- Lil Maina Unveils The Next Chapter Of His Forthcoming Album ‘Stunna Man’ With “Vimajor” & “Tetemesha”
From internet sensation to one of Kenya’s most distinctive new-generation artists, Lil Maina has built a career around turning culture into music. His breakout record “KISHASH” helped propel him into the East African music scene, followed by his debut album Maisha Ya Stunna in 2023 and continued momentum through subsequent releases and collaborations. In 2024, he was named Male Artist of the Year at the TUKO Entertainment Awards, cementing his growing influence within Kenya’s music industry.
Lil Maina is bringing a piece of Kenya’s musical history into the present with “Tetemesha” and “Vimajor”, two tracks from his forthcoming album, ‘STUNNA ’, that draw from the energy, attitude and cultural impact of early 2000’s Kenyan pop genres, Genge and Kapuka, while filtering it through his own contemporary sound.
“VIMAJOR” A FAMILY COLLABORATION
“Vimajor,” meaning “in a major way,” is a record about arriving with intention, a fitting title for an artist entering a new phase of his career. One of the most personal moments on the project, “Vimajor” sees Lil Maina collaborate with his uncle, Wilson Kanyi. “We were at home, and we bumped into this one beat, and we both knew it was the one.” Lil Maina reveals.
The collaboration creates a unique meeting point between generations, bringing family and music history into the same record and making “Vimajor” a reflection of lineage, influence, and the passing of musical energy from one generation to the next.
The record also speaks to Lil Maina’s wider relationship with Kenyan urban music and the sounds that shaped the country’s urban music landscape. Elements of the spirit associated with the Kapuka and Genge era sit alongside Lil Maina’s contemporary approach, allowing the track to feel both familiar and new.
At its core, however, “Vimajor” is about the connection between family, generations, and different moments in Kenyan music.
“TETEMESHA” ENERGY IN MOTION
If “Vimajor” looks back, “Tetemesha” looks forward. Meaning “to shake things up,” the title captures the spirit of the record and, in many ways, Lil Maina’s approach to this next chapter.
“Tetemesha” is about movement, disruption, and refusing to remain in one place. It carries the energy of an artist who is comfortable taking familiar cultural references and turning them into something new. “I made ‘Tetemesha’ when I had just landed back in Kenya from the US. It was my first session back home with So Fresh, and we were actually working on the Red Bull freestyle. We were listening to a lot of 50 Cent in the studio, and that inspired the beat,” Lil Maina says as he goes back to the creative process behind the track.
“My producer asked me what my writing process starts with between the bar and hook, and the first bar I wrote was, ‘Na nitaanza nikidrop verse kisha,’ meaning that I’ll drop this verse first. It was inspired by K-Rupt’s ‘Bamba’ with E-Sir. So the song really came from being back home, being in that session, and drawing from the music that influenced me growing up.” He continues. The track embodies the idea behind the forthcoming album, which is not only to honour what came before, but not to be afraid to shake it up.
Together, “Vimajor” and “Tetemesha” create a snapshot of the album’s larger narrative. One connects Lil Maina to his roots. The other challenges him to push beyond them. The tension between heritage and reinvention, familiarity and disruption, and past and present sits at the heart of the forthcoming project. For audiences outside Kenya, the tracks offer an introduction to an artist whose work is deeply connected to Nairobi and Kenyan culture, while remaining open to the influences and possibilities of the wider world.