"Makmende uses viagra in his eyedrops just to look hard"

So, I'll admit I'm a bit late on this one.  Below is "Makmende Amerudi," the music video for Just A Band's new single, "Ha-He."


The video has gained considerable popularity recently and is being hailed as "Kenya's first viral internet meme." It's not hard to see why it's so popular.

Anyway, I've had Just A Band's new album, "82," for a while now and it's quite entertaining. You can listen to the full album and learn more about the group here.

Also, good article on the video's viral status here.

Kamba Benga

So it has certainly been a while since my last post. I have been a bit lazy (and busy), you'll have to forgive me.

Anyway, today's post is on the Kenyan style of music known as benga. More specifically, the benga made by the Akamba of south-central Kenya. But first, a little background on benga is appropriate. Benga is not actually a Kamba creation, it was originally developed by Luo musicians in the area around Lake Victoria in western Kenya sometime during the 60s. Before I go any further, here is a song by one of the pioneers of benga music, Daniel Owino Misiani (aka "the grandfather of benga") and his band, Shirati Jazz. He sings in Dholuo and Kiswahili. The song is called Piny Ose Mer.



It didn't take long for benga to catch on among other groups in Kenya and pretty soon benga was being produced by groups like the Kikuyu, Akamba, etc. I have had the most exposure to Kamba benga, so that will be the type of benga I present here. Most of the songs in this post are originally from the blog Likembe. Likembe is one of my favorite resources for all types of African music, I highly recommend that you check it out.

Peter Mwambi - Matatu

Peter Mwambi - Mueni

Peter Mwambi, Charles Mutiso, & Kyanganga Boys Band - Mwenyenyo

Peter Mwambi, Charles Mutiso, & Kyanganga Boys Band - Beatrice

The Kalambya Boys - Eka Nzasu

The Kalambya Boys - Mwendwa Losi

Finally, to give you an idea of another type of music popular in Kenya around the same time, here is a song by a band called Super Wanyika. They play a Kenyan style of rumba that is directly influenced by the Congolese style known as Soukous (see posts below for more on the relationship between Congo and Kenya). The two lead members of the band are actually Tanzanians and Super Wanyika is an offshoot of an earlier project of theirs called Simba Wanyika, meaning "Lions of the Savannah" in Kiswahilli. Simba Wanyika and its two offshoots, Super Wanyika and Les Wanyika, were some of the most popular bands in Kenya in the late 70s and early 80s. They sang in Kiswahilli, a language understood and used by the vast majority of Kenyans. This made their music more accessible than most Kamba benga, which is usually in Kikamba, a language used only by the Akamba.

Super Wanyika - Nimesha-Kwambia

The Congo-Kenya Connection

I know that I said my next post would be on Biafran highlife, but it's taking me a little longer than I expected to put that entry together. Instead, this post will be about Congolese musicians in East Africa.

As I said in the previous post, the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) experienced prolonged periods of civil unrest throughout the 60s. The majority of the unrest that contributed to the appearance of Congolese musicians in East Africa was seen during the period in which Joseph Mobutu* was president. He came to power after the two former heads of state, Patrice Lumumba (prime minister) and Joseph Kasavubu (president) had a falling out and Kasavubu kicked Lumumba out of office. Mobutu, who was the head of the army at the time, was able to manufacture a mutiny within the army in large part due to the fact that he payed his soldiers privately because he was receiving financial support from the US and Belgium. Thus, he took advantage of the crisis of leadership and took over the country in a coup. Interesting fact: Lumumba was kidnapped and executed by Congolese and Belgian troops who had the support of the CIA.

Anyway, back to the music, I'm getting off-track. It was because of this unrest that East Africa (particularly, Kenya) was inundated with Congolese musicians. This golden age of Congolese music in East Africa lasted from the late 60s/early 70s to 1985 when the president of Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi, ordered foreign workers to leave the country (this included musicians).

Here are a few songs by Congolese bands who were based in East Africa (click on the track title to listen/download). Some of the musicians may be familiar (e.g. Franco, Baba Gaston), while others will be less so.

