NAIROBI, Kenya – In November 2023, when the Grammy Awards announced the first five nominees for Best African Music Performance, only South Africa and Nigeria were represented. The news sparked debate about the continuing trend of contemporary music from both countries, Amapiano and Afrobeats, dominating the continent of her 54 countries.
This was especially true in Kenya. The East African country is one of the continent's cultural heavyweights and a leader in many other fields as well. But in Africa and most parts of the world, there is no Kenyan music on dance floors or on the airwaves.
Some of today's most famous names, such as boy band Sauti Sol, have achieved some degree of crossover across continents, winning Grammy Awards for their work with bands from Nigeria and South Africa. However, their fame and appeal still lag behind their counterparts.
Amapiano and Afrobeats receive heavy airplay within Kenya as well. Bongo flava, a genre from near Tanzania, is also very popular, perhaps in part because the songs are written in Swahili, the main language of both countries.
When Universal Music Group (UMG) announced the launch of Def Jam Africa in 2020, the label announced locations in Nigeria and South Africa, but promised to sign music from across the continent. Other major record companies such as Warner Music and Sony Music also have stores in both countries. Some of the signed artists are from outside these music hubs, but Kenyans are yet to break into them.
For Tabu Osa, a Nairobi-based writer, music producer and record label executive, it's clear why Kenya is not on the continent's radar.
“Kenyan music has no identity,” he told Al Jazeera.
According to Osusa, identity is not only sound but also generational lineage. Groups of melodies, changes in phrases, rhythms that flow from one year to the next. He added that Afrobeat and Amapiano have these qualities and are uniquely African. In comparison, no equivalent exists in Kenya.
South African artist Tyra performs at a New Year's Eve celebration in New York City, USA on December 31, 2023. [Jeenah Moon/Reuters]
A shrinking identity
Kenyan music was characterized by the distinctive plucking sound of the guitar, strummed to imitate a traditional eight-string harp. Once everyone heard it, they knew what it was. It's Benga's music. Benga, which comes from the Luo word meaning beauty, settled in Kenya in the 50s and his 60s and spread across the continent in the 70s.
The musicians transferred the sounds of traditional western Kenyan songs to the guitar, creating the unique “pluck, plucking” sound that is Benga's signature.
Osusa blames colonialism for the genre's demise.
“When we became independent [in 1963]Our fathers left everything in the village,'' he said, referring to their migration to the city in the 1970s. “Our culture, our food, our sense of dress, our music. They moved to the towns for a fresh start, but if someone brought something from the village, that person would be called Mushamba (from the village). It was labeled as “.
“I don't know why we didn't move our culture to the cities,” Osusa said. “Nigerians did that. That's why they were able to make village life funky and sexy.” [through their music]. There is a continuity from the days of Juju music to Afrobeats as Nigerian musicians have always valued those before them. ”
Bill Odidi, music writer for Business Daily Africa and radio host on Music Time in Africa, agrees with Osusa's theory. He says Kenyans have lost their musical heritage and with it their chance to break into the mainstream.
But he also believes that Kenya's early political and economic conditions after independence “did not allow music to flourish.”
“Indigenous culture was actually being suppressed by settler communities,” Odidi said. “Those who came to power after independence continued similar policies in place. They admired the Western and British way of life. [more] More than they did on their own. ”
stuck in a loop
According to Kenyan musicians, colonialism is not the only thing holding back Kenyan musicians.
One of the problems is the fear of defining music as a career.
Kenyan R&B singer Maya Amoro, who was recognized as one of Spotify's Fresh Finds Africa artists in 2022, said, “Many artists are hesitant to pursue music full-time.” “The problem is that we haven't developed as an industry. South Africa and Nigeria, they've been building and evolving their music industries for a very long time, and we haven't. With some kind of structure. If you don’t have a functioning industry, you can’t make money.”
This creates an unavoidable loop. The industry is underdeveloped because people don't pursue art full-time. People don't pursue art full-time because the industry is underdeveloped.
'Blinky' Bill Selanga, frontman of Kenyan alternative group Just a Band, believes Kenyan fans and the local music industry need to do more for artists.
“We didn’t rally behind Kenyan music,” Selanga said. “Microphones aren't traditionally given to us. There's been a music industry in Nigeria and South Africa and even Congo for a long time. They've been able to really hone their sound, and they've been able to develop their Kenyan DJs promote Afrobeats and Amapiano. Nigerian DJs don't do the same for us.”
Artists cite further reasons for East Africa's failure to break into the mainstream. With fewer Kenyans wanting to leave the country compared to Nigerians (45% vs. 19%, according to Pew Research Center), exports of Kenyan culture have also declined as a result.
Kenyan studios are underfunded and production quality can be several years behind other African countries. Some say Kenya's music scene is defined by chasing the success of Nigeria and South Africa.
Nevertheless, Selanga believes that the lack of a cohesive sound is why Kenya is a great place to grow and learn as an artist.
“Certainly Kenyan music is more regional,” Selanga says. “The sounds of Kenya around us vary from place to place. The beauty of these differences is what makes us special. Just A Band could not exist in any other country in Africa. Sho.”
'Blinky' Bill Selanga, frontman of Kenyan music group Just a Band [Courtesy of Bill Sellanga]
“They want to hear.”
Some artists are constantly striving to prioritize Kenyan culture in order to rediscover Kenyan sounds and make them heard.
Shipton Onyango, who goes by the stage name Winyo, has been a Benga artist for over 15 years. “I want to focus on Benga's music. I only want to create something fresh and new for the global market that can relate to Benga's music,” said the singer, who is active with Ossa's Ketebul Music.
While Winyo agrees with most of Ossa's theories, he also agrees with some of his peers that efforts to bring Kenyan music to the forefront need to focus on current sounds rather than reviving the past. are doing.
Some of the new music being made is Benga, and some is not. But not enough people are listening.
“People want to know what the Kenyan sound is and how to work with it,” says Winyo. “I think a lot of musicians in the industry are back to square one. They want to know what the Kenyan sound is. They would be shocked to know that many Kenyans like Kenyan music. They want to hear it. There's a market for it.”