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Is Kenyan music dying?
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2012
#1 Posted : Friday, May 12, 2017 9:23:22 AM
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Joined: 12/9/2009
Posts: 6,592
Location: Nairobi
What happened to Kenyan music? Currently, it's only Saiti Soul who can hold a paid concert. There's been nothing new even from Sauti Soul for a while. The gospel music industry is also asleep at the moment. Is it that music is not a sustainable art form in Kenya? I remember the time there were PUNIT, Klepto, Tatu, Mercy Myra, Red Sun, Mr Lenny, Jua Kali, Nameless, Wahu, Wyre & that group too, Nonini, Amani, Gidi Gidi, Deux Vultures; most of them were active at around the same time. I think the only Kenyan musicians making money are the Kikuyu musicians and Ohangla, who perform in every other pub and Kidum of course if he got his Kenyan citizenship.
But it's not just music but anything art; film, tv dramas, theatre, and DJ's are now more preferred in clubs and weddings over live bands.... I know there's a piracy and failure by music copyright has contributed to the collapse but Safaricom and other firms are paying good money for download.

Has time come for an art evolution in Kenya? One that targets Africa, the global and not just Kenya....

Anyway, just thinking aloud on a Friday...

BBI will solve it :)
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Coolbull
#2 Posted : Friday, May 12, 2017 11:22:57 AM
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tycho
#3 Posted : Friday, May 12, 2017 2:51:10 PM
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How does art evolve?
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2012
#4 Posted : Friday, May 12, 2017 8:42:18 PM
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Joined: 12/9/2009
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tycho wrote:
How does art evolve?


Art evolves with the times to remain relevant and to preserve the present time for future generation. For example, in the 60's/70's we had Daudi Kabaka, Fundi Konde, Fadhili Williams and their style...

BBI will solve it :)
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alma1
#5 Posted : Friday, May 12, 2017 9:46:13 PM
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Joined: 9/19/2015
Posts: 2,871
Location: hapo
2012 wrote:
tycho wrote:
How does art evolve?


Art evolves with the times to remain relevant and to preserve the present time for future generation. For example, in the 60's/70's we had Daudi Kabaka, Fundi Konde, Fadhili Williams and their style...


Your thesis is wrong and right and wrong again...

It's art.

Art is where it is. It is time and time is what it is.

I used to be in the group of people who used to say that my music was the best ever...But that was just me..My time. My issues. My life. Me.

In 1991 I was in love with Jodeci with I'm still waiting...I mean my pupils used to stand out when I heard the song. To lay Impunity's wife, all I had to do was sing the first stanza in Luo...

But in 1991 the best jungu song was something I can't listen to. I consider it to be noise...But heck..Down Home by Alabama was like an Trump anthem.

As you age, you shall realise...Let people love what they love, when they love it..

It is wrong to say that Kenyan music is dead...Maybe buying a Kenyan record is tough. After all Uhurus maize is 180 bob...

Doesn't mean that our young people have lost their way.

Let's respect each generation with they want and like...By they way I can't listen to Sauti Sol...They sound to me like a safaricom sub county...But Kidum, leo kesho na kesho kutwa...

By the way, take your time...Listen to Sarabi...Probably the best band ever in Kenya...Like the very best. But I'm biased coz they are from Eastlando...

And they make more money than Sauti Sol...

And sound much better than them anyway...Art is in your mind. Your time...Your situation..And your taste...Take it as it is.

Kenyan music is some of the best...If only you can stop listening to jaguar and go out of the normal places you know...

2012 tell me to take you to the few places I know...You shall be surprised...Not karumaindo of course...Hiyo ni wakati you want to feel like a mohine...

Lakini if you love art...Kenyan art...Just ask...And you shall be answered.

Usijikune
Usijitie kitanzi
Usijikande na maji

Kama kuna kosa wanayolifanya
Waeleze

Watafanya
Watatenda

Wasamehe
Waeleze
Wavulimie
Waliendea

Weza
Usichoke
Usishindwe
Usihesabu
Usicheke

Wapate.

Wamo.

