Before he was co-writing Grammy-winning hits with Kanye West or igniting stages across Europe and America, Mark Makora Mbogo—the world now knows him as KayCyy—was just a boy running through the hills of Keroka, Kisii County, lulled to sleep by the harmony of crickets and distant church choirs.
Today, when he steps into a recording booth in Los Angeles or onto a festival stage in Melbourne, the echoes of that boyhood still trail him—not as nostalgia, but as fuel. His sound is borderless. His voice is unmistakable. And his belonging is unapologetically Kenyan.
“I speak English, Swahili, and my tribal language. My music comes from God… and from home.” — KayCyy
When the Cold Came: A Journey Begins
In 2006, at age nine, KayCyy’s world changed overnight. His mother had won the U.S. green card lottery, and the family left the familiar warmth of Western Kenya for the frigid unknown of Saint Paul, Minnesota. The culture shock hit hard—“It was freezing,” he remembers. School uniforms were replaced by puffy coats. Ugali gave way to cafeteria pizza. And yet, within the silence of isolation, something ancient stirred: music.
Church had already lit that spark in Kenya—long Swahili hymns, spirited harmonies, rhythm as prayer. In America, hip-hop gave it new shape. Between classes and snowstorms, KayCyy was building something that had no name yet. Something that would one day stretch from Kisii to Calabasas.
Running Toward the Sound
His parents wanted him to pursue law or medicine—“You know how African families are,” he laughs—but KayCyy had different visions. He began recording music in high school, splitting time between Minnesota and New York, sharpening his pen and testing his voice.
By the time he was 18, he was on a one-way flight to Los Angeles, carrying nothing but demos and an unshakable dream. He was determined not to just make it—but to shift the culture. To bring Kenya into every chorus, every cadence, every studio session.
The Kanye Years: Whisper to Thunder
The universe listened.
In 2019, through industry mogul Abou “Bu” Thiam (Akon’s brother), KayCyy met Kanye West. One song played from a phone. One nod from Ye. A spark caught.
From that moment, KayCyy became more than a collaborator. He became the secret ingredient on Donda, contributing writing and vocals on anthems like “Praise God,” “24,” and the Grammy-winning “Hurricane.” His voice opened “Keep My Spirit Alive” with a blend of gospel purity and African soul—raw, rising, unmistakably diasporic.
But even as his vocals were later replaced on some tracks, KayCyy didn’t flinch. “It’s always bigger than one person,” he said. That grace, forged in church pews and immigrant humility, kept him moving forward.
Swahili in the Synths: Kenya is the Constant
KayCyy doesn’t just “represent” Kenya. He builds with it. From Swahili phrases laced into trap beats to collaborations with French producer Gesaffelstein that feel like Afro-futurist prayers, every project carries home in its bones.
In 2024’s Saddest Truth—a genre-bending album co-created under his creative collective Hiibryd—he sings “Nyumbani” with the ache and pride of a young man returning, even if only through sound. It’s not performance. It’s pilgrimage.
“I speak English, Swahili, and my tribal language. My music comes from God… and from home.” — KayCyy
And when Travis Scott buried his credits on UTOPIA, KayCyy responded not with silence, but a rallying cry. His tweet—“I’m not no background singer… F** Trav!!!”*—went viral. His clapback single “My Jeans” became an anthem of artistic sovereignty. He was done being unseen.
The Global Stage, the Kenyan Flame
From working with Lil Wayne (“Big Worm”), Fivio Foreign, and even Justin Bieber, to headlining European tours where he invites local artists onstage just to share the light, KayCyy isn’t climbing the ladder—he’s building bridges.
His upcoming album, Who Is KayCyy?, is poised to answer that question in full. Part spiritual reflection, part sonic rebellion, it promises to be the most personal excavation of identity yet.
But one thing is already clear: he is not an American artist who happens to be Kenyan. He is a Kenyan artist who happens to be global.
Keroka Still Beats in His Chest
For all the fame, the Grammys, and the collabs with titans, KayCyy remains tethered to a promise he made to himself: to buy his mother a house. Not just because it’s the American dream—but because it honors where they began.
“I’ve never been so sure,” he said recently. And neither has Kenya.
In his journey, we see the power of the diaspora dream: not just to leave and make it, but to leave and remember. To leave and carry. To leave and return—even if the return is through melody, memory, and message.
The Magic of Belonging: Sung in Three Languages
KayCyy is more than an artist. He is a frequency—tuned between continents, singing in English, Swahili, and the soundless language of legacy. He is proof that when Kenya raises you, the world listens.
He didn’t just break through. He broke open a space where African identity isn’t background—it’s the beat.
As the next generation rises, earbuds filled with KayCyy’s soaring hooks, let them know: this is what home sounds like—remixed, reborn, and resonating far beyond the hills of Keroka.