Reggae music in Kenya

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Reggae is probably the only genre of music that cuts across all social classes and ethnic groups in Kenya. Reggae has fans even among the conservative Somali and Muslim communities of the North Eastern and Coastal provinces of Kenya. Majority of the fan-base are in Nairobi, Kisumu, Nakuru and Machakos Meru, kiambu kwa watu wa bhangi towns. When viewed in consideration of the Rastafarians, the wide reach of reggae in Kenya is seen in the presence of Rastafaria ns in almost every rural village in Kenya.

Kenya has a notable number of reggae artistes and bands though they are acclaimed as widely as artistes in other Kenyan genres. Kenyan reggae is mainly a fusion of Jamaican reggae styles with local ethnic singing styles that incorporate Lingala, benga and Kenyan hip hop.

In Kenya, reggae music is accessed through public playing in matatus, radio stations, night clubs, private CD collections, unlicensed CD compilations, shared MP3 collections, YouTube and other websites. Reggae music has had significant influence on the entertainment culture, craft occupations and development of Sheng slang in Kenya.

The reggae sub-culture in Kenya is strongly associated with beer partying, rowdy and theft-prone gigs, heavy cigarette smoking, khat chewing (locally known as miraa) and the use of cannabis (locally known as bhangi, weed or marijuana)

Video Reggae music in Kenya

History of reggae music in Kenya

Reggae music started booming in Kenya in the late 1970s and early 1980s with Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Don Carlos, Burning Spear, Wailing Souls and Peter Tosh music being the most loved artists. This type of music was magnified when several night clubs and sounds started sprouting up in down town Nairobi city. The notable clubs that came up to play reggae roots are Monte Carlo night club on Accra Road, Shashamane International, Hollywood club.

Popular Kenyan reggae DJs

Sounds that were popular in the 1990s include Omega Sounds, King Lions Sounds, Livity Sounds, Jahmbo Sounds, King Jumbo Sounds. New sounds are Rastyle Sounds ( Formerly Firehouse Sounds) Mau Mau Sounds, Supremacy Sounds (formerly Black Supremacy Sounds) Trench town ent and Dohty Family sounds. The most popular DJs that are credited with pioneering reggae in Kenya include; Legendary Jah'key Malle, The late Papa Lefty, Papa Charlie, DJ Last-Born, Selector King Monday, King Tubbs, Prince Otach (UK) Papa Bingi(based in USA), Junior Dread, Njambi Koikai, Talia Oyando, G money, Kriss Darling, Muzikal Sheriff, Mc Daddy Konya, mc Full stop, and more.

Reggae on Kenyan radio

In the late 1980s, reggae and the associated Jamaican culture became so popular in Kenya that the government owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation KBC radio station launched the program Reggae Times for reggae fans who tuned to the English service. The show was presented by veteran reggae DJ Jeff Mwangemi.

In August 2005 Metro FM, a subsidiary of the government owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), became an exclusive 24-hour reggae station whose slogan was House of Reggae. In 2011, Metro FM switched away from reggae and became Venus FM, a station targeted at office-class ladies in Kenya's urban areas. Many Kenyan reggae fans were disappointed.

The gap left by Metro FM was soon taken filled by Ghetto FM, a Sheng (Kenyan slang) speaking station that claims to be the voice of the youth in the Kenyan ghettos. As at 2014, the selectors on Ghetto FM reggae sessions were DJ Bonokode and DJ Ambuside.

Up to the late 1990s, reggae in Kenya was known as the poor man's music. In the 2000s, the popularity of reggae caught the attention of the emerging FM radio stations. To avoid the perceived dark and underclass side of reggae and to attract listeners who could generate advertising revenue, the new FM radio stations concentrated on the emerging Dancehall brand of reggae.

Dancehall reggae has softer and simpler beats than roots or ragga and it rarely projects the Rastafarian culture, anti-colonialism or the agenda of African emancipation. Dancehall mostly focuses on love songs in an urban setting. Some Kenyan fans of Roots reggae express disappointment with the emergence of Dancehall reggae. The complaints revolve around the lack of a communal African agenda within Dancehall reggae and the watering down of reggae into mere expressions of bodily desire and materialism.

