Kenyan Hip Hop
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Kenyan Hip Hop
Kenyan hip hop is a genre of music and a culture that covers various forms and subgenres of hip-hop and rap originating from Kenya. It is commonly a combination of Swahili and English (Kenya's official languages) as well as Sheng and a variety of tribal languages. Early years According to the documentary ''Hip-Hop Colony'', the beginnings of Kenyan hip-hop was like a "new breed of colonialism," transplanting the original styles from the Westernized world to Africa. However, Kenya has not only embraced but also appropriated the genre, creating its own distinct version. Since its explosion in the mid-1990s, Kenyan hip-hop is now generally written and performed in English, Swahili, and Sheng, a slang combination of the two. In 1990, Ricky Oyaro, then a teenage singer and producer, made the initial impact on the Kenyan music scene with the Hip-Hop/R&B single "Renaissance" that would create a renaissance on the then ailing Kenyan music industry. The song received massive airplay ...
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Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of successes, earning him the nicknames "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul". Gaye's Motown songs include "Ain't That Peculiar", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". Gaye also recorded duets with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross. During the 1970s, Gaye recorded the albums '' What's Going On'' and ''Let's Get It On'' and became one of the first artists in Motown to break away from the reins of a production company. His later recordings influenced several contemporary R&B subgenres, such as quiet storm and neo soul. "Sexual Healing", released in 1982 on the album ''Midnight Love'', won him his first two Grammy Awards. Gaye's last televised appearances we ...
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Gidi Gidi Maji Maji
Gidi Gidi Maji Maji (also known as GidiGidi MajiMaji or GidigidiMajimaji) is a Kenyan hip hop duo from Nairobi. Its two members are Maji Maji (Julius Owino) and Gidi Gidi (Joseph Ogidi). Their lyrics are mostly in Luo language, with some English and Swahili. Unlike most local hip hop artists, GidiGidi MajiMaji do willingly mix African rhythms with their music. According to popular entertainment guide Ghafla, their music is a "fusion of hip hop/rap and African music hichthey mostly sing and rap in their native language called Luo." They released their debut album, ''Ismarwa'', in June 2000. The album was produced by Tedd Josiah. Two years later they came with their biggest hit to date ''Unbwogable'' and an album of the same name. The song was also adopted as an anthem for Mwai Kibaki's victorious presidential election campaign, whose party used their favorite song "Unbwogable" as their political anthem. Later Gidi Gidi Maji Maji signed with the South African Gallo Record Company, a ...
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Poxi Presha
Poxi Presha (1971–2005), real name Prechard Pouka Olang, was a pioneer Kenyan rapper. He emerged in the mid 1990s with hip hop sung in Dholuo language. His debut album ''Total Balaa'' also popularly known as "Dhako" was released late 1997, then followed by hits like "Mummy",Africanhiphop.coHip Hop in Kenya"Jaluo Jeuri" which featured celebrated actor Joseph Olita of 'Rise & Fall of Idi Amin' and "Otonglo Time".Daily Nation, October 15, 2005/ref> The album was followed by another solo album ''Vita Kwaliti''. He was also an MC for Nairobi City Ensemble group, which released the album "Kaboum Boum", containing a remake of "Lunchtime", originally popular song by benga singer Gabriel Omolo. He was known as the "bad boy of Kenyan music" due to number of incidents,The Standard October 21, 200Poxi Presha: The inside story/ref> such as falling out with his producers Bruce Odhiambo and Tedd Josiah. He also released dis track "Wape Really?" aimed at producers and promoters. During his ...
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K-South
K-South was a Kenyan hip-hop duo made up of "Bamboo" (Tim Kimani) and "Doobeez'" (Jerry Manzekele), now known as "Abbas Kubaff". Founded in 1995, K-South is among the most notable pioneers of the genre in Kenya. The name is an abbreviation of Kariobangi South, the Nairobi neighbourhood where they were based. The group used both English and Swahili raps in their music. The band's first album, ''Nairobbery'', was released in 2002 by Samawati Studios and contains some of their earliest hits, such as "Tabia Mbaya". Also on the album is "Illektrikk Posse", featuring the Zimbabwean rapper Mizchif and the Ugandan artists Bebe Cool. K-South's second and final album, ''Nairobizm'', was released in 2004. One of its most played tracks was "Kapuka", which coined ''kapuka'' as a derogatory term referring to more commercial artists. After the album they left their label Samawati, due to disputes. K-South was featured on "Sitaki", a popular track by the Kenyan R&B female musician Mercy Myra ...
