Bensoul Flight 420: Reggae and Afrosoul, Out Now

By Cole Ashby,

Bensoul in a red suit for the Flight 420 press campaign
Photo: Brian Kinywa

The album lands

Bensoul released Flight 420, a 13-track album, on October 30, 2026 via his own imprint. Apple Music and Spotify both list the date as October 30 and credit his imprint on the rights line. The press note that went out on October 29 had pointed at October 31. The stores win on the street date.

Bensoul: Flight 420

The Kenyan singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist built the project as a turn toward reggae and Caribbean color without dropping the Afrosoul and Afropop base that made his name. Singles "Mariwana," "NYR," "NaEnjoy" and "Last Night" arrived first. The album then stretches those ideas across 13 songs and about 44 minutes.

Life, joy, passion

Bensoul frames the record around three ideas: life, joy and passion. In the release he puts it plainly. "I'm at a stage in my life where I've come to appreciate the simple things in life," he says. "This album wasn't about hits, or creating what is supposed to trend, it was about encapsulating the feelings I have on a day to day basis, knowing that I'm not the only one."

He is also clear about method. "Kenyan music has a beautiful way of taking what we love and mixing it with who we are to make it ours," he says. "Over the years, I've experimented with music that inspires me and found that what works for me isn't trying to copy others but fuse my style to what inspires me." That is the useful quote for this album: not a genre cosplay, a filter.

Daily Nation later caught him saying the same thing in his own words after release: this is the reggae and dancehall project he had wanted for years, after chasing bangers pulled him off that path. About five songs on the album sit in that lane, he told the paper, and one of them had waited seven years.

Who built it

The release credits a February writing camp and a tight circle. Producers Hendrick Sam, Wuodomollo and Jaz Beatz shaped the sessions. Trevor Magak recorded the instruments. Backing vocalists Lisa Odour, Jojo Ocholla and Lexxie Waweru are singled out on "Casanova" and "Thank You." Hornsphere, longtime allies, add horns on selected cuts. Ywaya Tajiri shows up as a songwriting and harmony partner and is featured on "Mariwana."

The guest list on the store pages is wider still: Scar Mkadinali on "NYR," Watendawili on "NaEnjoy," Mike Kayihura, Spyro, Kasiva Mutua, Savara and Coster Ojwang. That is a Nairobi bench, not a random feature stack.

Bensoul's path into this moment is public record. Born Benson Mutua Muia on March 4, 1996, he was the first artist signed to Sauti Sol's label in 2019, scored with "Lucy," then left when the deal ended and started his own imprint. He co-wrote "Time Flies" on Burna Boy's Grammy-winning Twice as Tall. Earlier albums The Lion of Sudah and The Party & The After Party marked that label exit and the independent start. Flight 420 is album three under his own roof.

Flight 420 tracklist

  1. Intro
  2. Ghetto
  3. NYR (with Scar Mkadinali)
  4. Robin Hood (with Hornsphere)
  5. NaEnjoy (with Watendawili)
  6. Nobody Wins, Nobody Loses (with Mike Kayihura)
  7. A Glass Of Wine (with Spyro)
  8. Bossanova (with Kasiva Mutua)
  9. Mariwana (with Ywaya Tajiri)
  10. Last Night
  11. Casanova
  12. Tears of Joy (with Savara and Coster Ojwang)
  13. Thank You

Bensoul x Watendawili, "NaEnjoy" (Official Music Video)

My read

The strongest claim this album makes is timing. Bensoul waited until he had a label he owns, a camp he trusts and a reason that is not chart math. The quotes about simple things and not chasing trends would sound soft if the tracklist were empty. It is not. Thirteen songs, four pre-release singles and a guest list that stays inside his world is a finished statement, not a mood board.

I cannot tell you how the reggae sits against the Afrosoul from my own ears here. What I can say is that the artist who co-wrote on Twice as Tall and then walked away from Kenya's biggest pop-adjacent machine is choosing roots on purpose. Start with "NaEnjoy" and "NYR," then sit with "Thank You," the track he says sealed the album for him on a drive to Ngong Hills at sunset.

Related reading on KAZI: Ayra Starr's "Ms. Paper" video, Cruel Santino's K.O.T.B: The Bomberman Chronicles and daine's In Endless Awe.

Verdict: An independent third album that trades trend-chasing for a reggae-leaning personal record, documented with clear dates, credits and the artist's own words.

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