Watafute.
Thieves are not good people. Tumeelewana?
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masukuma
#6 Posted : Saturday, May 13, 2017 1:13:14 AM
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Joined: 10/4/2006
Posts: 13,821
Location: Nairobi
I am currently in that phase of life where 99% of the music I consume is african and I can tell... we cannot beat Naija when it comes to dancable tunes nor can we beat our kaka brazas when it comes to ballads and poetry. the problem with our music is that its done in a hurry, it's dirty and nasty... compare that with the same genre from our kaka brazas and you will be shocked! Singing about the same things but... it's not offensive


On a separate note... you know your music is great when you find people who don't know the language listen to it... I found some Papuan people with playlists of Diamond's songs... they have no clue what is being sung but it speaks to them! They know the artist but never found a person to translate
Quote:

sura yake mtaratibu... mwenye Macho ya aibu, kumsahau najaribu ila namkumbuka sanaa...
umbo lake mahbib, kwenye maradhi aliye nitibu, siri yangu kaharibu bado namkumbuka sanaaa...

So lazima ujuwe kutofautisha kati ya msalaba na jumlisha - Kuna 'X' na kuzidisha!! Laughing out loudly Laughing out loudly Laughing out loudly
All Mushrooms are edible! Some Mushroom are only edible ONCE!
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alma1
#7 Posted : Saturday, May 13, 2017 1:28:42 AM
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Joined: 9/19/2015
Posts: 2,871
Location: hapo
masukuma wrote:
I am currently in that phase of life where 99% of the music I consume is african and I can tell... we cannot beat Naija when it comes to dancable tunes nor can we beat our kaka brazas when it comes to ballads and poetry. the problem with our music is that its done in a hurry, it's dirty and nasty... compare that with the same genre from our kaka brazas and you will be shocked! Singing about the same things but... it's not offensive



Masukuma I agree with you
Listening to kaka diamond for me is exciting. Dancing to kaka diamond means that you have an easy pussy.

That to me does not equate to the death or life of Kenyan art...

Kenyan art is what it is...

If it means that you with a manyanga for 100 bob while other means of manyangas are 70 bob...That's art...

I mean kaka masukuma

Have you ever gone to a swahili pub to listen to taarab?

I agree that diamond is a fantastic and a game changer musician...His ryhmes and that other ugly fella from Uganda are just out of this world...

Lakini I'm asking

Have either of you fellas gone to a taarab pub in Malinidi?

Where a fat, fat woman sings swahili ryhems?

Or is she too ugly to sell a record?

Is the problem her song or the producers and kameme dj yellow yellow feeling?

My friend...

I say again

I can and shall take you to places in Mombasa where people rhyme...And the rest of us wonder...Ukweli hapa Tusker ni 140?

Uliza kaka. Usilie. Na diamond sio.
Thieves are not good people. Tumeelewana?
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alma1
#8 Posted : Saturday, May 13, 2017 2:22:29 AM
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Joined: 9/19/2015
Posts: 2,871
Location: hapo
2012 got to mambasa and listen to these fat women saaanging. poetry


mwenzangu una ujizi
mpenzi una umemuudhi

kaja kwangu nimepokea
kaja kwako nimempokea

pokea zako viboko
shoga naku kutimianga
hata ukiliniamu
wako nisha mpokea

penzi ulimdhulimu
visa ukamfanyia
vachacho vi tamu tamu
mwana haukumpatia

bwana akapata wazimu
ka shindwa kuvulimia
kwangu akatia tibu
tiba nikampatia

nikampa vitu hadi humuuu
kwako hajajionea
kwako haja jionea
Amri akasilimu
magoti kunipigia

Huku akojilaumu
kwako ka potea njia

kwako katia ngazi
kwango kaweka mafazi


Sasa baba babarazi
kachoka yako maudhi

kaja kwako nimpokea
kaja kwangu nimempokea

Amri akasilumu
magoti kunipigia

Kwako akatia ngazi
kwangu ka weka mapazi
Sasa bwana barizi
kachoka yako mafazi

.....

