Where did we go wrong as Kenyan musicians?

[JazzMan]

The music that our fathers and grandfathers were listening to simply disappeared like a shadow melting into the night. Right now if you want to learn what akina Kanindo were doing you have to go to Zimbabwe to listen to the likes of Mono Mukundu, Alick Macheso, Nicholas Zakaria among others, and now they've called it Sungura/Dendera.

I played the bassline to Charakupa at some place and fellow musicians were looking at me like I've just stepped off a vinyl record from the 70's. Isn't it time we reclaimed what is ours?

Hapa ndio ninaweza bribe Ministry of Education/KICD wanipatie tender ya kudevelop curriculum ya muziki kwa shule. Badala ya kutoka wakicheza Beethoven watoke wakicheza Sina Makosa fluent.




You can hear the ancestry of Luo Benga through the elements of Kanindo, seeing as it is named after a native of Kavirondo

 

[MkukiMoto]

The music that our fathers and grandfathers were listening to simply disappeared like a shadow melting into the night. Right now if you want to learn what akina Kanindo were doing you have to go to Zimbabwe to listen to the likes of Mono Mukundu, Alick Macheso, Nicholas Zakaria among others, and now they've called it Sungura/Dendera.

I played the bassline to Charakupa at some place and fellow musicians were looking at me like I've just stepped off a vinyl record from the 70's. Isn't it time we reclaimed what is ours?

Hapa ndio ninaweza bribe Ministry of Education/KICD wanipatie tender ya kudevelop curriculum ya muziki kwa shule. Badala ya kutoka wakicheza Beethoven watoke wakicheza Sina Makosa fluent.
You can hear the ancestry of Luo Benga through the elements of Kanindo, seeing as it is named after a native of Kavirondo

Good observations @JazzMan , We have a really rich history of music produced and sung in different Kenyan languages. The benga beat has been a common thread and I understand that irrespective of the artist and song in early recordings, the guitarists were all from Lakeside.
A friend from Malawi once told me "Kanindo" music was king in his country so it looks like it was well loved in that part of Southern Africa. For them "benga" is synonymous with "kanindo" and he told me they did not know what benga meant. Growing up they just new kanindo.

 

[Denis Young]

Let's be honest, that type of music went with the times. You are not the target clientele of the modern, make-a-quick-buck music that is quickly forgotten by the years end.

However, there is a time, place and occasion for it. Give me a nice blunt, some guiness or rum and the sound of my girlfriend lecturing me on how I don't give a shit about her would sound just as relaxing.

 

[MkukiMoto]

Let's be honest, that type of music went with the times. You are not the target clientele of the modern, make-a-quick-buck music that is quickly forgotten by the years end.

However, there is a time, place and occasion for it. Give me a nice blunt, some guiness or rum and the sound of my girlfriend lecturing me on how I don't give a shit about her would sound just as relaxing.

@Denise Young , but there is still a place for "zilizopendwaa" once in a while.

 

[Abba]

Let's be honest, that type of music went with the times. You are not the target clientele of the modern, make-a-quick-buck music that is quickly forgotten by the years end.

However, there is a time, place and occasion for it. Give me a nice blunt, some guiness or rum and the sound of my girlfriend lecturing me on how I don't give a shit about her would sound just as relaxing.

I think you fit more huko kwa parliament.

 

[kingolonde]

I think you fit more huko kwa parliament.

 

[It's Me Scumbag]

Until they start singing you would be forgiven if you thought a Greek from Muranga is about to start singing about Muiritu wa Kabete...

 

[Nattydread]

There is still great music being made in Kenya. Just turn off you radios and television sets and hit the live circuit.




We should support art instead of expecting freebies and bitching.

 

[Clemens]

Let's be honest, that type of music went with the times. You are not the target clientele of the modern, make-a-quick-buck music that is quickly forgotten by the years end.

However, there is a time, place and occasion for it. Give me a nice blunt, some guiness or rum and the sound of my girlfriend lecturing me on how I don't give a shit about her would sound just as relaxing.

Agreed, it's everywhere in the world, in trumpistan Blues gave way to soul, soul to pop, pop to hip-hop and rap, and now we have this mumble shit. It's the way of the world, before Benga we had our African chants/poetry, which has been lost since it's audience died out with our grandparents. We can only romanticised the past and be nostalgic, but what is gone is gone, only a few of us have an ear for that music and with time it shall also pass with us.

 

[It's Me Scumbag]

There is still great music being made in Kenya. Just turn off you radios and television sets and hit the live circuit.




We should support art instead of expecting freebies and bitching.

Makadem killed it with the this one

 

[JazzMan]

Good observations @JazzMan , We have a really rich history of music produced and sung in different Kenyan languages. The benga beat has been a common thread and I understand that irrespective of the artist and song in early recordings, the guitarists were all from Lakeside.
A friend from Malawi once told me "Kanindo" music was king in his country so it looks like it was well loved in that part of Southern Africa. For them "benga" is synonymous with "kanindo" and he told me they did not know what benga meant. Growing up they just new kanindo.

