Kleptomaniax

Kleptomaniax
Origin	Nairobi, Kenya
Genres	Kenyan hip hop, Kapuka rap, pop
Occupation(s)	Rapper, vocalist, record producer, DJ
Years active	1999-2010
Labels	Ogopa DJ's
Past members	Roba Collo Nyashinski

Kleptomaniax is a pop group from Nairobi, Kenya. The group consists of three members: Roba (Robert Manyasa), Collo (Collins Majale) and Nyashinski (Nyamari Ongegu).

Kleptomaniax were formed in 1999, when they were still high school students at the Nairobi School. The group joined the Ogopa DJ's label and released their first single, "Freak It" in 2002 and was followed by "Maniax Anthem" and "Haree." In 2004 the group released another single "Tuendelee", which became their biggest hit so far. The song was written as a response for the "Diss track" by various hip hop musician (including Bamboo), who criticised the commercial Kapuka music style performed by Kleptomaniax among others.

Their debut album M4E (an abbreviation for Maniax Forever) was released in 2005. Later that year the group received a MTV Europe Music Awards nomination for the Best African Act, a category awarded for the first time, but won by Nigerian recording artist 2Face Idibia. In 2007 Kleptomaniax toured the USA. The group was managed by Fakii Liwali.

After 2007 the group had a break while their members engaged in solo projects. The group has since made comeback, but have left Ogopa DJ's. The group released their second album NITT (Now Is The Time) in 2009. The group was believed to have disbanded after the release of their second album to pursue solo careers.

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