KENYA’S MUTHONI DRUMMER QUEEN IS PART OF A NEW WAVE OF EAST AFRICAN MUSIC.
Joseph Kamaru, the performer who records under the name KMRU, admits that being a composer of ambient electronic music is not an obvious path to fame and fortune in his home country of Kenya.
“It has not been easy to do what I do in Nairobi,” he concedes via email. “But I’m grateful that I’m able to create this kind of music and introduce it to the people there. It’s always interesting to watch crowds while I play the music. At some point, I was tense, but eventually, this has grown and (I’m) glad that people know Kamaru makes ‘weird’ music.”
But that “weird music” is not only gaining a following in Kenya, however small, but also among fans of electronic sounds in Europe and the U.S. over the last few years. He’s at the forefront of an African alternative music scene, much of it based in East Africa, that smashes together avantgarde, ambient, house, downtempo, hip-hop, rock and traditional rhythms and vocal patterns into a unique Afro-futurist vision.
“In the new wave of East African electronic music, indigenous rhythms, 808 drums, synthesizers, traditional African instruments and field recordings combine to create auditory paths to liberation,” the site bandcamp.com declared two years ago. “And while the music may vary widely, all of it springs from a similar spirit of defiance.”
Jinku, of the Kenyan band EA Wave (“EA” stands for East Africa), says the spread of relatively lowcost technology has fueled the creative boom. “We have always had acts in East Africa, the world is just catching up to what is hot on the streets,” he says via email. “The main catalyst is accessibility, you can pretty much become a musician with a laptop, decent headphones and music software. That’s how we started and scaled up as we progressed.”
Parallels can be drawn to the guitar bands of Mali, such as Tinariwen and Songhoy Blues, who’ve refashioned rock and blues in their own image.
Yet the scene isn’t defined by one approach. KMRU’s dreamscapes are very different from the chilled-out funk of EA Wave, the glitchy grooves of Ethiopia’s Ethiopian Records, the Kraftwerkmeets-the-Sahara electro-pop of Niger’s Hama, the banging percussion of Uganda’s Nihiloxica, the socially conscious sonic montages of Uganda’s Faizal Mostrixx and the 200 beats-per-minute caffeine rush of Tanzania’s singeli music from the likes of Sisso, Jay Mitta and Bamba Pana.
It’s proof that “African music” doesn’t conform to stereotype and shouldn’t be seen through a traditional “world music” lens. “We have a wide array of genres, and bottling all of them up under one tag is ridiculous,” says Jinku. “Also, expecting African music to fit into stereotypes, such as African drums, tribal vocals and a certain feel, is reminiscent of decades past.”
What’s happening in East Africa builds on what’s happened in other parts of the continent. South African DJ/producers Black Coffee (who has worked with David Guetta, Pharrell Williams, Drake and Usher) and DJ Lag (who emerged from Durban’s gqom dance scene) have experience outside Africa.
Joining them soon may be Johannesburg musician/producer Sun-El Musician, who last month released the enthralling and soulful 31-track “To the World & Beyond.”
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Mr. Eazi — whom BBC declared Africa’s biggest star — has taken his Afropop/hip-hop global and worked with the likes of Bad Bunny and J Balvin.
When Stephen Vitkovitch, head of the London-based Byrd Out label that has released the music of many East African acts, first heard these artists, it was an eyeopening experience.
“All the East African artists I’ve released have their own sound, and to my ears, they’re pretty distinct from much of the houseled stuff about in Europe,” he says. “It’s a way of doing electronic music people often aren’t familiar with.”
He’s not worried about the sound being watered down now that the rest of the world is starting to pay attention.
“The artists’ sounds are so distinctive that co-opting would be difficult without losing something,” he says. “It does seem that people are paying more attention right now, which can only be a good thing. Of course, artists’ styles will