There’s a time when I didn’t think much of the new crop of Kenyan musicians. It was around the time Ethic debuted on the local entertainment scene with Lamba Lolo. I thought the song was trashy at best.
Just like most people, I was quick to dismiss them with them with the excuse that their music was raunchy and lacked any message whatsoever nevermind the fact that I found it a little bit entertaining.
With time, more groups or individuals whose music approach was similar to that of Ethic started emerging and I started warming up to the idea of listening to thier music afterall, most people were praising them.
There is a popular adage that if you can’t beat them, join them and in my opinion that’s exactly what happened to me and it’s not that I was coerced, I came to understand their style and as a result, my love for their music grew.
I moved from being a firece critic of new-age musicians one of their strongest proponents, if not the strongest. Chances are if you meet me along the streets, I’ll ask you if you’ve listened to the latest song by Ethic, Ochunglo Family, Sailors Gang, Boondocks Gang, Rico Gang etc. It’s just what it is.
I came to realize that you can’t really resist the ‘new-age music revolution’, as such, you need to embrace it because wishing them away won’t make the players any less popular. Truth is, they will still get massive airplay on local radio and TV stations even if you hate them so why not have a change of heart like I did?
New-age musicians are emerging each day, it almost seems like a revolution, one that will define the Kenyan sound for decades to come. I can only hope that their music will get less raunchy or provocative as time goes. Otherwise, they are the best thing that has ever happened to Kenya.
Listen to Ochunglo Family’s latest jam dubbed Kaa Na Mama Yako below.
