Alan Olao aka Twenny Eights is a Kenyan rapper and one half of the acclaimed rap duo TNT. He’s not just trendy with his music, but with his style and proclaims himself as ‘The Best Dressed’ artiste around. He chats with Jackson Onyango about his fashion and his latest merchandise collection recently released.

What is style to you? 

Basically how you present yourself; how you move, and a couple things come with that. You have to have money if you’re stylish. Money is style to me. Ha-ha.

In your song New Shoes off in the latest EP Hated Beloved is a snapshot of your love for shoe culture. How many pairs of kicks do you have? 

I don’t think I can count. They are too many. I just copped a new pair of Nike Air Forces recently.

Do you have a pair that you are sentimental with?

Yes. The low-cut Nike Air Forces. They make me feel like a boss. They remind me of my broke days when I used to hustle so hard. They are mad comfortable too. You can run away from police, jump over walls, and such kind of things. 

You proclaim you are the best dressed rapper in Nairobi. Who do you think is your closest competition?

I think my competition is what I wore yesterday. My statement was off the back of the fact that I am my own stylist and I live and wear my truth everyday.

Check my Instagram if you don’t believe me. A lot of artistes have rented a lot of that stuff you see them flaunt, so at the end of the show, they take all that back. But I don’t move like that.

What inspires your daily fits?

It depends on what I’m getting into on the day. For instance, if I’m going to an event, I’ll probably just go with the dress code, but it depends mostly on how I’m feeling on that day. If I’m feeling grim, I’ll put on some black. 

Do your consider yourself a ‘hype beast’ because you dress in a lot of high fashion brands?

Not really. I’m just into anything I consider good style.

What Kenyan brands do you support, and what do you think needs to be done for Kenyans to start embracing more local brands?

A lot of stuff I wear from Kenyan brands is custom-made. It’s easier to say the ones I don’t support. I think the designers making Kenyan-made stuff need to have more purpose.

Some of the designs are lazy; like you can’t put two letters on your clothes and expect me to spend my quid on that, that’s not fashion.

For example, my clothing line has a certain thought process to it in regard to the fabric and design. Fashion tells a lot about the type of person you are. 

In your first music video you had singer Bey T as a vixen. How did you even come up with that idea, and how do you rate her as an artiste?

I saw Bey T on Instagram. I played my part, and I paid for that to happen in cash.

I picked her up from Valley Arcade in a drop top Mercedes Benz. I’m not going to rate her music because that’s for the fans.

What are your current favourite fashion brands right now?

I like Nike, Bape, and Amiri. 

What’s your signature fragrance?

Gas. 

What trend should we leave behind?

Hating needs to stop. Broke people need to be left behind. Lazy folks and rats died in 1990.