Biography

Kaikpai (E. Kaikpai Paasewe) is a drummer, dancer, choreographer, and storyteller of the Vai ethnic group which migrated from the Mali empire into coastal region of West Africa now called Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Vai also have one of first original written languages of Africa. His family lived in Jenne Wonde of Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia, West Africa. He used to travel with his uncles, drummers who played at village festivals and other ceremonial occasions. His name Kiakpai means 'skinny man'. At age seven, he graduated from the Poro (Men's secret society). Ever since, he has held strong to his traditional culture.

Kaikpai was a street dancer in the streets of Monrovia for two years until recruited by the director of the National