Music, and its production in East Africa, has not only emerged as a strong tool of expression for young people but has also quickly become the barometer of cultures in the region. There is a new crop of young people who view music, not as a hobby, but as a legitimate career that demands respect like other vocations.

And so they pour their hearts out in the microphones, belting out tunes and penning lyrics that edify, entertain and hopefully translate to some hard cash in their bank accounts.

Yet one of the greatest challenges that emerging  musicians in the region face is the need to distinguish and define their music from the rest. What is Ugandan music? What is Tanzanian music? And what is Kenyan music? Can these sounds stand apart and retain their authenticity or are they a mish mash of imported tunes from the West, repackaged and sold as local sounds?

Here is how most people might be tempted to pigeon-hole music in the region. Ugandan music is laden with gay and celebratory tunes that seek to preserve a culture haunted by political and social history.

Tanzanian music is for the romantics, a people who cling onto love as redemption and healing from socialism. And Kenyan music? well, Kenyan music is like a mirage in a barren desert, a reflection of something that doesn’t exist …at least not in the subtext of culture. Of course these views are fiercely debatable.

Muthoni Donga, the brains behind Blankets and Wine, East Africa’s  premier Afro fusion musical festival  says:

“I don’t think Kenyan music is distinct enough to be coded, because it’s quite broad in terms of its creativity and genre. We have the authentic sounds like Benga music which are closer to the traditional sound than anything else. Then we have the urban sounds like Genge and Kapuka which are inspired by experiences in different Nairobi suburbs, and then there is the afro fusion sound, a genre that blends the traditional African sounds with the modern tunes. All these music genres have a place in the social forum because they are unique in their own right.”

PIONEERS

Tanzania has its hip hop music called Bongo Flava, which originated from the boroughs of Dar es Salaam. The pioneers of Bongo Flava are artists such as Kwanza Unit, a 90s sensation. It is easy to distinguish Tanzanian music, not only because it generally avoids English lyrics like a new-age plague, but the artists are always singing about love. It is soulful music, which even the older generation  cannot help singing along. The artist Ali Kiba is particularly a hit in such songs.

In the early 90s when urban music in the region was rising from the ashes, Ugandans had their own artists defining their scene. Particularly prominent was the Bataka Squad which sung in the native Luganda language. This style was called 'Luga Flow.'

"The people who buy such music and go for shows’’ says Ray Mugume, a media consultant in Uganda,  ‘’are the normal folk, what marketers categorise as C1 and below. This is where the goldmine is and so it’s natural that the artists would appeal to this group if their music careers are to move an inch. Perfect examples are artists like Jose Chameleon, Bebe Cool, Bobi Wine and Mesach Semakula…there are dozens of others who are also doing well in the industry.”

Insiders and cultural commentators observe that although East African music  has made a lot of strides, it hasn’t quite done the full cycle. Kenyan musicians, they say, have not quite grasped the notion of originality; everybody wants to ape Kanye West or Beyonce. And it’s sad. I suspect that if Kenyans weren’t too cocky, they would borrow a leaf from their neighbours and start making tunes that reflect our cultural reality.

This is not to belittle the efforts that Kenyan artistes have employed so far, but it is becoming increasingly hard to hear a song that does not laud the “virtues” of sex, all- night drinking binges and all that clubbing hoopla.

“We have such rich cultures here in the region that our artists can borrow from,” says Paul Kimundi, a Kenyan producer in Rwanda. Kimundi says although Rwandan music is in its nascent stages as compared to other countries in the region, it shows more promise because the artists seem to have embraced the notion of localising content.