Michael Mundia Kamau
P.O. Box 58972
00200 City Square
Nairobi
Kenya

5th July 2004

 MUSIKLY SPEAKING

The Kenya Television Network’s feature of Kenyan music duo “Necessary
Noize”
on the  “My Day with You” weekly segment of 28th June 2004, lacked in
depth
but was crucial in directing public attention and focus at an industry
that
still remains amorphous, undefined and on the fringes of Kenyan
society. The
defining moment of the brief segment was Kevin Wyre’s poignant remark
that
“he lives of his music”, an ominous sign that the music industry can no
longer be taken for granted in this country.

Kenyan hip-hop continues to take centre stage in the local music
industry,
benefiting highest from media coverage, generous airtime play on radio
stations, promotions and sponsorship. A flamboyant genre of music that
blends local and foreign influences in a package delivered with
youthful
flair, swagger and insolence, Kenyan hip-hop is both lovable and
detestable,
and the ideal vanguard in the fight to entrench support and tangible
gain
for the much wider music industry in Kenya. Artistes like “Necessary
Noize”,
“Gidigidi Majimaji”, Mercy Myra, “Nameless”, Poxi Presha, and Wahu may
not
be doing justice in evolving a distinct Kenyan sound with universal
appeal,
but their celebrity status, controversial music and controversial
lyrics are
ambassadorial and key to evolving standards and gain for the industry.
The
calibre of Kenyan artistes has also evolved dramatically, lead amongst
them
“Nameless” a.k.a. David Mathenge who is an Architect and an old boy of
Nairobi’s prestigious Strathmore School.

One of the biggest let downs in Kenyan music remains an unsupportive
public.
Generation after generation of Kenyan musicians have suffered from this
and
it is probably why second generation artiste the late Kelly Brown,
relocated
to West Germany. The compositions of first generation contemporary
Kenyan
artistes like Paul Mwachupa, Fadhili Williams, Fundi Konde and Daudi
Kabaka
still benefit from regular airtime play from Kenya’s radio stations,
but
that is as far as it goes with regard to their legacies. The Music
Copyright
Society of Kenya (MCSK), still remains vocal in it’s fight against
piracy,
but has been grossly wanting in securing Collective Bargaining
Agreements
for Kenyan artistes involving remuneration, severance pay, pension,
medical
insurance, accident insurance and medical insurance. The result
continues to
be the public held view that the music industry is only as good as a
Saturday night out. This compares poorly when compared with other parts
of
the world. Music secured Elvis Presley his Graceland ranch, Michael
Jackson
his Neverland ranch and Sir Paul McCartney fame, fortune and a
knighthood.
When Kool & the Gang were at their peak, they owned the latest line of
Mercedes and stayed in exquisite residences. The Music Copyright
Society of
Kenya is yet to present a blueprint of how it partially hopes to
achieve
this for Kenyan artistes.

The MCSK can however only take part blame for the problem in Kenya and
the
public the rest. One of the most disheartening things in Kenya is the
high
prevalence of distaste for home grown music and musicians. Congolese
artistes Franco Luambo Makiadi and his TPOK Jazz Orchestra and Pepe
Kalle
and his Empire Bakuba Band, reigned at the same time as first
generation
contemporary Kenyan musicians like Fadhili Williams but the fame and
legacies of the former two far outweigh and outlive that of the latter.
One
is more likely to find “The Best of Franco” or “The Best of Pepe Kalle”
in a
Kenyan household, then they are of finding “The Best of Muungano
National
Choir”.

