The biggest songs of the year

The year has been a blur. For many, it feels like we blinked twice and those Christmas songs were all over the streets again. But while the year has been “short”, it has been jam-packed. It brought mixed fortunes to the entertainment industry and, as we bid goodbye to it, let’s reflect on the biggest songs of the year.

It’s hard to gauge which song was bigger and why —  is it by YouTube views, airplay, the number of times it played in the clubs, matatus or the barbershop? Without a definite measure, it becomes hard to state, but we tried to consider all these criteria.

The established acts stayed on course; Sauti Sol ruled the airwaves and so did Khaligraph, Octopizzo, Nyashinski, Diamond, and others. It was a year of many surprises; many of which our Buzz crystal ball accurately predicted. Audiences were spoilt for choice as artistes, known and unknown, dropped hits after hits. Here is our pick of some the biggest songs of 2016.

HITS TURNED TO CATCHPHRASES:

These are the songs you have danced to all year, but you probably didn’t know who sang them. They are the hits that came from newbies, many of whom got their big break this year after hustling for years.

"Bank Otuch Remix" by Vicmass Luo Dollar, featuring Octopizzo: Before this collabo, Vicmass was just one of many hustling showbiz wannabes, but this mega hit catapulted him into the limelight. Many still believe the song is by Octopizzo. They don’t know there is an original one done over a year before. We have a feeling Vicmass does not mind, he is making some money off the song.

"Yego" by Khaligraph Jones and "Micasa Sucasa" by Kaligraph featuring Cashy: There was a supremacy war for the king of rap pitting King Kaka, Juliani and Khaligraph against each other. These two hits settled the rap battle better than any cipher or social media beef could. There is just no doubt that Papa Jones is the undisputed king of rap. Anyone who wants to contest that should do it in a studio booth, not on Twitter.

"Thii Ukiumaga" by Jose Gatutura and "Kihiki Understanding" by Sam Waikambo. These two songs were so big they doubled up as DJ drops and their titles became catch phrases. Unlike many vernacular hits, the pair were such cultural and language crossovers that everybody was jamming to them. As is typical with vernacular music, the songs had very deep meaning and a moral, so get a translation from a Kikuyu friend.

"Thitima" by Kymo and Stiga, and "Ayaya" by Majic Mike featuring Kriss Erroh: With the exception of Kriss Erroh, you probably have to Google the other gospel break-outs that brought us these two hits. Their songs, on the other hand, are undeniable hits, eliciting love and hate in equal measure.

COMEBACK HITS:

"Now You Know" and "Mungu Pekee" by Nyashinski: He did come out of hibernation and shot straight to the top of the charts. You cannot argue that he did not produce two brilliant songs that helped excite fans. Nyashinski’s former groupmate, Collo, also came back with "Bazokizo", featuring Bruz Newton, and introduced a new dance style. There is no need to explain this one — if you haven’t heard them yet, just Google, play and hit replay like the rest of us have been doing all year.

THE OBVIOUS HITS:

There are artistes who will always drop a hit song, come rain come shine. We knew they were coming, we just didn’t know when. This class of artistes work hard, avoid unnecessary Twitter drama and produce content that speaks for itself. They include; Sauti Sol, Alikiba and Diamond. This year they gave us:

"Unconditionally Bae": Sauti Sol featuring Alikiba.

"Kuliko Jana": Sauti Sol featuring Red Forth chorus.

"Aje": Alikiba.

"Salome": Diamond Platinum featuring Rayvanny

TWERK ANTHEMS:

Songs that get girls to shake what their mommas gave them. There is always that category of twerk songs that only make sense at 3am in a club, the kind of song you pray your daughter doesn’t know and, if she does, cannot do the moves. These year’s ultimate twerk anthems were.

"Gudi Gudi": Everlast, Naiboi and Kristoff.

"Wabe": Gabu and Frasha, featuring Dj Joe Mfalme.

"Kamatia Chini": Navy Kenzo.

"Work": Rihanna featuring Drake.

WHY-OH-WHY HITS:

These are the songs that make you scratch your head; you know they are hits but you just can’t figure out why. They often come from artistes like AkotheE, Timmy T Dat or Designer. But love them or hate them, they are a resilient lot who will continue to drop hits.

"Haitosi": Timmy T Dat

"Panda": Designer

"Give it to me": Akothe featuring Flavour

"Dus Nyau": Timmy T Dat

COULDA, WOULDA, SHOULDA

There are songs that could have made it, would have made it, shoulder have made it, but for some strange reasons didn’t. They are great songs from amazing artistes, loved by many, but just didn’t break the sound barrier.

"Besha Shigana" by Kaka Sungura. This is where the line between hit or miss gets fuzzy. The song was actually pretty good, but it never really took off. Could be because many thought he had copied Octopizzo on Bank Otuch.

"Mkono wa Bwana" by Mercy Masika: Her last two songs were tough acts to follow; the market expectations were sky high after her previous smash hits. So far, "Mkono wa Bwana" has been well received but hasn’t reached the "Mwema" level. But knowing Mercy Masika, her songs have a knack of taking their time to hit and when they do, they stay there for years. So it is probably too early to totally discredit this one.

REGULAR NAIJA FIX:

It is yet to be established why, but Kenyans just have a fetish for all things Naija. From TV shows to movies to music, we just can’t get enough from the West. As such every year, we just have to get our Naija fix and there is always an artiste or two who is at hand to feed our addiction. On their part, Naija artistes have realised the Kenyan potential and are working extra hard. This year we have seen collabos with Kenyan artistes, Kiswahili remixes and every effort to bend over backward to secure their place in Kenya. Our Naija fix of the year include:

"Na Gode": Yemi Alade.

"Africa": Sauti Sol featuring Yemi Alade.

"No Kissing Baby": Patoranking featuring Sarkodie.