Albeit not many people might agree with me, Kenyan art remains frozen and in some cases it is on a retreat in terms of quality. The word art in this case is used with special regard to music in all its genres. Be it gospel, rap, or dancehall, Kenyan music leaves a lot to be desired. Remember those Sundays when you feel exceptionally religious and you want some Swahili Gospel and the only name that comes to your mind isShusho or Chibalonza? I do not want to mention Don Moen, Kirk Franklin, or Nicole Mullen because these fellows fly in a different sky. To gauge the potential and competence of our local musicians, we will have to look at countries such as Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, and Uganda.
Lest I be accused of hating on local musicians, let me start by congratulating them for coming out. It takes guts and in some cases intense stupidity to parade yourself in public. I want to believe that it is not the latter drive that brought our musicians into the limelight. Back to the main issue of quality.
Listening to “Moto” by Size 8 and Christine Shusho’s “Unikumbuke” gives you the opportunity to grasp where I am going with this. “Moto” comes off as mere noise, lacking in rhythm and flow that are necessary for the musicality of a song. Shusho’s music competes with and in some cases beats songs by Angela Chibalonza and Rwanda’s songbirds behind the hit “Kwetu Pazuri.” It is not that Kenya has not produced recognizable music talent. Marion Shako, Paul Mwai, and the ladies behind the hit song “Mambo Sawasawa” are all bright spots in a terrain that littered with mediocrity and trash. The question that arises at this point is: Where did the rain begin beating us, and why is this happening?
Like PLO Lumumba always says, Kenyans are always consuming substandard stuff. This reminds me of the famous saying that if fools do not step into markets, bad wares will not be sold. Kenyan music is stuck or experiencing a qualitative degradation because we as a people have failed to raise the bar. The media is quick to pounce on any substandard noise produced by anyone in the name of music which is then given a lot of airtime. At the end of it all, the young man or the young woman thinking of joining the music industry ends up falling for these low standards because he or she is assured of airtime. It is not possible to get what you have not asked for. Nigerian music keeps on growing to greater heights because the consumers and the media give a deliberate blackout to mediocre music. Therefore, budding musicians get to understand that they either shape up or ship out. It is for this reason that listening to “Imela” by Nigeria’sNathaniel Bassey gives you hope that Africa is moving forward but then when you listen to “Moto” the hope is replaced by an equal measure of hopelessness.
Center for African Progress takes the progress in art seriously, and this is why criticism must be accompanied by solutions. The media plays a vital role in society. This is especially true in the cultivation and promotion of talent. The Kenyan media needs to wean itself from its juvenile craving for the degenerative story on the “celebrity.” Let the media be the torch to illuminate competence so as to set the standards as high as possible. Make the airtime free but still expensive to the point that by the time a song is played in television or radio, its quality is such that it can fly in the global or at least in the African music scene. There should be a difference between music and noise. The media needs to identify and retain competent critics who can pinpoint quality music when they see and hear it and then help recommend the same for airtime.
While copying is not always bad, sheepish “apemanship” is never the way to go. Kenyans are known for their loose behavior in the US whereby they want to “tweng” instead of using their British accent. While some idiots think they get admired for that, the reality is that they are sneered at and dismissed as lacking confidence and anchorage. On the other hand, Nigerians stick to their funny accent and get respected for remaining true to themselves. Therefore, it should not surprise anybody that our nitwits masquerading s musicians want to behave like Jay Z or 50 Cent. This is another reason why our music is not growing. Once again the media should give total blackout to music that lacks in originality. There is so much of such music around.
Genuine talent is not rare. Karun of Camp Mulla is a gifted vocalist whose future is bright if properly molded under the right conditions. Jua Cali’s originality makes him a hit among those who know what originality means in music. Wahu is a major force among female musicians due to her originality and unique vocals. Nonini is a gifted rapper whose loyalty to Swahili makes his music standout. There is talent but for some reason, the media picks the talentless attention-seekers and gives them all the underserved attention. While this might be doing some good for these fellows, music is dying and genuine talent is going unnoticed. Hey you media guys, this is not patriotism!
Onchari Oyieyo
For Center for African Progress