Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

1. Rage Against The MachineRage Against The Machine

Tom Morello is the cousin of our former president in Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta. They’re in the same family! So this rockstar comes to Kenyatta’s monument every year. I got into them more [after] realising we are very close. Also, Tom Morello is a big fan of my grandma. He posts pictures of her and comments on different pages about her because his dad [Ngethe Njoroge] used to be a provincial commissioner in Kenya way back, and they used to know each other.

Rage Against The Machine is real, man. They’re activists, they stand up for the oppressed, all these positive things they do around the world. I love their music too because of how they are. It’s so groovy and fun, what they do on stage.

My grandma and Jomo Kenyatta were very close. When Kenya got independence, [the Mau Mau] didn’t even know because they were in the forest. People had to go look for them to tell them it was over, because they were still fighting even though everything had been agreed upon. Jomo Kenyatta invited them from the forest to the stadium in Nyeri. They all came with their weapons and laid them down at the stadium, and that’s where an iconic picture of my grandma was taken on that day.

Selected in other Baker’s Dozens: Judas Priest
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