Kenya: Boom for Kenyan Music

Kenya: Boom for Kenyan Music

The Nation (Nairobi)

April 14, 2007
Posted to the web April 14, 2007

John Kariuki
Nairobi

It is a boom time for Kenyan music overseas with four local albums featuring on this week's Sterns African chart. The chart is compiled by the London-based Sterns Records, reputably the world's biggest distributor of African music.

The latest entries are Shika Kamba by Maroon Comandoes at No. 21 and a compilation of the greatest, Volume 2, at the 17 position on the 25-position hit parade. The compilation is the second chart entry for Kakai Kilonzo whose songs have continued to find favour since his death nearly 20 years ago.

Two others are Endurance by Orchestra Mangelepa at No. 6 and Giants of East Africa by Super Mazembe, which has re-entered the chart at the 20th position after a previous entry when it peaked at No. 2 and appears set for another good run.

Previously, the compilation of the album Kenya Dancemania featuring several artistes also had a good journey on the same charts with a mix of Kenya and Tanzanian artistes based in Nairobi.

But more significant was the album Kalapapala by Nairobi City Ensemble, which featured briefly on the chart nearly three years ago and has the distinction of being the first entry by a new release of Kenya music recorded locally.

Later, Gidi Gidi made a brief entry with the album Many Faces which was recorded in South Africa and issued through Gallo Records.

This time, the entry of Shika Kamba extends the impetus set by Kalapapala, breaking new grounds as opposed to the other three on the chart at the moment, which are drawn from recordings from the 1960s and 70s, an era widely noted for its vibrancy in music creativity.

"It's a good sign because it shows that the overseas market is listening to us and offers hope for an extended market for our music," says David Makali of SoundAfrica that produced the album. He issued several of his productions and others on his distribution list Online and Shika Kamba appears to have struck instant appeal with the international audience.

In a country where international success for recordings normally comes way after artistes have passed on, or retired, having new recordings on the charts is a good sign that they can enjoy the fruits of their labour in their lifetime.

The issue now is whether Kenyans can build up on the goodwill to enjoy the full benefits of their recordings, although people in the industry admit that many problems stand in the way.

Makali feels that Kenya has not created the profile to sustain its visibility in the international music market and is pleasantly surprised that his new product found easy acceptance in the current circumstances.

"As a source of music we are eclipsed by the bigger African markets - West Africa and South Africa - and will need to raise our presence in this realm in order to enjoy the commercial benefits of the international music market," he adds.

Producer Tabu Osusa of Ketebul Studio who also set music direction for Nairobi City Ensemble, sees other hurdles which range from lack of a good distribution network and, more importantly, lack of the requisite infrastructure to record, produce and market music.

He points out that most of the music activity in Kenya is being conducted by small artiste-run units where the musician is the studio owner, the producer and also the distributor.

"It is all too much for one person to do, and the Government has to find ways to encourage investment in the sector to create the network and distribute the functions as is done in developed markets," he adds.

He feels Kenya has to put greater emphasis on music direction, and the big challenge is to encourage good-quality productions with a clearly defined Kenyan sound.

"It has to be there in all the genres that we may wish to develop, and the success of one recording will impact on the others," he says.

This issue of direction is also noted by Mike Andrews of AI Records whose company produced the Super Mazembe album and has been a major player in breaking the local music internationally.

He says: "The success so far has been with the 1970s music because it had a distinct East African flavour which was and still is a strong selling point."

He notes the local urban trends where a new generation of mainly Nairobi youthful musicians have adapted American and Caribbean music which deprives them of the all-important trade mark.

Outside Kenya, this variation cannot stand the test against recordings from the US or Jamaica and is quickly dismissed in the international market."

Kenya: Boom for Kenyan Music

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His advise is that younger artistes learn from the reality of the international trends and seek originality for their music if they intend to make an impact on the industry.

However, one advantage that has emerged over the past decade is the growth of the East African population overseas and also that of people who have had contact with the region as either tourists or expatriates.

"They are a good ready market given a product that is uniquely our own," says Andrews.

The good reputation Kenya has enjoyed in the recent past has also helped to improve its image and effectively drawn more people to search for the country's music. Adds Andrews:"We do not get the sort of sales enjoyed by American and European artistes, but it is good enough to get us looking to that market much more seriously."

Osusa agrees and says he would like to see local producers and distributors improve contacts with their overseas counterparts.

He suggests that they develop collaborations even at the studio level so that artistes and producers are able to have guidance from insiders in their intended foreign markets.

"We have to view recordings much broadly as a product and understand the varying preferences in the markets without diluting our own music identity" he adds.

On the whole, Kenyans have to find a way to improve on their profile and Osusa is happy that more artistes are travelling.

He says playing at international African music festivals is obviously the ultimate goal and that, as promoters, they have to reverse the trend from that of importing instead of exporting shows.