With more than forty different regional languages, the country’s musical panorama is rich and remarkably complex. Driving through Nairobi’s streets in your matatu, you will hear songs in Luhya, Luo, Kamba, and Kikuyu on every street corner. Music has traditionally been a distinctive feature of Kenyan ethnic groups, such as the Kikuyu, Kenya’s largest ethnic community, and the Luo people of the Lake Victoria region, who have always been particularly well known for their musical culture.
In addition to its entertainment value, Kenyan music has always been, and is still today, a major vehicle for sharing information and educating local populations. Opondo Owenga, a traditional Benga musician, was well known during the colonial era for his use of music to convey the history of the Luo people. Such musical riches are under threat, however, since traditional music rooted in oral tradition is disappearing at an alarming rate.The roots of Kenya’s popular music can be traced to the 1950s. The most characteristic pop sound is Benga music, which was born on the lakeshore and originates from the Luo community. It is a crossover of traditional rhythms and instruments, such as the nyatiti lyre, the orutu single stringed fiddle, the ohangla drums, and modern dance. Benga became so popular that ethnic groups from six out of Kenya’s eight provinces have adapted it to their own style and flavor, while retaining the pulsing beat, high energy bass, interlocking guitar riffs and recurrent voice solos which characterize the Benga genre. The complex rhythms include indigenous and imported rhythms, notably the Congolese beat. The Shirati jazz band, formed in 1967, was one of the first Benga bands to make a major breakthrough. Others were George Ramogi, Victoria Jazz Band, DK and Joseph Kamaru, who received international exposure in the 70’s. Recently, traditional Kenyan music attracted international attention when the songs of the singer Ayub Ogada were featured in the award winning 2005 movie “The Constant Gardener.” The Kenyan music scene bears out an old proverb in the region that says “seeing is different from being told.” A journey through Kenya reveals the pride of the people in their creative traditions, and a growing commitment to developing viable creative industries. While there are challenges, the future for Kenyan music is bright.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
THE MEDIA HAS BEEN CORRUPT!!
The media has not been keeping it real in promoting our up and coming artists.I spoke to some of them while making a documentary,and they had a lot to share with me.They claimed that the people working in radio and TV stations demanded bribes from them or "Kitu kidogo", for them to atleast see their videos or hear their music on air.According to Cintu,the amount of money demanded is between kshs8000 - kshs10000.Some producers have also been blamed for collaborating with the unnamed media personalities.Labala of Wakamba Wawili duo,Ukoo Flani Mau Mau family,has been quoted saying that Clemo of Calif records actually bribed certain unnamed media personalities with upto kshs10000 to have music from his label get more airplay than others and thats why Kapuka and Genge artists became more famous than Hiphop,Reggea,Ragga and Afrofusion musicians.
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