Kwanza I can say it is a shame for me to have learnt of Kanindo through a Zimbabwean, rather than the various music classes I've been through.

What's even sadder is you can find Kenyan musicians playing everything from the mzungus note for note but tell them to play something from Africa, even just a little rhumba, a good number of them would put their instrument down.

 

[JazzMan]

Let's be honest, that type of music went with the times. You are not the target clientele of the modern, make-a-quick-buck music that is quickly forgotten by the years end.

However, there is a time, place and occasion for it. Give me a nice blunt, some guiness or rum and the sound of my girlfriend lecturing me on how I don't give a shit about her would sound just as relaxing.

That's the thing. We allowed it to disappear. We did not put up any institutions to record, preserve and study what those musicians were doing, and we definitely did not pass it down the generations.

In contrast, places like the US have entire educational centres dedicated to teaching young musicians the purity of blues and jazz. Even working musicians have to study a book known as The Real Book, which essentially is a record of all the jazz standards that were played in the early days.

 

[JazzMan]

There is still great music being made in Kenya. Just turn off you radios and television sets and hit the live circuit.




We should support art instead of expecting freebies and bitching.

This was to be my next thread. I was looking at it from the perspective of preservation of the culture and passing it down 100 years from now.

 

[JazzMan]

Agreed, it's everywhere in the world, in trumpistan Blues gave way to soul, soul to pop, pop to hip-hop and rap, and now we have this mumble shit. It's the way of the world, before Benga we had our African chants/poetry, which has been lost since it's audience died out with our grandparents. We can only romanticised the past and be nostalgic, but what is gone is gone, only a few of us have an ear for that music and with time it shall also pass with us.

Kwanza huko trumpistan their music is so intertwined, if you sit down to study it you won't even find a shred of difference. Maybe country, the only white dominated genre might sound distinct.

Blues gave birth to Jazz, which is just an advanced form of blues. From there Gospel and RnB developed. In certain cases if you remove the lyrics, you can't even tell which is which.

The music of akina Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, MJ and the likes were written and performed by jazz musicians. Funk and the characteristics were influenced by jazz musicians. OG Hiphop uses samples of jazz music and it is still a prevalent practice.

Huku tulipoteza mwelekeo, now we are just copying what the rest of the world is doing.

 

[Abba]

Makadem killed it with the this one

This is a blend of mugithi beats na dholuo. hiyo roto tank ya katikati iko best

 

[Clemens]

Kwanza huko trumpistan their music is so intertwined, if you sit down to study it you won't even find a shred of difference. Maybe country, the only white dominated genre might sound distinct.

Blues gave birth to Jazz, which is just an advanced form of blues. From there Gospel and RnB developed. In certain cases if you remove the lyrics, you can't even tell which is which.

The music of akina Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, MJ and the likes were written and performed by jazz musicians. Funk and the characteristics were influenced by jazz musicians. OG Hiphop uses samples of jazz music and it is still a prevalent practice.

Huku tulipoteza mwelekeo, now we are just copying what the rest of the world is doing.

Aping other people is our weakness, I listen to traditional poetry from the giriama, pokomo, kamba, miiru, Gikuyu, Embu, kalenjins, and Luo, accompanied with a stringed instrument nyatiti or wandindi in some cases, our people had original prowess, which if we adopted to modern music, it would be unique.

 

[MkukiMoto]

This is a blend of mugithi beats na dholuo. hiyo roto tank ya katikati iko best

There should be more fusion\blend music involving Kenya languages.
Colabos needed.

 

[Nattydread]

Huku tulipoteza mwelekeo, now we are just copying what the rest of the world is doing.

Again, your observation is extremely somber but I suspect that your listening options are too narrow.

Tembea Nairobi na Kenya mitaani, in and out of live venues. In fact, there is no other time in our history where access to musical instruments, sound reinforcement, schools, studios and distribution was so easy.

My experience is that our atists have also embraced theory, composition, performing and management seriously.

 

[MkukiMoto]

Makadem killed it with the this one

Makadem's talents are under-utilized\ marketed. He could do better and make lots of cash.

For me this reminds me of some of my best outings listening to mugithi at FineBreeze in Dagoretti corner. I love the parts where my date explains to me the meaning of the X-rated lyrics. The nights are always fun and end up very rewarding but with a lighter wallet. But Si mind .

 

[ShabbaRanks]

I'm probably the youngest lister in this kijiji and I listen to zilizopendwa. Mbilia Bel, TPOK Jazz, Tshala Muana etc. I also listen to gengetone, reggae, heavy metal, hip hop, mumble rap, jazz, soul, RnB, techno, country, pretty much everything except K-pop depending on my mood. IMO some music is timeless, it transcends generations, classes and all other demographics, but a majority of music caters to a specific demographic at a particular point in time. If you don't like it that typically means you aren't the target audience. Art is subjective, how you interpret it is down to your tastes and preferences. Having said that 10 years from now nobody will be talking about Stivo Simple Boy but we will still talk about Franco.