Reggae on Kenyan TV

Reggae videos began making their way onto Kenyan television in the early 1990s through KBC's Music Time show that was hosted by Fred Obachi Machoka. In those days, the popular reggae/ragga artists featured were Shaba Ranks, Yellow Man, Ras Kimono and UB40.

Around 1992, KTN launched the program Rastrut, a thirty-minute show dedicated to reggae music. As at 2014, KTN is the only Kenyan television station that has ever had a show dedicated to reggae. It is also the only Kenyan media station that specifically associated reggae music with the religious and cultural ideals of the Rastafarian movement. This is in the choice of the name Rastrut and the use of the characteristic Green-Yellow-Red as the background colours of the show. Rastrut is the show that made Lucky Dube visible to Kenyans.

Past reggae events in Kenya

Jamaican artists often perform in live shows hosted in Nairobi and Mombasa.

• Lucky Dube performed in December 1998 at the Ngong Race Course grounds.;
• Gregory Isaacs visited Kenya in 2001;
• Tarrus Riley on 11 August 2012

Churchian Reggae group Christafari visited Kenya in the late 1990s and will be performing in Nairobi on 25 January 2015.

Maps Reggae music in Kenya

Reggae artists and reggae bands in Kenya

Secular Reggae Artists

• LionDC_Royalty By Black (The Kenyan prince of Reggae)
• Afrikanah
• Abdela Mohamed Shamir
• Bafu Chafu
• BLNRB (Ukoo Flani)
• Brucho
• FireSon Bantu (David Mukoyani)
• Freeman (John Kimutai No Guns);
• Jah'key Malle (Jack Otkech Obwande)
• Johnee Mosh
• Levysill
• Lidanjam Raah
• Mc Bayo
• Priestafari Adams Majau;
• Ras Luigi
• Ras Madedo
• Stephantom Wargamble
• Stoneface Priest (Charles Adams Majau)
• Alkebulan Band

Christian Bands

TuneDem Band

TuneDem, a gospel reggae band based in Kibera,the largest slum in Africa and described as Kenya's version of Christafari.

Christian Reggae Artistes

• Rufftone (Afro-Raga fusion)
• Chifu Tamurai
• Guardian Angel
• TuneDem Band
• ShoeShine Buoy
• Dafari
• Samukat
• PoQpine
• Admiral Kilosh
• Jerry Adi Preacher
• Kaffi
• Evelyn Mutua
• Ting-Seh

Artistes with Notable reggae Tracks / Songs

• Avril (Mama)
• Daddy Owen (Mbona)
• Pitson ("Uvumilivu")
• Wahu (My Sweet Love)
• Wyre and Nazizi (Necessary Noize Bless my Room, Kenyan Boy Kenyan Girl)
• Chifu Tamurai (Kenya dat we want,THANK YOU LORD,HOLD ON)
• Guardian Angel(Amazing Grace)
• Alkebulan Band (Bad Dreams)

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Themes of Kenyan Reggae Songs

The themes of songs composed by Kenyan reggae artists can be categorized as

• typical club dating where a Boy and Girl meet at an entertainment joint, dance and drink together, ride home in a flashy vehicle for a one-night stand and then fizzle out of the relationship;
• anti-political themes in which unspecified powerful or rich people in the upper class society exert economic oppression on the poor or use misinformation to instigate wars between the uneducated masses;
• Rastafarian opposition to the mythical and mystical Babylon, which is a collective reference to the self-seeking economic systems and lifestyles that are blamed for the social and economic woes facing poor Africans and other marginalized people around the world, especially slum dwellers, casual workers and refugees;
• advocacy for social reformation and behavioral change in matters relating to disabled persons, local refugees, orphans and women in underclass areas, street Children, people affected by drug abuse and HIV-AIDS;
• patriotic messages recalling the anti-colonial struggle for Kenya's independence, particularly the Mau Mau and heroes such as Dedan Kimathi. Such songs often criticize tribalism, corruption and nepotism along the same lines as those presented in the local news media;
• Evangelical and prosperity gospels based on the Christian narrative of how Yah-oshua (YAH pulls up / saves- from the water) saves the lives of sinners and raises them to be prosperous. The singers claim to have been destitute and lost sinners who met Yah-oshua (YAH pulls up / saves- from the water), got healed and were transformed spiritually, physically and even economically.

