The Next Big Thing 2007
Kenyan band Yunasi have won the BBC World Service's annual international talent competition which took place in London on 9 December.
The World Service received thousands of entries from 88 countries and territories submitted via the BBC's website and worldwide roadshows including one in Tanzania. From these tracks a longlist of the 20 best tracks was compiled which also featured Beatrice Moses from Tanzania and Sarah Tshila from Uganda.
A panel of 22 music journalists, artists and experts from many different specialist areas, including Nickens Nkoso of Kasai Masai , Simon Broughton of Songlines magazine and Ilka Schlockermann of Africa On Your Street , then listened to these 20 tracks and selected five finalists – Hraun from Iceland, Jeremie Johnson from United Arab Emirates, Maya McCallum Et La Toy Factory from France, Vrelo from Serbia and Yunasi from Kenya - who were invited to London to perform at the BBC’s legendary Maida Vale studios on 9 December 2007 at an amazing meeting of styles and cultures.
At this final stage it was up to the all star-jury of Talvin Singh (singer and producer of Madonna and Jay Z), Tahita Bulmer (New Young Pony Club), Nile Rodgers (producer of David Bowie, Diana Ross) and William Orbit (producer of Robbie Williams and Sugababes) to pick the Next Big Thing. Orbit commented: “I was blown away by the standard of all the artists. [Also] some shows are about humiliation but this was about real talent. There was also a spirit of unity between the bands that I felt was important.” The standard was so high that the runners-up place was split between Vrelo and Jeremie Johnson. But it was Yunasi who took home the top prize. They put on a breathtaking performance of their catchy song 'Ndi Ndi Ndi' which is about the dangers of excess drinking.
Yunasi’s unique East African music style is called Sesube which is a combination of Sega, Isukuti and Benga. It takes sounds and inspirations from local Kenyan communities, cultural styles and languages and fuses those sounds with a European component. The Nairobi-based band comprises seven men from East Africa as well as a French woman who plays accordion - it may sound odd on paper but the accordion actually compliments the traditional and modern East African instruments very well.
Yunasi previously came third place in the World Music category at the prestigious US International Songwriting Contest in 2005 for the song ‘Ji Opogore (The Difference of People)’. They also won the 2004 Kisima Award for best Afro-fusion band in Kenya and were nominated for an all-African Kora award in South Africa in 2003.
The band, whose songs are in several languages including Swahili, English, French, Luo, Kisii and Luhya, hopes to increase the awareness of contemporary Kenyan music, both locally and overseas. Yunasi's vocalist said: “Winning the BBC's Next Big Thing 2007 is a dream come true for us. After ten years of hard work this will help give us international recognition, we are on top of the world.”
The Next Big Thing was part of a season of programmes to celebrate BBC World Service's 75th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations culminated in a concert at the O2's IndigO2 venue in London on 15 December 2007. The concert which went out live across the world featured headliner Katie Melua as well as Toumast and Daby Toure amongst others. Yunasi were also invited to perform which won them even more fans.
The band’s latest album 'Nairobi' was produced by Tedd Josiah, probably East Africa’s most famous producer. Just like they showed in the Next Big Thing competition Yunasi's signature of upbeat Kenyan urban music makes you want to get up and dance, and appeals to both young and old. Definitely a group to watch out for in 2008!