Kenya is best known for its fabulous landscapes and wildlife. Less known is the country's rich cultural history, which includes ancient African civilizations as well as early Arab settlements on the African continent. The Portuguese and British moved in with a rough hand, and in the late 19th century "scramble for Africa," the modern nation wound up a British colony.
Following the brutal British suppression of the Mau Mau uprising in the mid-'50s, Jomo Kenyatta took power and ran a tight, pro-Western, but decidedly nondemocratic one-party state until his death in 1978. His successor, Daniel Arap Moi, spoke of turning the country into a nonethnic, open democracy, but he never lived up to his rhetoric. Moi stepped down in 2002, and Mwai Kibaki was elected president, though he too has been at the center of many controversies. Despite all of this political turmoil, Kenya has continued to produce lively, beautiful and varied ethnic music, including pop music.
Groups singing in Luhya, Kikuyu and Kamba sweeten Kenya's pop. The nimble sukuti guitar sound of the western Luhya highlands, popularized by '50s stars George Mukabi and John Mwale, helped define the rhythmic and melodic vocabulary for much electric music that followed. In the '60s, Luhya guitarist and singer Shem Tube and his group Abana Ba Nasery ("Nursery Boys") recorded hits with dueling acoustic guitars, three-part vocal harmonies and ringing Fanta-soda-bottle percussion. Shem and his partner Justo Osala later formed an electric, benga-oriented band called Les Bunyore. Since the '80s, Sukuma Bin Ongaro has remained the top electric Luhya star. In an unusual comeback of an all-but-vanished style, Abana Ba Nasery regrouped in 1991 to record acoustically with folk musicians in the U.K.
The Kikuyu of Central Province make up Kenya's largest ethnic group, but surprisingly little of their music has percolated beyond the ranks of the Kikuyu. The godfather of Kikuyu pop Joseph Kamaru burst onto the scene in 1967 with a Kikuyu take on benga that also nods to country-and-western music. Kamaru rejects love songs to focus playfully but pointedly on a variety of social topics using masterful "deep Kikuyu," full of proverbs and metaphors. Kamaru's "X-rated, Adults Only" shows remained a draw until he became a born-again Christian in 1993 and embarked upon a new career in gospel. Peter Kigia and the Chania River Boys also take on social themes, while Councilor DK sings love songs that are popular with the young crowd.
Kamba people inhabit the parched highlands south and east of Nairobi and play music close to the benga/rumba mainstream, but with distinct local melodies. In the '70s and '80s, the Kamba audience favored Peter Mwambi and his Kyanganga Boys, while Kakai Kilonzo's Kilimambogo Brothers sang in Swahili and achieved mainstream success. Having produced a string of Kamba/Swahili crossover hits in the '90s, the Katitu Boys now rank as one of the top dance acts in Nairobi. – Banning Eyre, Courtesy Afropop Worldwide: www.afropop.org