Reggae influence on Kenyan gospel music

Although Kenyan Christians resent the drug, alcohol, wild party and dreadlock lifestyles associated with Kenyan reggae fans and Kenyan Rastafarians, a notable number of Kenyan gospel musicians favour the reggae style of instrumental arrangement. This is probably because they secretly like the style music or they recognize its popularity among Kenyans. Reggae styling of Kenyan gospel songs

Kenyan gospel music producers often overlay conventional Kiswahili singing on reggae styled tracks and this partly obscures the reggae nature of the drum beats, guitar chops and bass-guitars in the songs. Consequently, only a few keen Kenyan listeners would identify such songs as reggae especially when the singers are not Rastafarians or lack Jamaican slang and accent. Examples of such Kenyan gospel songs are Damu Ya Yesu and Yesu Wangu na Mpenda by Mary Atieno Ominde, Mbingu Zahubiri by Paul Kigame and Waraka wa Hamani by Bahati Bukuku.

Between 1997 and 2002, the US based Christian Reggae group Christafari enjoyed notable popularity in Kenya through KTN, Family FM (now Radio 316) and Tune in Music Stores. During one of their visits to Kenya, they witnessed the tragic state of the Kibera slums in the capital city of Nairobi and composed the song Nairobi. Christafari's music is liked by Kenyan reggae fans but most them do not realize that Christafari's music is fundamentally Christian and not Rastafarian. This is probably because many Kenyan roots reggae listeners are poorly educated and do not understand English content in reggae songs.

Plagiarism in Kenyan gospel reggae

Lucky Dube is the most emulated reggae artist in Kenya. His popularity is so high that some Kenyan gospel artists brazenly flout copyright laws and reproduce his tracks with their own gospel lyrics. A glaring example is a Kikuyu gospel song titled Tiga nii We which is an exact reproduction of Back to my Roots by Lucky Dube, the only difference been the substitution of the original English lyrics with gospel content in the Kikuyu language.

Despite the obvious theft of Lucky Dube's tracks and the blatant violation of the Biblical commandments against theft and conformity to secularism, such songs receive airplay especially on the ethnic radio stations and are promoted as Christian songs. Ironically, the same stations also play Lucky Dube's music while claiming to be promoting Kenyan originality.

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Reggae influence on Kenyan culture

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Reggae influence on Kenyan slang (sheng)

Reggae music is so loved in Kenya that it is common to hear Kenyan youth speaking Jamaican Patois on the streets of Nairobi especially in the slum areas. There are Kenyan Rastafarians who learnt English by listening to reggae music and reggae fans. Examples of words added to the Sheng vocabulary are

• Jah meaning a reference to the underclass entertainment culture in Kenya. To many Kenyan Sheng speakers who may also be reggae fans, the word Jah does not necessarily refer to the All-Mighty or the ideals of the Rastafarian movement;
• Jah blessings! Jah guidance! Meaning the All-Mighty bless you or may the All-Mighty be with you;
• Massive meaning great and also as a positive reference to a place that has reggae fans e.g., Buruburu Massive, Jericho Massive etc.;
• true sound and true dat which are a way of telling someone that what you have said is true;
• tings a guan. Although the original Jamaican word guan means trouble or a bad situation, many Kenyans slang speakers use it with a positive or commendable meaning!
• the use of man as a prefix (e.g., Youtman meaning the youth or Man Joshua meaning Joshua our man or friend);
• use of the phrase Man like as a respectful title e.g. Man Like Joshua, Man Like James etc.;
• use of the word Respect as a salutation, greeting or in place of bye bye to express good wishes;
• use of the pronoun I as a title for reggae fans for example, Wale ma I wame kuja meaning the reggae fans have come.

The usage of the words massive and man like were creations of DJ. Jeff Mwangemi of KBC, presenter of Reggae Times

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Reggae and Rastafarian Culture in Kenya

The state reggae music in Kenya cannot be divorced from the Kenyan versions of the Rastafarian culture and the matatu sub-culture of Nairobi. It has to be judged within the context of how the Kenyan population perceives the local Rastafarian movement and the messages in the reggae music of the 1990s. Even more significant is the position of the Rastafarian movement within the social-economic divide between the middle class and the poor lower class population of the Kenyan urban areas. Most of the genre's pioneers like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer were all Rastafarians.

