In what direction is Kenyan music heading?

musician

What you need to know:

  • A major theme that emerged from the interaction between artists from different eras was the lack of an official framework to support the work and development of musicians.
  • The success of Kenyan music in the 1970s was due to the emergence of Benga as a unique genre that was played by musicians across the country, prominent among them, D.O. Misiani, D.K. Kamau and Joseph Kamaru.
  • Kenyan records, exported by EMI Records and then producer Oluoch Kanindo’s label were hugely popular in West and Southern Africa and the benga rhythm was adopted by bands like the hugely successful Zimbabwean group, the Bhundu Boys.

Being the year when the country celebrated its 50th independence anniversary, last year provided an excellent opportunity to take stock of both the milestones in the music industry since 1963 and the lost opportunities.

There was a refreshing change to national day celebrations when living legends of Kenyan pop music like Sal Davis, who performed at the Independence celebrations in 1963, Nabil Sansool and Teddy Kalanda, performed at the Mashujaa Day celebrations in October.

The 10th edition of Kenya Music Week held at the Sarit Centre two weeks ago, featured illuminating discussions on 50 years of Kenyan music with discussions around the identity of the country’s sound, or lack thereof.

Veteran performer John Nzenze who began recording music just after independence, most notably with Daudi Kabaka, told the forum how his generation of musicians borrowed from the kwela of South Africa and developed their own style called the African Twist.

The record companies at the time limited the musicians to not more than four singles per year and according to Nzenze that is why many of the songs made by that pioneer generation of Kenyan stars are still known and loved to this day.

'LITTLE ATTENTION PAID TO CREATIVITY'

“Today, with all the computers and gadgets at the disposal of musicians, very little attention is paid to creativity, a song is recorded in the morning and by afternoon it is playing on radio,” says Nzenze.

There were heated responses when the artist Point Blank, winner of the MC Africa Kenya in 2009 said he had no apologies for making music with a distinct American flavour.

“I grew up on MTV and was exposed to very little Kenyan sound and so I am a product of that generation,” said the rapper.

Rab Bakari from Universal Music Group in New York, a special guest at this year’s Kenya Music Week, said “It is such debates that led to the development of a new genre from the classic highlife and combined with contemporary styles like hip hop to give life to hip life,” he said.

A major theme that emerged from the interaction between artists from different eras was the lack of an official framework to support the work and development of musicians.

Pianist Francis Njoroge who played with some the country’s top bands in the 1970s and 80s like Makonde and African Heritage gave the example of the taxation levied on musical instruments as luxury items as a major hindrance to the development of music.

The success of Kenyan music in the 1970s was due to the emergence of Benga as a unique genre that was played by musicians across the country, prominent among them, D.O. Misiani, D.K. Kamau and Joseph Kamaru. Kenyan records, exported by EMI Records and then producer Oluoch Kanindo’s label were hugely popular in West and Southern Africa and the benga rhythm was adopted by bands like the hugely successful Zimbabwean group, the Bhundu Boys.

If the 1970s witnessed a boom in Kenyan music, the following decade the industry suffered a major decline due to piracy pand leading to the exit of major record companies like CBS and EMI.

This was the decade of the disco and the few surviving bands were not able to cope with the onslaught of Congolese groups like Orchestre Mangelepa and Super Mazembe.

Is it true that there has been a revival of the music business in Kenya since the 1990s?

This article first appeared in the Business Daily. CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article.