Benga Music

Benga’s most distinctive feature is its fast-paced rhythmic beat and bouncy finger-picking guitar technique. Indeed, the core of benga is the lead guitar, which essentially follows the track of the vocals. Without exception, the singing is at some point separated from the climax—the instrumental expanse that combines three or four guitars and percussions. Benga is loosely linked to Congolese rumba and West African highlife, but differs sharply from South African kwela, taarab, chakacha and kidumbaak; the most well-known Swahili music forms from the coastal strip of East Africa.

 

Today, Benga music is played across a fair share of Kenya—from the lake shores in the west, across the vast floor of the Rift Valley to the slopes of the imposing 5,199 metre Mount Kenya and into the plains of eastern Kenya. From a genre that was previously considered low class, it has managed to establish its hold as a definite Kenyan style and beat. Sprinklings of it are to be found in DR Congo. It has been borrowed, repackaged and found a new form in Zimbabwe. From its humble rural beginnings, this music has been nurtured into a club circuit affair in numerous urban areas in East, Central and Southern Africa.

             By Isaac

 

 

 

 

Mugithi music in central Kenya

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This is a form of music  that originated by the Kikuyu people of but enjoyed by other ethnic groups within Kenya and even some non-Kenyans in countries with a large Kenyan Kenyan diaspora such as the US.

The new genre of one-man guitarists has taken root in Central Province. The singer plays the box guitar and sings.

It is usually sung by a single singer and accompanied by guitars (either acoustic or usually quite highly pitched electric guitar. Songs are always sung in the Gikuyu language.

The music tackles a wide range of subjects and includes a good degree of social commentary and sometimes political comment.

When the song ‘Mugithi’ is usually sang, the people in the audience usually make a line and dance while walking around. The song is famous in weddings, dowry events and other celebrations.The top performers are Mike Rua, Mike Murimi, Salim Junior and Man Johnny.

 

 

List of Music Genres In Africa

There’s more to African music than it just being “African”! Music genres are plentiful on this continent. Here’s a quick overview of just a few of them:

Afrobeat

Fela Kuti created Afro-beat by fusing traditional Nigerian music, jazz and high-life. Today, it is often mixed with hip hop or makossa and well known even outside Africa.

Apala

Apala is a percussion-based style of the Muslim Yoruba people in Nigeria, West Africa.

Assiko

Assiko is a rhythmic dance from Cameroon.

Bikutsi

This dance music developped from the traditional music of the Beti in Cameroon. The sexy dance moves remind of the popular Mapouka from the Ivory Coast.

Benga music

Popular music in Kenya. The electric bass guitar imitates the melodies of the traditional Kenyan eight-string lyre called Nyatiti.

Chimurenga music

Popular style from Zimbabwe. The melodies played by modern instruments are based on the traditional Mbira music of the Shona people.

Coupé-Decalé

Pop music from the Ivory Coast/France with danceable percussion and deep bass. This style is said to help Ivorians through tough times and difficult political situations.

Desert Blues

The people living in the Sahara desert have been making blues music long before it got famous in the West. This sounds absolutely brilliant!

Fuji

Popular style from Nigeria, based on traditional Muslim Yoruba music.

Funana

Music style and dance from Cape Verde based on the accordeon.

Highlife

Highlife is a genre from Ghana and popular in all of English-speaking West Africa.

Hip-life

Fun and extremely popular among Ghana‘s youth is the fusion of highlife and hip hop.

Isicathamiya

Harmonious and gentle a cappella sung by all male choirs from the South African Zulu.

Kwaito

South Africa‘s black youth loves this new mix of house music and African sounds.

Makossa

This urban dance music from the capital city of Cameroon reminds of Soukous.

Mbalax

Senegal’s most popular music style. Mbalax is a brilliant fusion of traditional griot praise songs and sabar rhythms with modern Western elements.

Tcha tcho

This Congolese dance music was created by Koffi Olimide. It’s a more sensual and melancholic subform of Soukous.

List of Music Genres In Africa

ROOTS & CULTURE

“Music is just something that explains people lives for them – that’s what people call roots”-Chronixx

Traditional and Contemporary African Music

Traditional African music is as historically ancient, rich, and diverse as the continent itself. Traditional African music is passed down orally (or aurally) and is not written, and it also relies heavily on percussion instruments of every variety, including xylophones, drums, and tone-producing instruments such as the mbira or “thumb piano.” Traditional African music is generally performed with functional intent in celebrations, festivals, and story-telling.

Contemporary African music is also highly diverse, but it shares many characteristics of Western popular music in the mid-twentieth-century. Beginning with the advent of recording technology and the development of the recording industry, contemporary African music has been heavily influenced by R&B, American soul music, Jamaican reggae, and other musical forms from the Americas. Today, the African music scene is as rich and active as that of any other continent on the globe, and numerous popular styles exist, including, for example, high life, Nigerian juju, and West African makossa. Moreover, a thriving hip hop scene exists in every sub-Saharan African country from Sierra Leone to Madagascar.

JAMAICAN JAMZ

Where most Dancehall and Reggae Onedrop jamz come from

QUEEN BEE

Respect for queen Bee  for her album is all about being a women wither its a crazy,wifey,fashionista all the women have a piece of the album to listen to…….i love grown woman cause its all about having the power to  do anything. AM A GROWN WOMAN I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT

hip hop gave a generation a common ground that dint require either race to loose anything ,everyone gained

“One good thing about music. When it hits you feel no pain.” -Bob Marely