Ukweli & Xenia Manasseh - Rudia | Music Video

The music video for Rudia by Xenia Manasseh and Ukweli blends heritage and modernity to reflect both the song’s meaning and Kenya’s evolving cultural identity. Rudia (“repeat” in Swahili) is a bilingual track in English and Swahili, combining the coastal taarab tradition rooted in Arabic, Indian, and African influences with contemporary West African afrobeats.

Visually, the film draws from Xenia’s Mijikenda and coastal heritage, adopting a haunting, archival style. Costuming highlights this cultural interplay: women in colorful kaftans and boubous, men in traditional white kanzus, juxtaposed with sharp black-and-white Western-inspired outfits symbolizing capitalist influence.

Shot at Nairobi’s colonial-era MacMillan Library, the vintage, partially dilapidated setting deepens the archival theme while underscoring the balance Nairobi’s youth continually navigate between ancestral roots and global modernity.

Director: Matthew Matete