Talk:Benga music

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Regional and national music

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Kamba Benga (new section yet tbd)[edit]

In today's Kenya, the genre of Kamba Benga has gained considerable popularity over its roots, the Luo Benga. The lyrics are sung in Kikamba, Kiswahili and English -- often in a mix of these languages --, typically centre around love affairs or recent events and convey a moral lesson. The most famous performers in Kenya are:

Ken Wa-Maria, known all over the country and having moved up the ladder from a second-hand clothes dealer at Gikomba market (Nairobi) to a millionaire through the success of his music. In recent years, he even tried to get mixed up in Kenyan domestic policy. His Kamba Benga group, formerly the Yatta Boys, is dubbed Yatta Orchestra International (Yatta is the name of a Kenyan Constituency in Machakos County).
Kativui Mweene (real name Ben Mbatha). He was a former lead guitarist with Wa-Maria, who after a breakup founded his own Benga band and became also very famous.
Alex Kasau Katombi, leader of the Nguuni Lovers Lovers Benga group.

Other Kenyan Kamba Benga performers (individuals and groups):

Alphonse Kioko
Kathekani
Kitunguu
Kyaume Boys
Maima (Kithungo Raha)
Muasa Kineene

While their music was spread and shared via Video CDs (being mostly illegal CD-R bootlegs) in earlier years, most of these performers today are maintaining their own authorised "official" YouTube channels with up to 290K subscribers (Alex Kasau).

In today's Kenya, music royalties are collected by the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) on behalf of authors, composers, arrangers, and publishers of music. Selling of pirated copies, however, is still common practice in Kenya. MFX (talk) 20:25, 13 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]