Utamaliza mizizi
....

kwake hupati nafasi
kwake hupati nafasi
mimi ndiye wake mpunzi!!!!

kachoka yako maudhi

Ongeza na vipozi

Kwake hupati nafasi
mimi ni kwake mampunzi

Nipewa lugha tamu
nyoka hutoka pangoni

=====

Badala ya soda baridi


Mwenzangu unaujuzi
Mpenzi umeudhi

Kaja kwangu nimempokea
kaja kwako nimempokea

Utalijua jiji


Then I hear someone saying there's no good music in Kenya..Tembea tafadhali

Hapo ni Malindi...Na Zanzibar.
Thieves are not good people. Tumeelewana?
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murchr
#9 Posted : Saturday, May 13, 2017 3:02:57 AM
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Joined: 2/26/2012
Posts: 15,980
To answer the question, it died long time ago, just like everything that requires creativity and thinking out of the box. Music, drama, comedy, art, everything.

Look at how news is presented, our what we call comedies, TV content. eish
"There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore
.
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tycho
#10 Posted : Saturday, May 13, 2017 8:08:27 AM
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Joined: 7/1/2011
Posts: 8,804
Location: Nairobi
2012 wrote:
tycho wrote:
How does art evolve?


Art evolves with the times to remain relevant and to preserve the present time for future generation. For example, in the 60's/70's we had Daudi Kabaka, Fundi Konde, Fadhili Williams and their style...


Very slippery explanation, especially when we realize time is a very open and moot reality.

Maybe the problem is alienation in the Marxian sense. Kenyans being of the white collar heritage and opportunities being so scarce, have decided to ignore all authenticity for Marmon.
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masukuma
#11 Posted : Saturday, May 13, 2017 8:47:39 AM
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Joined: 10/4/2006
Posts: 13,821
Location: Nairobi
tycho wrote:
2012 wrote:
tycho wrote:
How does art evolve?


Art evolves with the times to remain relevant and to preserve the present time for future generation. For example, in the 60's/70's we had Daudi Kabaka, Fundi Konde, Fadhili Williams and their style...


Very slippery explanation, especially when we realize time is a very open and moot reality.

Maybe the problem is alienation in the Marxian sense. Kenyans being of the white collar heritage and opportunities being so scarce, have decided to ignore all authenticity for Marmon.

All Mushrooms are edible! Some Mushroom are only edible ONCE!
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Vallerrie
#12 Posted : Saturday, May 13, 2017 4:55:11 PM
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Joined: 11/1/2012
Posts: 290
Two things that Kenyans suck at but don't want to accept; football and music.
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Alba
#13 Posted : Saturday, May 13, 2017 9:37:30 PM
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Joined: 12/27/2012
Posts: 2,256
Location: Bandalungwa
Vallerrie wrote:
Two things that Kenyans suck at but don't want to accept; football and music.


NOT true. Thats too simplistic a view.
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Alba
#14 Posted : Saturday, May 13, 2017 10:48:28 PM
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Joined: 12/27/2012
Posts: 2,256
Location: Bandalungwa
There are certain types of music that last forever and become classics. Examples include Bob Marley, Congolese Rumba of the 1970s and 1980s etc.

There are other types of music whose flavour fades very quickly. These include the commercial soukous of the early 1990s like Aurlus Mabele and Kanda Bongoman.

Perhaps the golden era of Kenyan music that is being described was more of the latter type that gets people excited for a short time. But soon people get tired of it.
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masukuma
#15 Posted : Sunday, May 14, 2017 2:05:13 AM
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Joined: 10/4/2006
Posts: 13,821
Location: Nairobi
Alba wrote:
Vallerrie wrote:
Two things that Kenyans suck at but don't want to accept; football and music.


NOT true. Thats too simplistic a view.

All Mushrooms are edible! Some Mushroom are only edible ONCE!
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2012
#16 Posted : Sunday, May 14, 2017 9:39:02 AM
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Joined: 12/9/2009
Posts: 6,592
Location: Nairobi
Kenya's biggest problem affecting the youth in the current market is what I call the illusion of being Mark Zuckerberg. All the youth I know btwn 20 - 24 are in IT...