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Tedd Josiah
Tedd Josiah (born 1970) is a music producer from Kenya. He started as a musician, first briefly with the group Ebony Affair before forming a new group, Hart, in 1993. Early life The group was disbanded in 1995 and Josiah joined ''Sync Sound Studios'' as a producer. In 1999 he left ''Sync Sound Studios'' and formed ''Audio Vault Studios''. It was renamed to ''Blu Zebra'' in 2002. He is credited for producing compilation albums called 'Kenyan, The First Chapter' and 'Kenyan, The Second Chapter'. The two albums featured Hardstone, Kalamashaka, Gidi Gidi Maji Maji, Necessary Noize, In-Tu, Jimmy Gathu, Maina Kageni, Pete Odera, Ndarling P and Ugandan musician Kawesa Josiah is also the founder of Kisima Awards, the premier annual musical awards held in Kenya. He was given producer of the year prize at the Kisima Awards in 2004, but he rejected it citing his position as an organiser of the awards. Next year he resigned from its organizing committee. Tedd Josiah has worked with many ...
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Hardstone
Hardstone is a non-scientific term, mostly encountered in the decorative arts or archaeology, that has a similar meaning to semi-precious stones, or gemstones. Very hard building stones, such as granite, are not included in the term in this sense, but only stones which are fairly hard and regarded as attractive ones which could be used in jewellery. Hardstone carving is the three-dimensional carving for artistic purposes of semi-precious stones such as jade, agate, onyx, rock crystal, sard or carnelian, and a general term for an object made in this way. Two-dimensional inlay techniques for floors, furniture and walls include pietre dure, opus sectile (Ancient Roman), and medieval Cosmatesque work these typically inlay hardstone pieces into a background of marble or some other building stone. The definition of "hardstone" is not very rigid, but excludes "soft" stones such as soapstone (steatite) and minerals such as alabaster, both widely used for carving. Hard organic minerals ...
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Kenya Broadcasting Corporation
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) is the state-run media organisation of Kenya. It broadcasts in English and Swahili, as well as in most local languages of Kenya. The corporation started its life in 1928 when Kenya was a British colony. It was the first station in Kenya. In 1964, when Kenya became an independent country, the corporation's name was changed to Voice of Kenya. In 1989, the Kenyan parliament reverted the corporation's name from Voice of Kenya to Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. During the rule of president Daniel arap Moi, KBC became the mouthpiece of the government. Each broadcast opened with a piece on what the president had been doing that day. Under the then president, Mwai Kibaki, KBC took a more objective approach. The corporation helped most of Kenya's notable journalists especially before the liberalization of the airwaves in Kenya. The pioneer broadcasters post independence were Maurice Mwendah (TV), Simeon Ndesanjo (Radio), Dalail Mzee (Radio), Aziz Y ...
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YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the List of most visited websites, second most visited website, after Google Search. YouTube has more than 2.5 billion monthly users who collectively watch more than one billion hours of videos each day. , videos were being uploaded at a rate of more than 500 hours of content per minute. In October 2006, YouTube was bought by Google for $1.65 billion. Google's ownership of YouTube expanded the site's business model, expanding from generating revenue from advertisements alone, to offering paid content such as movies and exclusive content produced by YouTube. It also offers YouTube Premium, a paid subscription option for watching content without ads. YouTube also approved creators to participate in Google's Google AdSens ...
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Graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed Graffito (archaeology), since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire. Graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime, citing the use of graffiti by street gangs to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Graffiti has become visualized as a growing urban "problem" for many cities in industrialized nations, spreading from the New York City Subway nomenclature, New York City subway system and Philadelphia in the early 1970s to ...
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Matatu
In Kenya matatu or matatus (known as mathree in Sheng) are privately owned minibuses used as share taxis. Often decorated, many ''matatu'' feature portraits of famous people or slogans and sayings. Likewise, the music they play is also aimed at quickly attracting riders. Over 70% of commuter trips are taken using matatu in cities like Nairobi. Although their origins can be traced back to the 1960s, ''matatu'' saw growth in Kenya in the 1980s and 1990s, and by the early 2000s the archetypal form was a (gaily decorated) Japanese microvan. C. 2015, larger, bus-sized vehicles also started to be used as ''matatu''. The name may also be used in parts of Nigeria. In Kenya, this industry is regulated,In Nairobi, Kenya puts brakes on its runaway success
csmonitor.com, June 28, 1999.
and such minibuses m ...
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The Source
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the magazine's co-founder. ''The Source''s Five-Mic albums The Record Report is a section in the publication in which the magazine's staff rates hip-hop albums. Ratings range from one to five mics, paralleling a typical five-star rating scale. An album that is rated at four-and-a-half or five mics is considered by ''The Source'' to be a superior hip hop album. Over the first ten years or so, the heralded five-mic rating only applied to albums that were universally lauded hip hop albums. A total of 45 albums have been awarded five mics; a complete, chronological list is below. Albums that originally received five mics: *''People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm'' – A Tribe Called Quest *''AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted'' – Ice Cube ...
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