Game changers of Kenya’s entertainment scene

When a skinny looking, blonde haired Redsan and an equally emaciated Jose Chameleone released the song “Bageya” almost 11 years ago, few would have imagined that the two would grow to be among the biggest names in East Africa.

They are heavyweights in their own right and have influenced many but not as much as the people behind that song, Ogopa Djs.

Hands down, one of the most influential record labels in Africa, Ogopa deejays saw the promise that Kenyan music had, long before we even thought of it.

Ogopa started with three artistes, Redsan, Chameleone and Bebe Cool but now run an empire and have recorded a gazillion chart topping hits and have spread their tentacles to as far away lands as Malawi.

They took over from Tedd Josiah, who is among the pioneers of the “Kenyan music revolution” with artistes like Kalamashaka and Hardstone, who are some of the most influential artistes in Kenya and the ultimate game changers in our local industry.

Kalamashaka started out the whole Swahili rap at a time when every aspiring rapper tried to rap and be like Dr Dre, Tupac or Notorious BIG.

It was a risky move which more than paid off when their song “Tafsiri Hii” hit the charts. Many of the best Kenyan rappers in Kenya today always pay tribute to the Kalamashaka trio.

As for Hardstone, he made vernacular cool when no youth would have been caught dead speaking the national language Swahili leave alone their mother tongue.

His “Uhiki” song was an instant hit and a Kenyan classic and helped influence artistes like Gidi Gidi Maji Maji who took it to the next level when they released “Ting Badi Malo” and later “Unbwogable”, which became the Kenyan unofficial anthem and they took over from the late Poxi Presha.

But while Kenyans were still marvelling at the Gidi Maji duo, another skinny artiste burst into the scene with a mouth so dirty, it made parents turn to Christ in fear of what was becoming of this generation.

Nonini and his “Wee Kamu” and “Manzi wa Nairobi” hit the scene like a colossus and he refused to go away. He was not a one hit wonder as many thought and he, knowingly or unknowingly, changed Kenyan music.

He made it edgier and more daring and at the same time, introduced a little known production house, Calif Records, to the national scene.

Calif, led by Clemmo, its producer, was the rebel sound and the Kenyan youth embraced it wholeheartedly. It had artistes like Jua Cali who in a way gave the youth from low income backgrounds some pride.

He made Calif, a low income neighbourhood look cool when he talked about “Ngazini” and other areas that define that part of Nairobi.

Still on music, deejays play a big role in it and it would be unfair not to mention DJ Pinye and DJ Adrian. They made the art look cool and a venture with big rewards. Parents stopped seeing it as a calling for the idle with loose morals.

Pinye changed the game when he introduced “The Beat” an exclusively music video show on NTV. It was different and the media embraced it in a big way.

Today, every TV station has a music show and that can all be traced back to the success of Pinye and “The Beat”.

He was also one of the first DJs on radio and that too was a big success and it is still a big thing locally.