The second generation of contemporary Kenyan artistes also arrived in
flair
in the 1980s, but still nowhere close to the high profile flamboyance
of
today. Voi MP, Boniface Mghanga’s “Muungano National Choir” topped
culturally with harmonious compositions with national appeal such as
“Kenya
kipenzi” ( Kenya my love). The Prisons Choir also played a key role in
forging nationalism at the time though their closeness to then
President Moi
gave them a sycophantic tag. Darius Mbela’s St. Stephen’s Church Choir
and
the St. Barnabas Church Choir also dueled for supremacy in Gospel music
with
compositions that had a wide reach and wide appeal. The St. Stephen’s
Church
Choir is best remembered for the brilliant music tributes they composed
at
short notice in 1978 for departed President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. In pop
music
“Them Mushrooms” (today’s Uyoga Band) and “The Pressman Band” managed a
successful music blend of cultural and contemporary beats including
“Jambo
Bwana”, which still remain ahead of their time. Groups of the time with
a
heavy pop theme similar to present groups like “Necessary Noize”
included
the University of Nairobi’s “Gravity” and their 1981 hit “Forever
yours”,
“Earthquake”, “Radi Band” “African Heritage”, a 1985 off shoot of
“Gravity”
partly comprising Anthony Ndungu and Jack Odongo, and “Musikly
Speaking”, a
flamboyant female trio of Joy Mboya, Susan Gachukia and Susan Matiba
who had
the honour of meeting legendary American music producers Jimmy Jam and
Terry
Lewis. The pop groups inspired no doubt, but not as much as Muungano
National Choir or Them Mushrooms.

The flair, flamboyance and insolence of today however beats everything
that
this country has ever witnessed and has opened this country to
opportunities
it never thought it had. This had greatly been aided by technological
advancement and the onset of synthetic music. Generic computer software
that
costs as little as US $ 50, a personal computer, speakers, sharp wits
and
fairly good vocals, is all it probably takes to compose a hit song
nowadays.
Bands equipped with bass and treble guitars, drums, trumpets,
saxophones and
accordions, had already began becoming obsolete anyway much earlier on
in
the 1980s, with the advent of synthesizers. Today’s producers and
artistes
nevertheless take credit for making possible what many thought would
never
be. In this respect credit must go to ventures like Samawati
productions,
Ogopa DJs, Calif Records and Ted Josiah’s Blu Zebra studio amongst
others.
America continues to dominate the world music industry and from it has
emerged brilliant artistes such as Kool and the Gang, Earth Wind and
Fire,
Lakeside, The Dazz Band, The S.O.S. Band and Sister Sledge backed by
equally
brilliant producers like the legendary duo of Nile Rodgers and Bernard
Edwards, Quincy Jones, Leon Sylvers III, Khalis Bhayyan, Jimmy Jam and
Terry
Lewis and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. We used to imagine that their
sounds
were made in heaven and never thought that Kenyans would ever be
capable of
equaling them. The likes of Ted Josiah and “Gidigidi Majimaji” have
made
this possible for present and future generations. During Kenyan
national
days Daniel arap Moi continually pointed out with a very deep sense of
pride
that the jets in the fly past were flown by “Vijana wa hapa nyumbani”
(native sons of the land). Those born and brought up in post
independent
Kenya like myself could not identify with Moi’s deep pride because it
was
nothing new to us. Moi however grew up at a time when it was sacrilege
for a
native to look at an aeroplane, let alone touch it, hench his deep
pride.

The pride associated with advances in the Kenyan music industry come
nowhere
close to Moi’s pride, but they are nonetheless gratifying. There is
still a
tremendous amount of work still to be done to establish and give
stature and
credibility to the music industry in Kenya and we all have a part to
play in
this. Much as “Necessary Noize” and their contemporaries may be stars,
very
few Kenyans purchase their CDs, which is what supports both them and
their
producers, the music industry as a whole. We pirate their music
shamelessly.
A lot of work needs to be put into marketing as well. We must question
why
Congolese music continues to dominate our own. The Democratic Republic
of
Congo (DRC), is a struggling nation as much as ours and there should be
no
reason why their music should take precedence over ours. The dominance
of
North American music in Kenya is more understandable.

It will certainly take much more than easier access to the tools of the
trade because US $ 50 can be raised as easily here as it can be
elsewhere in
the world. The World Wide Web also has several sites that enable
convenient
downloading of diverse music software, but we must remember that the
internet is an easily accessible worldwide facility. The marketing and
growth of the Kenyan music industry is still therefore primarily
dependent
on the input and goodwill of it’s people.


Michael Mundia Kamau