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s fun!\u201d On the upcoming album, the character of Kabeaush\u00e9 evolves into a new figure named Herr IGGY, ruler of the fictional Doerf Kingdom. Kabeaush\u00e9 describes the project as layered role-play. He keeps the symbolism intentionally open. \u201cThe kingdom can mean whatever you want it to mean; the name, too, is left for the listener to interpret.\u201d Herr Iggy\u2019s arc is a rise-and-collapse story: a peasant background, a climb to power, then ego as the undoing. Across the album, the listener gets a dramatised portrait of how someone who\u2019s very full of themselves can fall. The references aren\u2019t scholarly so much as cinematic: Ridley Scott\u2019s Napoleon<\/i>, Kubrick\u2019s Barry Lyndon<\/i>, Eisenstein\u2019s Ivan the Terrible<\/i> and Alexander Nevsky<\/i>. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s not even historical, it\u2019s more the films,\u201d he explains, pulling from the spectacle and psychology of leadership as portrayed on screen. Michael Mwangi Maina and Fred Odede, respectively director and cinematographer, helped bring that vision to life.<\/p>\n The project took shape over time. IGGY was a character originally sketched back in 2020, initially \u201cslumped back\u201d and \u201cmore whimsical,\u201d later transformed by the gravitational pull of Barry Lyndon<\/i>. Eventually, a shared language emerged, shaped by European cinema of the 1920s and African filmmakers like Mamb\u00e9ty. \u201cFor me, purity of intention is much more important than anything,\u201d he says. <\/i>That \u201cpurity\u201d also has a spiritual backbone. After listening to his previous projects and watching his performances, I tell him that his crowd work reminds me of a Black church, not as an aesthetic gimmick, but as a physical energy. He smiles; his answer is immediate. \u201cI\u2019m so glad you noticed that. I\u2019m Kenyan, I\u2019m Christian.\u201d The influence is inescapable, woven into how he understands performance itself. \u201cIn church, the congregation responds: It\u2019s a give-and-take relationship, everyone is in on the thing.\u201d <\/i>On stage, he aims for that same shared connection and excitement.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":125198,"id":125198,"title":"Fred Odede_Kabeaush\u00e9 5","filename":"Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-5.jpg","filesize":601700,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-5.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/insight-into-the-world-of-kabeaushe\/fred-odede_kabeaushe-5\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"fred-odede_kabeaushe-5","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":125191,"date":"2026-02-25 15:31:43","modified":"2026-02-25 15:31:43","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1536,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-5.jpg","thumbnail-width":77,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-5.jpg","medium-width":1536,"medium-height":1920,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-5.jpg","medium_large-width":1536,"medium_large-height":1920,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-5.jpg","large-width":1536,"large-height":1920,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-5-1229x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1229,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-5.jpg","2048x2048-width":1536,"2048x2048-height":1920,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-5.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":10,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-5.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":1536,"wpvr_mobile-height":1920}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"4","caption":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":" The visual language for the covers follows the same rule as the music: it has to match<\/i>. If Basquiat echoes in the previous covers, it\u2019s a subconscious proximity. The idea here is translation: a cover that looks like what the music already sounds like in his mind. He designs them himself, developing them alongside the music. Sometimes the songs are nearly finished while the artwork is still forming, or the artwork is there first, and the music has to catch up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For this album\u2019s cover, he wanted to explore what \u201cthe African version of a thing\u201d looks like, how stories are reimagined and relocated visually. He turns to the wall and points to the poster recreations from Accra that reinterpret films like Stop Making Sense<\/i>, The Warriors<\/i> or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas<\/i> as inspirations. The goal here was to reshape foreign narratives through a different visual language.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For Kabeaush\u00e9, the work is never only music; it\u2019s about building universes. He credits his love for cinema to Wes Anderson, Jacques Tati, Tarantino, and Djibril Diop Mamb\u00e9ty. \u201cI want to give the same feeling in my work. The vinyl should make you curious enough to watch the music videos; the music videos should pull you deeper into the music; the show should return you to the same world through set design.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":125202,"id":125202,"title":"Fred Odede_Kabeaush\u00e9 6","filename":"Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-6-2.jpg","filesize":851139,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-6-2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/insight-into-the-world-of-kabeaushe\/fred-odede_kabeaushe-6-3\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"fred-odede_kabeaushe-6-3","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":125191,"date":"2026-02-25 15:33:53","modified":"2026-02-25 15:33:53","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1782,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-6-2.jpg","thumbnail-width":89,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-6-2.jpg","medium-width":1782,"medium-height":1920,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-6-2.jpg","medium_large-width":1782,"medium_large-height":1920,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-6-2.jpg","large-width":1782,"large-height":1920,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-6-2-1426x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1426,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-6-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1782,"2048x2048-height":1920,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-6-2.