Muroki Mbote Wa Githinji (born 2000/2001), known mononymously as Muroki, is a Kenyan-New Zealand reggae musician. A member of the bands Cloak Bay and Masaya, Muroki debuted as a solo musician in 2019. In 2021, Muroki's song "Wavy" became a hit single in New Zealand.

Biography

Muroki grew up in

Raglan, New Zealand Raglan is a small beachside town located 48 km west of Hamilton, New Zealand on State Highway 23. It is known for its surfing, and volcanic black sand beaches. History The Ngāti Māhanga iwi occupied the area around Raglan in the la ...

, and at 14 decided he wanted to become a musician. Together with Lennox Reynolds, the pair formed the group Cloak Bay, releasing their debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

''Digi Town and the Boogie Boys'' in 2017. In 2019, Muroki began releasing music as the bassist for the band Masaya. In 2019, Muroki released his debut solo single "For Better or Worse", which caught the attention of New Zealand musician Benee, who played it during her appearance on

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's podcast ''Rocket Hour''. Benee later reached out to Muroki over

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, and asked him to perform as a supporting act of her New Zealand tour in late 2020. In October 2020, Benee signed Muroki as the first musician on Olive Records, her personal imprint label. In April 2021, Muroki released ''Dawn'', an

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

he had been working on for a year alongside producers

Josh Fountain Kidz in Space is a New Zealand pop and hip-hop group, consisting of Josh Fountain, Ashley Hughes and Mat "Neesh" Neshat. Their costumed media appearances have been likened to those of band, Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand rock ba ...

and

Djeisan Suskov Cool Rainbows was a psychedelic indie pop band based in Auckland, New Zealand. According to a review, "Cool Rainbows make psychedelic indie pop music that is backed by swirling orchestration and layered dreamscapes of sound." They released their ...

. The lead single from the EP, "Wavy", became a hit in New Zealand later in the year, and during

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori ( en, Māori Language Week) is a government-sponsored initiative intended to encourage New Zealanders to promote the use of the Māori language which is an official language of the country. Māori Language Week is part of a broader movement to ...

Muroki released a Te Reo version of the song, entitled "Rehurehu".

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

Other charted songs

Guest appearances

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control 21st-century New Zealand male singers Living people Māori-language singers New Zealand male singer-songwriters New Zealand people of Kenyan descent New Zealand record producers New Zealand reggae musicians People from Raglan, New Zealand Year of birth missing (living people)