Shaheera Asante
April 2004 - Has Kenyan music been overlooked?
Last week I was sorting through my usual pile of CDs arriving daily, and came across a preview compilation album celebrating the music of Kenya.
- East African music
- Rising star Suzzana Owiyo
- Promising female artist Nyota Ndogo
- Shaheera Asante's Recommended CDs
East African music
Since first listening to the Kenyan compilation, it has not left my CD player. The vibrant musical talent that resides in Kenya, I realised, has been horribly overlooked. How did this happen?
With so much of our attention focused on West African music, I believe East African music needs to be given more attention and credit. Kenya’s popular music scene fuses a vast and varied range of musical styles. With 42 separate communities and regional languages - each with their own traditions and customs - co-existing within Kenya, this diverse and rich cultural melting pot has produced some of Africa's most exciting artists. Music is everywhere.
Along the streets of Nairobi, songs in Luo, Luhya, Kamba and Kikuyu can be heard blaring from the cassette sellers' sidewalk stands as they compete for the attention of passers by. And musical styles ranging from Swahili taarab music of the coast to Luo benga music from the lakes region are easily intertwined with gospel, Congolese-influenced rumba and rock acoustic guitar and bottle (characterized by two acoustic guitars accompanied by tapping on a bottle). Contemporary groups Shem Tube and Abana ba Nasery still play the Luhya omutibo style of this sound complete with Fanta bottle.
However, today two of Kenya’s rising stars are female singers and songwriters Suzzana Owiyo and Nyota Ndogo.
Rising star Suzzana Owiyo
Suzzana Owiyo is a vocalist and guitarist of Luo descent. She wrote the song ‘Kisumu 100’ to commemorate the centennial of Kisumu (a town on the shore of Lake Victoria and the home of Lua Benga music) in December 2001. The recording became an instant hit and launched her career nationally and internationally. ‘As a young girl, I was blessed with a grandfather who was a prolific Nyatiti player’ she says ‘I did not know that one day this instrument would be my life’s calling’.
Suzzana’s voice is compelling and powerful, her songs ripe with the sounds of acoustic guitar led riffs and traditional instrumentation. Her music combines the style of Luo pop music which has reined champion in the lands around Lake Victoria since the late 1960s, and the cosmopolitan influence of Kenya’s vibrant music scene.
In 2003 she won a Kisima Award in Kenya for most promising female artist. Suzzana is currently working on her second album.
Promising female artist Nyota Ndogo
Taarab singer, Nyota Ndogo was working as a house girl when her melodic voice and song writing skills were first brought to the attention of Andrew Burchell, a producer based in Mombassa. Nyota grew up on the coastal region of Kenya - where the growth of Swahili culture bred a unique style of music called taarab. As a genre, taarab music combines elements of African percussion with Arabic rhythms.
Currently one of the leading female singers of East Africa Nyota Ndogo (which means ‘Little Star’) has performed at various East African festivals and won the Kenyan Kisima Award for Best Taarab Singer in 2003. Her vocals are sweet and compelling and her music has a unique, soulful, yet funky backing beat, mixed with the versatile style of Taarab.
Back here in the UK, it’s time to start booking your tickets for the London African Music Festival in May. In my own diary will be singer Sally Nyolo, who mixes her Cameroonian roots with the club sounds of Paris, performs on a bill with the wonderful Queens of Lagos (14 May). I’m also hoping to check out ‘Ghanaian hi-life princess’ Pauline Oduro on 23 May. Here on the website we’ll be running a quiz with lots of tickets to the festival as prizes, so watch this space! Meanwhile, if you’ve got a favourite club for African music, or a CD you can’t stop listening to, please share your comments with us.
Shaheera Asante's Recommended CDs
Suzzana Owiyo - Suzzana Owiyo
Various artists - The Rough Guide to the Music of Kenya
Check out my recommended CDs this month in the CD Reviews section or go to Music Search to look at our archive of recommended CDs.