The Kenyan Rasta movement is mostly made up of men who are marginalized from the regular education system and are poor slum dwellers living at the edges of the urban areas. Many Kenyan craftsmen, matatu conductors, music instrumentalists, acrobats, traditional dancers and casual labourers express some form of Rastafarian expression as an alternative religion whose language and ideologies they can identify with.

For them, the Rastafarian movement is a social or religious grouping that does not have the formalism and officialdom of foreign western Christianity. Rasta culture offer them a flexible language and a cultural worldview that accommodates people of their economic class. It offers them a sense of social dignity derived from the mythical story of historic oppression.

Unlike the Jamaican scene, the few Kenyan women who openly identify themselves with the Rasta movement seem to do so out of being married to or been fathered by a man who is a Rastafarian rather than out of their own heartfelt admiration of the Rasta movement.

src: nairobiwire.com

Reggae, Rastafarian Culture and Kenyan dress

The spotting of dreadlocks by Kenyan women and men is not always an indicator of their inclinations to the Rastafarian movement or their love for reggae music. Many Kenyan Rastafarians spot a scarf, headband, bangle or shirt that has the black, green, yellow and red colours which are known as Rasta colours in Kenya. Many Kenyan craftsmen tend to associate themselves with the Rastafarian movement and consequently, almost half of the items sold in Kenyan curio shops have the green, yellow, red and black colours that characterize the Rastafarian movement. The use of the cannabis leaf symbol in Kenyan ghetto art works, dress items and matatu stickers has increased and this has only exacerbated negative publicity associated with reggae music in Kenya.

It should be noted, however that in some parts of Kenya and among some social groups, especially those in the coast province, rasta-colours are often associated with social groups that have nothing to do with either reggae or Rastafarians and may have a connection with drug dealing and petty theft.

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Rastafarian ideology among reggae fans

Kenyan Rastafarians display a noticeable ideological understanding of the lyrics in reggae songs and non-musical teachings of reggae musicians and writers. For example, whenever Kenyans confront a news item touching on racism, some Kenyan Rastas may be heard quoting Lucky Dube's song Different colours One People as a moral proverb towards racial tolerance.

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Reggae as the poor man's music

In Kenya, there is a stereotypical perception that reggae is the poor man's music. This is probably due to the recurrent themes of poverty and emancipation in Jamaican Roots reggae and its popularity among disenfranchised Kenyan youth.

The association of reggae with the lower class and economically sidelined population is suspected to be the reason why in 2011, the financially struggling 6 year old Metro FM changed from a purely reggae station to Venus FM with a programming scheme that could attract advertisements targeting typical urban office-class ladies.

The gap left by Metro FM was soon taken filled by Ghetto FM, a Sheng (Kenyan slang) speaking station that claims to be the voice of the youth in the Kenyan ghettos.

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Reggae Music and Disability Awareness

Due to the same factors that make reggae the style of choice by the underclass, reggae seems to be the style of choice by Kenyan persons who have disabilities or wish to create concern among able bodied persons. Professor Naaman, Mighty King Kong and Baba Gurston Opar of the Leonard Cheshire Disability Young Voices chose reggae as their medium. Gospel musicians Reuben Kigame and Mary Atieno also chose some of their songs to be in reggae style. Daddy Owen's song, Mbona explores the marginalization of persons living with disabilities and is done in a mild reggae style.

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Reggae and the Matatu industry

In the early 1990s, during the explosion of personal and portable music systems, it became fashionable for matatus (privately owned public service vehicles) to blast loud music despite protests by passengers and the illegality of the practice. Matatu serving different parts of Nairobi, the capital city, became associated with different styles of music. For example, those serving the eastern side were famous for ragga while those serving Kangemi were known for pop, RnB and the developing hip hop styles.

The matatus plying Kikuyu, Dagoretti, and Ngong areas focused on reggae and even today, they preferentially play Roots and Dancehall reggae. The liking for reggae spread to Kabete and Thika Matatus. It is worth noting that these matatu routes serve areas dominated by the Kikuyu ethnic group and its historic desire for emancipation from colonialism and oppression by the KANU government. Dagoretti is on the outskirts of Nairobi and has the social environment in which reggae music can flourish- a contradicting mix of poverty, wealth and rich ethnic history. The reggae bands Chaka Lion and Survivors are based in Dagoretti.

