The birth of popular music in Kenya is traced back to late 1940s up untill early 1950s. It was introduced by international secular songs elements being adopted in the local scene in the wake of WW2. This was before the mau mau uprising began. Traditional songs of pre independence era, armed liberation struggle were composed. Nairobi later became the regions core musical hub as a stream of instrumentalists, composers, musicians, traversed the border of east and central Africa countries eg Ethiopia, Uganda and tanzania. The 70’s were a turning point as international record labels opted to invest in Nairobi. It was at the 70’s and 80’s that the veteran names such as Daudi Kabaka, Owino misiani, Fadhili Williams and Suzanne Owiyo rocked the airwaves with smooth songs of love and social issues. The trends took a major turn in the late 90’s and early 2000’s where names such as E-sir, sautisol, Nameless, Longombas, Big Pin, Gidi Gidi maji maji and K- rupt emerged with a different style of pop music and hip hop ish feel, thereafter to 2008 upto 2017, Kenya witnessed the rise of a new breed of artistes who are a mix of hip hop, crunk and RnB. From 2018 to date (2021), there erupted a young generation of artistes who introduced a genre known as gengetone which really took control of the airwaves.
Music in Kenya 