Post by Yona Maro on Sept 4, 2005 2:43:56 GMT -5
The benga, Zaïrean, and Swahili styles are not the only musical forms competing for the attention of the Kenyan audience.
International pop music is very popular in Kenyan discos and a number of clubs featuring live music are using bands that play "international" styles. This music can be sampled on the compilation, Top Hits from Kenya. Among many of Kenya's educated and working elite, Kenyan pop is seen as tired and out of fashion. Many of the top night clubs of the seventies and eighties have not survived into the 90s. Clubs that used to feature Zaïrean or Swahili music have closed for lack of customers.
Gospel music has been around a long time in Kenya in various musical styles. It is Christian music that could be choir music combining both European harmonic elements and African rhythms and melodies (as in Muungano National Choir) or it might be a choir featuring a lead vocalist, guitars, bass, and drum kit (as with IFC choir). Or, gospel music might come from small ensembles like guitar bands, but playing songs with religious or inspirational content. Several of Nairobi's most famous stars have gone from pop to gospel. Joseph Kamaru, a pillar of Kikuyu pop music since the 1960s, recently disbanded his band and reformed a gospel group. The style is so popular at the moment that the newspapers recently added top a ten weekly gospel chart to their African and International top ten lists.
Taarab, the popular music of the East African coast, has recently experienced a resurgence as a national pop form across Kenya (or at least some cross-over versions of taarab have been quite successful). Samba Mapangala adapted a version of the taarab standard "Vidonge" on his Feet On Fire CD. The same tune in two other versions has propelled vocalist Malika (in collaboration with the international pop group Them Mushrooms) and Zaïrean vocalist Moreno Batamba to number one status on the Kenyan pop charts. The song is popular because the various versions with different words argue the important topic of the status of women and their relationship to men. At the same time, Malika's tremendous success (including singer of the year honors) demonstrates the receptiveness of the larger Kenyan population outside the coastal zone to taarab.
For such a small country, the great diversity of musical styles and language interests in Kenya has created an extremely fragmented recording and performance market. On the subject of music policy, Kenya's government has been reluctant to get involved at an organizational level (although they have assisted in anti-piracy enforcement and copyright matters). For the industry participants; the producers, club owners, and broadcast programmers; the situation has always been chaotic, though lucrative for a few. For the average musician, however, making a living off music remains a difficult proposition at best. Although the Kenyan people may not always fully appreciate the musical choices available to them, Kenya is still a musical treasure house.
International pop music is very popular in Kenyan discos and a number of clubs featuring live music are using bands that play "international" styles. This music can be sampled on the compilation, Top Hits from Kenya. Among many of Kenya's educated and working elite, Kenyan pop is seen as tired and out of fashion. Many of the top night clubs of the seventies and eighties have not survived into the 90s. Clubs that used to feature Zaïrean or Swahili music have closed for lack of customers.
Gospel music has been around a long time in Kenya in various musical styles. It is Christian music that could be choir music combining both European harmonic elements and African rhythms and melodies (as in Muungano National Choir) or it might be a choir featuring a lead vocalist, guitars, bass, and drum kit (as with IFC choir). Or, gospel music might come from small ensembles like guitar bands, but playing songs with religious or inspirational content. Several of Nairobi's most famous stars have gone from pop to gospel. Joseph Kamaru, a pillar of Kikuyu pop music since the 1960s, recently disbanded his band and reformed a gospel group. The style is so popular at the moment that the newspapers recently added top a ten weekly gospel chart to their African and International top ten lists.
Taarab, the popular music of the East African coast, has recently experienced a resurgence as a national pop form across Kenya (or at least some cross-over versions of taarab have been quite successful). Samba Mapangala adapted a version of the taarab standard "Vidonge" on his Feet On Fire CD. The same tune in two other versions has propelled vocalist Malika (in collaboration with the international pop group Them Mushrooms) and Zaïrean vocalist Moreno Batamba to number one status on the Kenyan pop charts. The song is popular because the various versions with different words argue the important topic of the status of women and their relationship to men. At the same time, Malika's tremendous success (including singer of the year honors) demonstrates the receptiveness of the larger Kenyan population outside the coastal zone to taarab.
For such a small country, the great diversity of musical styles and language interests in Kenya has created an extremely fragmented recording and performance market. On the subject of music policy, Kenya's government has been reluctant to get involved at an organizational level (although they have assisted in anti-piracy enforcement and copyright matters). For the industry participants; the producers, club owners, and broadcast programmers; the situation has always been chaotic, though lucrative for a few. For the average musician, however, making a living off music remains a difficult proposition at best. Although the Kenyan people may not always fully appreciate the musical choices available to them, Kenya is still a musical treasure house.