BBI will solve it :)
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masukuma
#17 Posted : Sunday, May 14, 2017 11:18:08 AM
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Joined: 10/4/2006
Posts: 13,821
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2012 wrote:
Kenya's biggest problem affecting the youth in the current market is what I call the illusion of being Mark Zuckerberg. All the youth I know btwn 20 - 24 are in IT...

it's a GOOD THING!! Wacha wajaribu hizo vitu zikipiga mawe - they will still have skills!! The one thing we as kenyans in africa are accepted to be great at (except athletics is IT). Whether those honours are justified or not is a totally different matter. Just today one of my Mzungu collegues who has worked in the development world said - You kenyans are like the 'Indians' of Africa. when it comes to IT. I suggest we milk it. Bulgerians and Russians maybe better at comps but india is reaping the most out of this whole thing... perception is greater than reality!
All Mushrooms are edible! Some Mushroom are only edible ONCE!
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2012
#18 Posted : Sunday, May 14, 2017 1:34:27 PM
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Joined: 12/9/2009
Posts: 6,592
Location: Nairobi
masukuma wrote:
2012 wrote:
Kenya's biggest problem affecting the youth in the current market is what I call the illusion of being Mark Zuckerberg. All the youth I know btwn 20 - 24 are in IT...

it's a GOOD THING!! Wacha wajaribu hizo vitu zikipiga mawe - they will still have skills!! The one thing we as kenyans in africa are accepted to be great at (except athletics is IT). Whether those honours are justified or not is a totally different matter. Just today one of my Mzungu collegues who has worked in the development world said - You kenyans are like the 'Indians' of Africa. when it comes to IT. I suggest we milk it. Bulgerians and Russians maybe better at comps but india is reaping the most out of this whole thing... perception is greater than reality!



By the way, how did Bulgarians become so good in IT? I've always wondered...

BBI will solve it :)
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masukuma
#19 Posted : Sunday, May 14, 2017 3:49:06 PM
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Joined: 10/4/2006
Posts: 13,821
Location: Nairobi
2012 wrote:
masukuma wrote:
2012 wrote:
Kenya's biggest problem affecting the youth in the current market is what I call the illusion of being Mark Zuckerberg. All the youth I know btwn 20 - 24 are in IT...

it's a GOOD THING!! Wacha wajaribu hizo vitu zikipiga mawe - they will still have skills!! The one thing we as kenyans in africa are accepted to be great at (except athletics is IT). Whether those honours are justified or not is a totally different matter. Just today one of my Mzungu collegues who has worked in the development world said - You kenyans are like the 'Indians' of Africa. when it comes to IT. I suggest we milk it. Bulgerians and Russians maybe better at comps but india is reaping the most out of this whole thing... perception is greater than reality!



By the way, how did Bulgarians become so good in IT? I've always wondered...

I don't really know... but cultures are funny... where you have most of your people going... you tend to get great at it! there is really no reason Tanzania cannot win a single gold medal at the olympics... really! but since they don't expend their resources in a targeted way - they don't become 'great'! My take on IT is that having many people doing it... will not have a negative consequence on our economy... since it's very versatile skill and at the same time very needed in this age - it's a win-win solution.
All Mushrooms are edible! Some Mushroom are only edible ONCE!
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murchr
#20 Posted : Sunday, May 14, 2017 4:28:28 PM
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Joined: 2/26/2012
Posts: 15,980
2012 wrote:
masukuma wrote:
2012 wrote:
Kenya's biggest problem affecting the youth in the current market is what I call the illusion of being Mark Zuckerberg. All the youth I know btwn 20 - 24 are in IT...

it's a GOOD THING!! Wacha wajaribu hizo vitu zikipiga mawe - they will still have skills!! The one thing we as kenyans in africa are accepted to be great at (except athletics is IT). Whether those honours are justified or not is a totally different matter. Just today one of my Mzungu collegues who has worked in the development world said - You kenyans are like the 'Indians' of Africa. when it comes to IT. I suggest we milk it. Bulgerians and Russians maybe better at comps but india is reaping the most out of this whole thing... perception is greater than reality!



By the way, how did Bulgarians become so good in IT? I've always wondered...


Are you an accountant @2012?
"There are only two emotions in the market, hope & fear. The problem is you hope when you should fear & fear when you should hope: - Jesse Livermore
.
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