Why Mainstream Kenyan Music Has a Short Shelf Life

“Song Zao nazipeanga two weeks” is a famous line from Nyashinski’s  EP To Whom It May Concern which came out last year. The line might seem normal to many people but it speaks volumes when it comes to the kind of music we consume these days. It paints a picture of why the Kenyan music industry has been dominated by songs that have a very short shelf life.

The age of Gengetone and Arbantone brought with it a culture of consistency that put more pressure on the upcoming artists of the new generation. Songs were getting dropped every three days and this fluctuated the media stations and streaming platforms were overwhelmed at times.

Gengetone had so many artists who did not have structure and only got into studio because they felt they had enough talent to succeed in the industry. The number of artists getting access to studios built a culture of competition that was good when they started. However, competition brought with it quantity rather than quality. Artists wanted to drop more songs and did not care about the quality.

The culture of dropping multiple songs was also fueled by trying to find that one ‘hit song’ that would catapult these artists to stardom. This worked for a few who came up and after fifteen seconds of fame, disappeared into the dark.

Classic music has become a thing of the past with only a few artists investing in making songs that can last a lifetime. At the moment, playing Gengetone and Arbantone does not bring that nostalgic feeling that Genge from the likes of Nonini, Juacali and Nameless brings. Everything is done in a rush to stay on people’s minds and in their ears.

Longevity might be blamed on the artists dropping music all the time but the same can also reflect on the current audience. Everyone is trying to listen to new music. No one wants to keep listening to songs that dropped two weeks ago.