The history of the Mauritian reggae-creole group Otentikk Street Brothers begins in 1992. When hanging around in the streets of their hometown Plaisance, a suburb of Rose-Hill, like many other youngsters around the globe the two brothers Bruno and Koeny Raya got infected with the hiphop virus, which was then being spread by acts like Public Enemy, Run DMC, or LL Cool J. Over a short period of time they had a following of many young Mauritians, and particularly Bruno Raya (a.k.a. Master KKool B) was soon recognized as a voice of the young generation.

During the early period of the crew their performances were sound-system shows. In these days there was virtually no infrastructure for the production and releasing of CDs or for the promotion of live shows. If they wanted to perform or record something the group had no chance but to organize everything themselves.

The state of the Mauritian society as well as the death of reggae musician and folk hero KAYA, who died under unexplained circumstances in police custody, lead to a change in the music and attitude of Otentikk Street Brothers. They turned away from hiphop, a culture they felt to be based on machismo and violence. From the beginning it was as important to the Otentikk Street Brothers to direct a growing audience’s focus on political and social problems as was having fun making their music.

Over the years Bruno Raya has truly become one of the most influential moral authorities in Mauritius. It is surely helpful that Bruno – as well as the other members of the crew – despite the quite explicit way in which he expresses his opinions never fell for a narrow-minded approach and never ceased to address the problems of his homeland openly - whether it was political mismanagement or the general apathy of lower class people he criticized.

After some member-changes the group released their first album Ragga Kreol under the name Otentikk Street Brothers in 1994. Between 1994 and 1998 the current line-up gradually took shape. First came BLAKKAYO (Jean Clario Gateaux) a gifted toaster, then TIKKENZO (Kensley Lafolle), who brought back some hiphop flavour with his rap-oriented style, and finally “singjay” DAGGER KKILA (Pascal Ferdinand), responsible mostly for catchy hooklines. With this line-up they soon became one of the most successful acts in the whole Indian Ocean region. Their eagerly awaited third album “Noukkilla” was released in 2001. In 2004 the fourth - and latest – album Rewey Twa was recorded and showed a group that had finally found their own unique style.

Though all songs are clearly based on reggae and dancehall tunes the album is still uniquely different from typical Jamaican and European productions, not only because of the language of the lyrics. The subtle use of traditional Mauritian elements and musical styles like sega and outstanding songwriting skills make the songs special and original. Otentikk Street Brothers are a grown identity, with a charismatic live show, outstanding musical skills, a singular approach to songwriting and – last but not least – a whole bag full of great songs that have the power to inspire people far beyond the boundaries of the reggae and dancehall community.