Yusuf Noah, known as Refigah, in a photo posted on his Facebook page in October 2026. Photo: Facebook / Amb Dr Yusuf Noah
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Refigah and Grandpa Records: the label that refused to leave Kibera.
Kibera Creatives is a KNN series on the artists, designers and performers who built their names from Kibera. Profiles are compiled from published reports and the subjects' own public pages; sources are listed at the end. Spotted an error? Write to news@kibranewsnetwork.co.ke.
Yusuf Noah, known as Refigah, was born in Kibera and started out as a rapper in the early 2000s with the group Nubians With Attitude. His debut album was called Mtoto wa Kibra. He is better known today for what came after: Grandpa Records, the label and talent company he founded and runs.
"We are expanding every day, but we are not moving from Kibera," he told the Nation when the label was at its peak. The studio was first at Kibera Plaza, then in an apartment in Makina, then a bungalow in Olympic estate. After a burglary that took about Sh1.5 million of equipment, it reopened in Magiwa estate, Ngumo, next door.
The hits
Grandpa's roster over the years has included DNA, Kenrazy, Kidis, Ng'ang'alito, Dufla, Gin Ideal and Uganda's Cindy Sanyu. Its biggest songs include Fimbo ya Pili by the Grandpa Family, Maswali ya Polisi by DNA and Kamua Leo by Kidis.
The label scouted talent through monthly Grandpa Nights at Secrets Lounge and ran a Grandpa Super Cup youth football tournament at Woodley grounds. "I was also born in Kibera, so it was my way of giving back," Refigah told Nairobi News.
Last year in music
In 2022 he said it would be his last year in music after 18 years, while relaunching the label with new acts. On 14 April 2022 he received the DAP-K ticket to contest the Kibra parliamentary seat in that August's election. KNN could not confirm the label's current activity from published reports.
Sources: Nation, The Grandpa invasion; Nairobi News, studio move; Nairobi News, reopening; Nairobi News, 2022; K24, 14 Apr 2022; The Standard, 16 Nov 2018.
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
Kibera Creatives is a KNN series on the artists, designers and performers who built their names from Kibera. Profiles are compiled from published reports and the subjects’ own public pages; sources are listed at the end. Spotted an error? Write to news@kibranewsnetwork.co.ke.
Yusuf Noah, known as Refigah, was born in Kibera and started out as a rapper in the early 2000s with the group Nubians With Attitude. His debut album was called Mtoto wa Kibra. He is better known today for what came after: Grandpa Records, the label and talent company he founded and runs.
“We are expanding every day, but we are not moving from Kibera,” he told the Nation when the label was at its peak. The studio was first at Kibera Plaza, then in an apartment in Makina, then a bungalow in Olympic estate. After a burglary that took about Sh1.5 million of equipment, it reopened in Magiwa estate, Ngumo, next door.
The hits
Grandpa’s roster over the years has included DNA, Kenrazy, Kidis, Ng’ang’alito, Dufla, Gin Ideal and Uganda’s Cindy Sanyu. Its biggest songs include Fimbo ya Pili by the Grandpa Family, Maswali ya Polisi by DNA and Kamua Leo by Kidis.
The label scouted talent through monthly Grandpa Nights at Secrets Lounge and ran a Grandpa Super Cup youth football tournament at Woodley grounds. “I was also born in Kibera, so it was my way of giving back,” Refigah told Nairobi News.
Last year in music
In 2022 he said it would be his last year in music after 18 years, while relaunching the label with new acts. On 14 April 2022 he received the DAP-K ticket to contest the Kibra parliamentary seat in that August’s election. KNN could not confirm the label’s current activity from published reports.
KNN Newsroom is the staff byline for stories written, rewritten and edited at the Kibra News Network desk. Where a story credits an outside outlet, the original source is linked at the foot of the piece.
