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Kenya Contemporary Hip Hop Music
=== Genge genre === Genge is a hip hop genre that was popularized in Kenya during the 1990s. It had influences from the Jamaican dancehall music. The name came from the producer Clemo and was popularized by artists like JuaKali with his songs like ngeli ya genge, Nonini with the song Manzi wa Nairobi, P-Unit and Influx Swagga. Genge gave rise to other genres like gengetone.

Genge tone
==== The rise of genge tone ==== A boy band of young Kenyan men released a new song with a rather strange sound that was not common in the Kenyan musical space. With such a new sound going viral a new genre was born. They then joined into a musical group calling themselves Ethic Entertainment. They were 4 members: Rekles, Seska, Swat, and Zilla. Their hit song called "lamba lolo" was unlike anything ever heard before; more of a revolution that controlled the music waves in Kenya. The title translates to lick a lollipop. This is a reference to 50 cents' famous line from his song Candy shop which in simpler terms means getting oral pleasure. Everything was all over the place; more like a mess without any sense of organization. The beats were wild sampled from many different genres and the verse and hooks  even crazier especially in terms of lyrics. The artists despite being young had very vulgar lyrics which seemed to resonate with the youth which seemed as their way if rebelling the conservativeness in Kenya. They said things that not even older people said openly. Kenyans were more so very reserved and conservative so it was not taken lightly by the older people. The music video was recorded in the ghetto. It had no script and no choreography. Just a bunch of boys given lollipops and just given the freedom to dance to the music in their own way. The most popular dance in Kenya was the Odi dance at the time and in itself it was just a new trend having being started by Timeless Noel. The dance was a simple mostly leg work dance with simple and almost non existing hand movements and less torso movements as well that seemed to universally go with most genres of music and especially reggae and dancehall. Their outfits were rugged and most of the lyrics were in sheng' which was mostly accessible to and understood by the youth from the ghetto, therefore most people did not understood it clearly but it was obviously vulgar and this was certain no TV or radio station was going to touch it. The boys didn't really expect the mainstream media to be interested either way and they were just having fun. They definately did not expected that this moment would become the beginning of a movement and no one saw it coming. Genge tone became a popular genre. It's online presence made it to become popular with DJs adding them to their mixes. This gave it even more exposure as they would now started to be played in "matatus" (public transportation), bars and clubs since such places did not sensor the obnoxious lyrics. This led to more people being exposed to the music. Ethic Entertainment led to more artists trying this new sound: Sailors gang was one group that also exploded into the scene with their song "wamlambez". They had a unique feature in their songs since a certain scream that was unique and comical as it became a meme that their song must feature a scream. Other artists that came about were the Ochungulo family, Boondocks gang, a young man Trio Mio, who became popular in his mid teens and Mbogi genje, who were notorious for their lyrics. Their lyrics was not the normal "sheng", it was a new language all together that not even the youth understood fully but it seemed to excite them and therefore became popular. The new genre was definately a step in the right direction. Music in Kenya was mainly foreign music from their United States and Europe. Other African music genres like the Nigerian Afro pop was also very common. It was nice to finally have our own music being released and support by the citizens and which gave Kenyans a sense of pride and a competing chance to show that Kenya too was not a musically poor country. It finally broke the monotony of Kenyans having to search for music from other parts of the world. However due to poor management, disorganization and a disagreements between the artists, record labels and their managing teams, most of the genge tone artists parted ways and it seemed as if the genre was going to pass through and become a thing of the past. This gave a new genre the chance and space to take over.

Kenyan Drill
During this time an already existing genre but was not so popular before emerged and took over Kenyan Music as the genge tone seemed to be slowing down, and went ahead to gauge more popularity during the covid 19 pandemic. The New York hip hop style drill was becoming popular in England as well. This became a great influence to many African countries including Kenya. Kenyan drill was therefore brought to the front line. It is a genre popular for it's hard hitting and aggressive beats, unique hi hats and lyrical content. Wakadinali, Boutross and Buruklyn Boyz were the most popular in the genre and they clearly became a sensation making hit songs and improving Kenyan hip hop styles altogether. Wakadinali a trio of rappers: Domani Munga, SewerSydaa Mkadinali and Scar Mkadinali became well known for their lyrics speaking of girls, drugs and alcohol, dangers of living in the ghetto and what they did to survive, socially issues and also criticism to the elites and government. They expanded on topics of genge tone. They were fan favorites and their lyrics had deep meaning and most people who listened to the lyrics appreciated their art and knew they would become greater and greater with time. Buruklyn Boyz were a duo who had very catchy hooks that resonated well with people making them popular. Their hit song "Nairobi" meaning the city Nairobi (Kenyas capital city) was well received and therefore paving way for their great success. This genre mainly showed the reality and struggles of living in the Kenyan ghetto.

Urban tone
Genge tone walked so that urban tone could run. With the sudden demise of genge tone due to many reasons it seemed the sound was still alive but it lacked the medium of being expressed and the right artists to express it, then came urban tone. Urban tone was a new sound...well not new but it incorporates most of what genge gengetone Jamaican dancehall and traditional african elements. A new blend of what made genge tone and adding more to it to make it more richer and fuller in it's texture. This is the newest genre in Kenya and it looks very promising. Urban tone seems to have everything that gengetone lacked. Probably the most important aspect that gengetone lacked that urban tone has is the support from main stream media. Radio shows like homeboyz radio already support the new genre. Urban tone is only getting more popular and with such popularity comes criticism. People are sceptic over it's authenticity in terms of beats. Is it a true innovation that would take Kenyan music to international stages or is it just a crazy sampling madness. What seems to be common is that it gains it's attention from social media platforms like TikTok mostly because of the dance challenges and then spills over to dj mixes and then to mainstream media. This is a brilliant marketing strategy as TikTok exposes the music to many people therefore leading them to go and search the songs on YouTube and streaming platforms like Spotify. Then many people try the dance challenges therefore increase its popularity more and more. Popular urban tone musicians are Lil Maina who with his comical aspect creates an even entertaining aspect to the piece of music. For example his hit song "Kishash" and "nakam sai" Soundkraft with his popular song Tiktoker, Ybw smith with his song " Anapiga Pic"(picture), Sean MMG with his popular tune "Dance ya kudonjo" Tipsy Gee with the song "Finish kumalo" and Gody Tennor with the well received and loved song "Mukuchu".

The hip hop scene in Kenya is only improving with new artists joining in and the already established artists improving their skills and wordplay. Producers are getting better and familiarized with such concepts and fundermentals of hip hop. The sky is the limit for such a genre and we seem to be shooting towards it.