Mugithi music is a form of music originated by the
Kikuyu people of
Kenya
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, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
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, capital = Nairobi
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, largest_city = Nairobi
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but enjoyed by other ethnic groups within Kenya and even some non-Kenyans in countries with a large Kenyan diaspora such as the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
It is usually sung by a single singer and accompanied by guitars (either acoustic or usually quite highly pitched
electric guitars
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...
). Songs are always sung in the
Gikuyu language
Kikuyu or Gikuyu ( ki, Gĩkũyũ, link=no ) is a Bantu language spoken by the Gĩkũyũ (''Agĩkũyũ'') of Kenya. Kikuyu is mainly spoken in the area between Nyeri and Nairobi. The Kikuyu people usually identify their lands by the surrounding ...
.
The music tackles a wide range of subjects and includes a good degree of social commentary and sometimes political comment.
The singers are distinctive for their adoption of the styling of
Country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singers that had an influence on the development of the music in previous decades. Singers like the late
Salim junior
Salim, Saleem or Selim may refer to:
People
*Salim (name), or Saleem or Salem or Selim, a name of Arabic origin
*Salim (poet) (1800–1866)
*Saleem (playwright) (fl. 1996)
*Selim I, Selim II and Selim III, Ottoman Sultans
* Selim people, an e ...
have become household names. Others like
Mike Rua
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...
are big kenyan benga artists. The mugithi artists have in recent times redone and recorded old kikuyu
benga music to accommodate newer audiences.
When the song 'Mugithi' is sang, the people in the audience usually make a line and dance while walking around. Mugithi is a Common phenomena in weddings, dowry events, local night clubs and other celebrations. The name mugithi means train hence the dancing style involving holding on to each others hips wriggling as they go in circles. The first mugithi song was a gospel song 'mugithi uyu wa matuini' translated from English song Glory train
References
{{reflist
* http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Resilience-of-a-musical-sound-as-Mugithi-wafts-across-land-/-/1056/1056834/-/ycklngz/-/index.html
* http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000030913&story_title=Mugithi:-Scholar-unravels-popular-music-roots-and-lewd-lyrics
* http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-80347/producer-explores-link-between-kikuyu-and-american-country-music
*
Music genres