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Reggae and East African history

Some researchers (Horace Campbell) associate the origin of the dreadlocks of the Rastafarian movement with those of the Kikuyu freedom fighters who were branded Mau Mau by the colonial authorities. Jamaican Rastafarian symbols such as the name Ras Tafari, the Lion of Judah and the green, yellow and red flag are derived from Ethiopia, which borders Kenya to the north. The Nyabinghi section of the Rastafarian movement derives its name from the Uganda and Rwandese regions west of Kenya.

Jamaican reggae groups and artists such as Black Uhuru and Ras Kenyatta derived their names from the Mau Mau related news that was flowing from Kenya in the 1950s. Rita Marley's song, Harambee is derived from the slogan call introduced by the former and first President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, who was a Kikuyu.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, at the climax of the anti-KANU efforts that were mostly led by Kikuyu politicians, the Kikuyu youth groupings known as Mungiki became indistinguishable from the Kenyan Rastafarians. Both groups spotted dreadlocks, reproductions of the Ethiopian green, yellow and red flag and both were known for heavy smoking of cigarettes, raw tobacco and marijuana. Due to their low-class and peri-urban status, many Kikuyu matatu drivers, conductors and operators who were reggae lovers inadvertently became members of the Mungiki movement. Even today, the average Kenyan associates the Rastafarian green, yellow and red regalia with Mungiki although the Mungiki sect officially identifies itself with the colours green, white, red and black.

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Negative publicity involving reggae in Kenya

Theft of artistes' items

In Kenya, Reggae events are the most chaotic and theft laden gigs. Some local TV comedians make fun of this by stereotypically presenting all reggae fans as thieves who have no interest in reggae music. Due to the wide underclass following, many reggae fans see the reggae events as opportunities to steal from well-off fans. Some notable cases are as listed below Mismanagement of artistes

In June 2013, Alpha Blondy and Tarrus Riley jetted into Kenya but failed to show up at the KICC grounds where their fans rioted at 3 A.M. on realizing that the expected artistes would not perform.

Rowdiness of revelers

Due to the value attached towards cannabis by some reggae musicians and sections of the Rastafarian movement, reggae music is seen by some Kenyan youth as an expression of the licence to engage in unrestrained indulgence. Lucky Dube's concert in December 1998 at the Ngong Race Course grounds was so packed with revelers and numerous reported offenses that for the first time, Kenya Police transported drunkards and suspected petty thieves in police helicopters.

Violence and Murder

According to Hillary Koech, a Kenyan media blogger and freelance journalist, underclass Kenyan reggae fans often carry ghetto- neighbourhood hostilities to reggae gigs and sometimes engage in murders over petty conflicts.

Gangsterism

The Kenyan brand of the Rastafarian movement is plagued by associations with social actions that are contrary to those regular rasta movements and the messages in reggae music. Benard Matheri, a Most Wanted gangster who was shot dead by police in 1997 and was known as Rasta because of his dreadlocks. The mingling of Kenyan Rastafarians with the murderous acts of the Mungiki sect only tarnished the reputation of the rasta movement and reggae music further.

In parts of the Coast province of Kenya, the rasta colours green, yellow and red are a gangster identity that has nothing to do with either reggae or Rastafarians and is often associated with violent theft, drug dealing and homosexual unions that may involve European tourists.

Pornography and sexual impropriety

For many years, Kenyan reggae gigs were promoted through posters that featured pictures of the artists or graphics suggestive of struggles against colonialism. Between 2003 and 2006 when Dancehall reggae was making its way into Kenya, some reggae DJs began publicizing their gigs by using sexually suggestive posters of partly and fully naked Jamaican women. Some Kenyan reggae fans have also been complaining that local Dancehall gigs are mostly oriented towards sexuall expression rather than the deeper religious and cultural orientation of Roots reggae.

Unauthorized distribution of reggae music

Reggae music is the most copied and plagiarized genre of music in Kenya. As at 2014, it is practically impossible to gain legitimate access to original CDs of reggae music originating from outside Kenya. It is also quite difficult to get full versions of reggae songs that do not have interjections, interruptions and self-promoting announcements by mixing DJs.

Unlike the 1990s, Kenyan DJs no longer mention the titles of the songs they play nor do they state the names of the singers or give a background history of the songs. Some DJs create mix-tapes or remixes of songs and then announces their own names over the remixes and unintentionally creating the impression that the songs are their own works.

src: nairobiwire.com

References

Source of the article : Wikipedia