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":11,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-6-2.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":1782,"wpvr_mobile-height":1920}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"4","caption":"All Photography by Fred Odede"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":" He didn\u2019t study music or film. He developed multiple interests since childhood, one of them being theatre, which led him to be part of a big production in Nairobi later in life, for MTV\u2019s Shuga<\/i>, an experience that exposed him to large-scale production. His musical education mirrors the same logic. It started with free beats on YouTube, experimentation with a DAW, and then the urge to build worlds himself. The goal was never to chase templates, but rather sounds that felt just like him. The album carries both African and European influences, developed in collaboration with composer Rui Rodrigues.<\/p>\n There\u2019s something notably free in the atmosphere around Kabeaush\u00e9\u2019s shows, especially now, in an era of surveillance and self-consciousness. He tells me about the religious crusades back home, on the streets of Nairobi, with sound distortion and very loud speakers. Yet people still gather, and once praise and worship reach that tipping point, the crowd becomes one body. \u201cThat\u2019s magic,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat\u2019s annoying when you live inside it becomes beautiful when you step away and see it clearly.\u201d That\u2019s the sonic spirit he pushes forward in the new album, <\/i>the in-your-face mix, the punch, the falsettos reminiscent of church choirs across the African continent.<\/p>\n His philosophy of live performance has evolved since his very first European show in Brussels.\u00a0 <\/span>His original idea of what a performance should look like was built on watching legends: AC\/DC, Michael Jackson, and Prince. Now, he instigates. \u201cI will light a fire,\u201d he says. \u201cIf the fire catches, it\u2019s good. If it doesn\u2019t, it\u2019s okay.\u201d The best shows are the ones where he loses control: when the audience starts singing on their own, when pits form, when the night becomes communal rather than performed at. That detachment extends to rollout and reception too: the humbling reality that people never obsess over the same details you do.<\/p>\n KABEAUSH\u00c8 PRESENTS: IGGY SWAGGERING UNGRATEFUL INCESSANT LITTLE PEEEAAAAAAA is released on the 27th February, marking the next chapter in Kabeaush\u00e9\u2019s ever-expanding universe. Following the first shows, the tour continues across Germany, bringing Herr Iggy\u2019s rise and unraveling on the stage as the Doerf Kingdom comes to life.<\/p>\n"}]},"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u201cHe\u2019s a very curious character,\u201d he tells me when I ask about his alter ego, Kabeaush\u00e9. It\u2019s a curiosity that isn\u2019t passive; it moves, it hunts, it wants to test the limits. Fun, to him, isn\u2019t a mood you stumble into; it\u2019s something you find by going further. \u201cIf you\u2019re curious, you\u2019re curious enough to go and find the fun on the other side of the hill,\u201d he explains.
\nThat curiosity is also what makes the persona feel less like a mask and more like a heightened version of the self. \u201cI don\u2019t even think there\u2019s a difference between Kabochi and me in this,\u201d <\/i>he says. <\/i>\u201cIt\u2019s more or less the same. I get to wear a wig, I get to play with costumes, and be as theatrical as possible on stage.\u201d The stage becomes a space where ideas can be dressed up and exaggerated, but once the costume comes off, the core remains.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":125197,"id":125197,"title":"Fred Odede_Kabeaush\u00e9 4","filename":"Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-4.jpg","filesize":721110,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-4.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/insight-into-the-world-of-kabeaushe\/fred-odede_kabeaushe-4\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"fred-odede_kabeaushe-4","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":125191,"date":"2026-02-25 15:31:04","modified":"2026-02-25 15:31:04","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1536,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-4.jpg","thumbnail-width":77,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-4.jpg","medium-width":1536,"medium-height":1920,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-4.jpg","medium_large-width":1536,"medium_large-height":1920,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-4.jpg","large-width":1536,"large-height":1920,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-4-1229x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1229,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-4.jpg","2048x2048-width":1536,"2048x2048-height":1920,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-4.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":10,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Fred-Odede_Kabeaushe-4.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":1536,"wpvr_mobile-height":1920}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"4","caption":""}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"