In 2021, Kenyans were caught mouth agape by how a popular foreign music genre permeated through the very walls of Kenyan music.

The country’s urban music industry has been going through a renaissance in which locals are embracing more local music, in a bid to support local artistes, stakeholders, and also safeguard the country’s musin culture beneath all the noise on the ground rallying for #PlayKe.

The dominant thought and worry has been that a law created by the government thatdemands 60 per cent of Kenyan music be played on national broadcasters, restaurants, and public spaces has never been adhered to. And this is the reason behind the dominance  of international music genres such as the South African amapiano. this has led to stagnation in the general growth and progress of homegrown genres such as the nascent gengetone.

Last year alone, countless musical acts from South Africa arguably put a nail in the coffin for gengetone, and muscled a number of groups into oblivion, a move that was not welcome by some players in the local industry.

“Gengetone is very much alive. Let’s not go back to when we used to play more of Nigerian music. Our Kenyan artistes were getting almost no airplay on our very own radio and TV stations, but gengetone came with a hyped vibe that everyone loved, and we have airplays in other countries. Gengetone has also changed the lives of so many youths who would have been jobless and lost in the streets.  

“More and more people should keep supporting this kind of music and soon we shall be getting gengetone artiste nominations in big awarding events overseas,” gengetone ambassador and artiste Mastar VK intimates to Spice.

The surge

With the influx of amapiano artistes flocking into the country to headline shows that included festivals and club appearances, it was almost impossible to ignore how much the ‘piano culture’ had infiltrated Kenya’s music and social spaces at the expense of gengetone. Ironically, as Covid-19 cases were surging, so was amapiano, and so was the downward spiral of gengetone groups such as Ethic, Ochungulo Family, Sailors, and others that had spearheaded the revolution of Kenyan music from the sad reality that foreign music has always taken the local industry hostage in the expense of our own.

Award-winning spinmaster DJ GI believes that amapiano and gengetone can indeed co-exist harmoniously despite a cross section of music fans, critics and makers pitting the two genres against one another.

He opines: “Someone’s individual perception is what matters to them. To me, amapiano is just music and it sounds and feels good. Why lie. Right now, as a genre and sound, it cuts across most boundaries, so it’s easy to see why it’s so popular not just in Kenya, but also globally. Many people, from Kenyan deejays to musicians and producers have integrated it in their craft and are killing it. Personally, I’ve churned out a few amapiano remixes featuring Kenyan songs and recently made an exclusive Kenyan-Amapiano mix. And I don’t just mean making good music, but good money too. Good music from artistes such as Brandy Maina, Fena Gitu, Domani Munga of Wakadinali, Rekless, DJ Mura, Nabiswa Wanyama and so many more has been packaged in there.”

Interestingly, the debate between gengetone and amapiano is a ‘pushed’ narrative in the streaming world because neither of genre was in the top 10 of the major music streaming services, with the more popular songs beingAfro-pop, Swa&B, and Afrobeats. Meanwhile amapiano and drill music came about as an afterthought.

The piano definitely ruled the festivals with more than 20 acts from Mr Jazziq, Kamp Mphela, Boohle, Focalistic (all from down south) and others visiting Kenya many times, leaving crumbs to the gengetone fraternity, thus seizing multiple lucrative opportunities.

“Music’s staying power depends on the people. How about theartistes? Are they going to keep singing these songs? There are few amapiano artistes in Kenya, so I don’t know if it will be around for too long. However, in terms of dance music, I feel like this is what drives amapiano,” says Brandy Maina, one of the widely recognised amapiano artistes in Kenya. 

Brandy popularised the genre through the internet and dance sensation Danger Dinji, however, she has also been able to merge the two genresthrough a collaboration dubbed Weka Piano with Rekless.

“Any genre has longevity as long as the artistes continue to express themselves the best way they can, and fans receive it well. It takes a lot of things to sustain a genre, but we don’t talk about that a lot. Me doing the song with Rekless also showed that both genres can live together. We don’t have to believe that one is kicking the other out; there is enough space for all of them,” she adds.

As a music patron, DJ GI says Kenyans have free will to decide what type of music they prefer because there is no contest on which one of them is better than the other. In essence, he says, amapiano can only be toxic for the industry if Kenyans totally ignore their own music and culture.

He says, “What’s toxic for the industry is people not embracing Kenyan music with the same energy they embrace music by people from outside. Kenyans should go five times as hard for Kenyan artistes.”

Additionally, major patrons of #PlayKe such as Joe Muchiri have changed tune and started a whole franchise dubbed Amapiano Tour Ke, which was behind flying in South African amapiano deejay and record producer Mr JazziQ last year, among other themed events. This begs the question; why are the previous leading voices in the fight for more #PlayKe arenow seemingly taking a contrary stand towards the fight for Kenyan music to get a seat at the table?

“Yes, gengetone does have a future and Ithink it plays a huge part in the Kenyan music culture where a lot of Kenyans including myself can resonate with. I’m a big fan. I’m more versatile in music and I can be able to show my creative side more. Also, I have been able to generate new sounds by myself and I’ve actually even grown tremedously in producing my own music,” artiste Gee Gee formerly of gengetone frontiers Rico Gang mentions. She has evolved into making Afro-fusion and Afro-soul music, again stressing that artistes have a huge space to experiment and look to broaden their palette.

Here to stay

Kenyan deejay and music trendsetter DJ IV tells Spice that Kenyans have a great ear for quality music, and that music fans can expect amapiano to stay in the airwaves for many years.

“I love Kenyans for ever being so responsive to quality music no matter the genre. It’s a heart-warming experience. I doubt that amapiano hurts. I honestly believe that there’s enough space for everyone. We can all consume genetone, amapiano and any of either’s remixes because there are absolutely no limits in music,” he says.

Ninel Lara, the founder and CEO of Vth Season, a creative entertainment agency, says in conclusion: “The demand and requests are all leaning towards amapiano right now. It really is the hottest thing right now. Whether it’s young artistes from the UK that used to do Afrobeat, to established American acts seeking just a beat, or producer references, digital service providers playlisting, they are all after the amapiano. 

“I think amapiano is the number one genre in Africa presently, and what it is doing in general for the South African music industry is great. The genre is here to stay.”