Dynamic singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Liboi has officially released her long-awaited debut album, HATUA, out now on all platforms. This is Liboi’s most personal body of work yet — and today, she’s sharing it with the world.
Blending traditional African instrumentation such as the kalimba, litungu, and percussion with contemporary soundscapes, HATUA invites listeners to pause, feel honestly, and confront both internal and external realities. It positions wellness not as a separate conversation, but as a critical entry point into how we engage with ourselves, each other, and the world around us. HATUA, meaning steps or action, asks the question, ‘Now that I feel and understand, how do I show up in the world?’ It is a call toward conscious living, accountability, healing, and transformation in a rapidly shifting world.
HATUA began from a period of deep reflection. Everything in my life felt a little too loud. For a while, I believed that chaos was only happening around me and not within me. I started realizing something difficult, that sometimes we can be in chaos for too long, and that we start carrying it within us. So I found myself questioning the state of the world around me, but also questioning myself — the energy I carry, the ways I contribute to spaces, and how we as human beings move through each other and the world.
The album became a journey through grief, awareness, resistance, healing, love, and ultimately hope. It is about recognizing that we are not separate from the systems and realities we critique. We are participants within them, and therefore, we also hold responsibility in shaping what comes next.
“I wanted HATUA to feel like an honest reflection of the world we’re navigating today, while also offering a sense of direction,” Liboi says. “The album doesn’t ignore the pain, fear or disconnection around us. Instead, it asks what happens if we choose empathy, awareness and community as the way forward. I hope listeners walk away feeling seen, but also inspired to take even one small step toward healing.”
The album also reflects Liboi’s continued commitment to creating safe, introspective spaces through music while preserving and reimagining African sonic traditions for contemporary audiences.
“Hatua is a journey. If Nairobi asks us to confront the world we’ve created and Bi Wadhi reminds us we don’t have to carry it alone, the rest of the songs in the album asks, ‘Now what?’ It moves through grief, love, memory, identity, silence, courage, and hope -every song a step forward, backward, or standing still, but always a step.
By the end, I hope people feel lighter; not because everything’s been solved, but because they remember they don’t have to carry life alone. I hope they feel moved to take one small step.
That’s enough. That’s how change happens.This album came from a season of learning that healing isn’t something you arrive at, it’s a practice — messy, nonlinear, and often communal. Kenya and East Africa have been carrying real exhaustion, but also real resilience, and that found its way into the music. I didn’t want to make an album that only documented pain. I wanted one that imagined possibility.
To everyone who’s walked this journey with me since Nairobi — thank you for listening deeply and letting these songs become bigger than me. Hatua has never just been my story. It’s ours. One step at a time.”
The album features collaborations with artists and creatives, including Muhonja, WD Abbo, and Modest Chabari. They have contributed to the sonic and emotional depth of the project.