Penya's different sound and style

You cannot talk about Kenyan musicians and fail to have Just-A-Band, Sauti Sol and Dela in the top five.

Sauti Sol are still ruling the airwaves and Muthoni the Drummer Queen is all over with her song “Mikono juu ya hewa”.

However, the unsung heroes as usual are the people behind the revolutionary sound; they are the people who believe they are not made for TV or would rather act as the battery or engine, which is ever hidden from view at Penya Africa.

You can thank its founders, Robert “Wawesh” Waweru who is best known for “Wawesh ni mjanja” fame, Nynke Nunta who worked with Ukoo Flani Mau Mau’s “All over the world” album.

So how did a rapper go soft? “No, Wawesh is not a rapper, I am a music producer who composes, arranges, records, mixes and masters music for almost 20 years now,” he says.

“I also develop and manage talent in the area of music and lastly I am the executive director of Penya Africa.”

Wawesh says he wants to do something about our cultural legacy, which stretches beyond hip hop music.

“The Wawesh Mjanja was a personal project that I shared with the world and that was that, Makmende is going to set this record straight on my behalf once and for all.”

He says the current wave being created by artistes from his stable is not a fluke but a carefully studied and followed strategy.

“It’s not even the slightest of a fluke; we recognised a gap and unrepresented voice in the industry. We are also inspired by the people around us that have expressed a wish for change and more creativity and authenticity in the music of our country,” he says.

He however admits he never expects Kenyans to embrace their sound this fast.

“It has happened very fast and it’s a bit overwhelming since at first we got very little love from the main stream media.

"Penya’s vision is to build a sustainable a competent, globally recognised East African organisation that will inspire and develop innovative musicians to be influential agents of change both locally & internationally.”

Whats the game plan especially with Sauti Sol?

“We strongly believe that Sauti Sol are here to stay, they are the genuine thing and they play an important role in Kenya’s music industry, they show that indeed one can be young, write and perform great music that can be enjoyed by your entire family.

Their products are of the highest quality and our society have paid attention and also made sure that they now make a living from music alone.”

And they are not all about talk, Wawesh says Sauti Sol have the album sales to show for their work saying they have remained a best seller for six months.

Their second album is already written and will be recorded and produced during the upcoming European tour from June to August this year.