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There has been a lot written about the Kenyan music industry, whether it is about the demise of the industry or it’s rebirth, the most recent article I’ve seen being the one in the Star title “The allure of Kenyan music fading in Europe“. The author of this article claims that Kenyan musicians have lost their shine in Europe and this he uses to claim lack of authentic Kenyan music. But what is Kenyan music?
Some say the last time we had music that was authentically ours -Kenyan- was during the ‘Kapuka’ era. I am not a music expert or anything so correct me if I’m wrong. A lot of the older generations say the last of authentic Kenyan music was develped in the 60s and faded in the 80s.
In the Star article, the writer gives three main reasons for the fade of Kenyan music allureness in Europe.First, Kenyans’ population in Europe is static. Secondly, Kenyan singers contributing to the downward spiral with majority of them stuck on their hits of yesteryears. Lastly, he lack of sensibility to the prevailing economic situation by local singers.
As much as all these make sense and are valid, I feel the reason why we are not doing so well in Europe is that we have not clearly defined what Kenyan music is. This has left as in a precarious situation as we do not know what to sell. The Kenyan music scene unlike most music scenes in the world is a mix of different genres and styles. We have borrowed heavily from other people’s music and we can’t sell this as our very own music. The current market of music consumers globally buy into authenticity as there is the need to feel a connection to the culture carried by the music. That is why West Africa and South Africa music are such big hits globally. There is something to their music. That something is what they sell and it has given them great success.
What do we sell as Kenyan music?
We have so much to go on. We have the likes of Eric Wainaina, Mercy Myra, Suzanna Owiyo, Andrew Wambua, Makadem, Dela, Sarabi, KIU, H-ART the Band, Sauti Sol and many more I have not mentioned. Once we define what is truly ours and celebrate it then the rest of the world will follow suit.