Baba Nationale (Baba Gaston) - Zala Reconnassant Fa Fan

Orchestre Festival du Zaire - Shauri Yako pts 1 & 2


Franco et le T.P. O.K. Jazz - President Leon Mba


*He later renamed himself Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga, meaning something along the lines of "The Great Unstoppable Warrior Who Goes From Victory to Victory"

-For more info on Congolese musicians in East Africa check out Muzikfan's piece "congo in kenya"

Welcome! Let's Begin!

Welcome to Poly-Rythmo d'Afrique. First things first, let me tell you a little about myself: My name is Steffan and I come from Brooklyn, New York.

This blog is a product of my obsession with African music of all kinds. I am by no means an expert, but collecting and learning about music from Africa has been a hobby of mine for a few years now. The idea behind this blog is to not only post music, but to give readers some historical and social context to the music as well.

OK. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's begin! I would like to use this first post to give you a sample of some of the kinds of sounds you can look forward to hearing on this blog.

Charlotte Dada - Don't Let Me Down
First up is Ghanaian singer Charlotte Dada with a great Beatles cover. I haven't been able to find much info on her, but I really love the song so I decided to post it. This is off a compilation album called "Money No Be Sand-1960's Afro-Lypso, Pidgin Highlife, Afro-Soul, Afro-Rock" (Original Music, 1995).

Onesmus Musyoki & Kalambya Boys - Katelesa
This song is an example of the kind of music made by the Akamba (Kamba music) of south-central Kenya in the 60s and 70s. Kamba music, which is still popular today, is often grouped under a Kenyan style of pop music known as "Benga." The Kamba forms of Benga are generally characterized by the presence of quick-paced, higher pitched rhythm guitar loops, as you can hear in this song. It is heavily influenced by a type of Afro-pop originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo called Soukous. I really like Kamba Benga and plan on dedicating a whole post to it somewhere down the road.

Orchestre Hi-Fives - Belina Mon Amour
This band formed in Lubumbashi, DRC under the name Bana Kibushi Batano. Then in 1965 they moved to Tanzania and changed their name to the Hi-Fives.

East Africa saw a huge influx of Congolese immigrants in the 60s and 70s as a result of civil unrest in the Congo. These immigrants brought their music with them and East African radio waves were quickly saturated with music made by Congolese musicians living in East Africa. Ever since then, East African pop has been heavily influenced by these Congolese sounds. I plan on doing an entry in the very near future on Congolese musicians in East Africa so I will not include any more info here (you'll just have to wait for my post).

Ashanti Afrika Jah - Onyame
This song acts as a more well-polished example of the legendary West African music genre called Highlife. You will be hearing plenty of Highlife of all kinds on this blog because of how good it is and because of how much of it there is. Highlife music was born in Ghana and developed out of the big band sound popular among European colonizers and the urban elite, as well as from palm-wine music. Palm-wine music is the term for the music that had its beginnings in the local palm-wine bars along Ghana's coast and was associated more with the country's lower class. True highlife, as we know it today, popped up in the mid to late-50s, but the golden age of highlife came in the years following independence (1957) and lasted through the mid-70s. Highlife has begun to influence a lot of American pop music (e.g. Vampire Weekend, High Places, etc).

Tinariwen - Matadjem Yinmixan
I love Tinariwen. This is off their newest album "Aman Iman: Water Is Life" (interesting side note-the title of this album comes from a Tuareg proverb: "Aman iman, akh issudar," meaning "water is life, milk is survival." Some of the members of Tinariwen are in another band called Terakaft and they just released their second album: "Akh Issudar"-clever, right?). Anyway, this is an example of the type of music made by the Tuaregs of Mali, Niger, Algeria, and small portions of Libya and Burkina Faso. The music is often called Desert Rock. I will have a full post on this very soon, but this type of music is often very political and talks of the marginalization of the Tuareg people by the governments of the countries in which they live.

Fool's Gold - The World Is All There Is
Finally, I wanted to include one example of how the West has adopted and integrated African music into their pop industry. Fool's Gold is an LA-based collective of up to 12 musicians. The band's lead singer, Luke Top, comes from Israel, so most of their songs are in Hebrew. Enjoy!

Well, that's it for now. If anyone actually reads this, I hope they get as much pleasure out of these songs as I do. Look out for my next post (my first real post) which will be on Biafran Highlife.