Outside of the house, the music sounded very different. American artists filled what the radio stations played and reached the Billboard Hot 100. White American artists, usually. It was the early aughts\u2014back then, most Americans and other people in the Western world believed Africa was a war-torn, poverty-stricken row of huts.<\/p>\n
I asked my mom once why African artists, particularly my beloved Kenyan rappers and singers, were so unknown in the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmericans don\u2019t care about what we have to offer,\u201d she responded. \u201cI don\u2019t think they ever will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turns out she was wrong. In recent years, Afrobeats, a genre of African music from the continent\u2019s western region that blends elements of electronic, dance, African percussion, highlife, dancehall, hip-hop and R&B, has become a global sensation, Rolling Stone reported. Listeners around the world can\u2019t get enough of artists like Burna Boy, who snagged his first Grammy Award for best global music performance for his Toni Braxton-sampled hit \u201cLast Last\u201d in 2022, smoky vocals and Wizkid, who earned his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead performer for his summer banger \u201cEssence\u201d in 2020. More recently, South African singer Tyla has broken the internet with \u201cWater,\u201d spawning a viral by grown-ish alum Trevor Jackson. And Nigerian artist Rema made history by performing at Paris\u2019 Ballon d\u2019Or ceremony.<\/p>\n
The Afrobeats boom has become so powerful it started to impact the American music industry meaningfully. Earlier this year, the Grammys announced a best African music performance award to recognize \u201crecordings that utilize unique local expressions from across the African continent, highlighting regional melodic, harmonic and rhythmic musical traditions.\u201d American artists are running toward collaborations with African artists\u2014Chris Brown\u2019s \u201cSensational\u201d sees him link up with American Nigerian singer Davido and Nigerian vocalist Lojay. Breezy even attempts a West African pronunciation of the song\u2019s title throughout the track.<\/p>\n
All this newfound attention is wonderful and suggests a brighter future for up-and-coming artists on the continent striving for world domination. But the Afrobeats ascension happening in the U.S. and worldwide has fostered a monolithic understanding of the genre. East African music and artists have been completely left out of the conversation, and I\u2019ve found myself asking the same question I asked my mom 20 years ago: Why?<\/p>\n
In short, it\u2019s complicated. And multilayered.<\/p>\n
Kenyan singer Lisa Odour-Noah explained that part of the reason West African artists have been able to \u201ccross over\u201d is their culture\u2019s commitment to patriotism.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that one thing that I\u2019ve noticed is that there\u2019s a certain level of consumption of their individual artists. A lot of West Africans listen to West African music before they listen to Western music,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That patriotism goes beyond West Africans living in the region. West Africans are loud and proud of who they are throughout the African diaspora. Kenyans and other East Africans tend to wear their identities quieter, which stunts the region\u2019s musical exposure globally.<\/p>\n
\u201cEast Africans, our radio stations don\u2019t play music when we go abroad,\u201d Odour-Noah stated. \u201cWe\u2019re very subtle about the way we carry our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Odour-Noah thinks East Africa has been left out of the Afrobeats conversation because of how Kenyans and other East Africans listen to music.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our biggest issue is how we consume music,\u201d she shared. \u201cPeople are more interested in buying records from outside artists rather than from ours.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a common saying in Kenya: If you want to be successful in the country, you have to become successful outside of Kenya. That mentality is why folks worldwide don\u2019t pay attention to the country\u2019s creative endeavors. How can we ask outsiders to champion our music when we don\u2019t?<\/p>\n
Public perception of East Africa doesn\u2019t help the disparity. Odour-Noah said that during her time at Berkley College of Music, whenever she told someone she was from Kenya, \u201cthe first thing they associate me with is running. Not music, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Odour-Noah also suspects American listeners think Kenyans don\u2019t speak English, repelling them from East African music.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were also instructed in English, OK guys,\u201d she said with a laugh, adding that even if Kenyans didn\u2019t, it shouldn\u2019t change whether they listen to our music.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people don\u2019t even know what Nigerians are saying in their music,\u201d she argued. \u201cIt\u2019s pidgin English. If you\u2019re able to listen to that, why aren\u2019t you able to listen to us? You should be intrigued enough to look at others.\u201d<\/p>\n
The transatlantic slave trade also plays a role in East Africa trailing behind its West African counterparts when it comes to music. Kenyan singer Ike Ngala (aka iKen), who\u2019s starting to make a name for himself in the U.K., noted that, because of America\u2019s historical connection to West Africa, it makes sense that they\u2019ve been able to make a presence for themselves in entertainment quicker than East Africans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe music industry is U.S.\/UK-dominated, and with so many West Africans in the diaspora, I\u2019m not surprised that Afrobeats artists are getting the attention they deserve,\u201d Ngala said via email.<\/p>\n
While his star rises across the pond, he\u2019s found that Afrobeats\u2019 popularity is pigeonholing him as an artist.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the U.K. music industry hasn\u2019t yet found a place for African artists who don\u2019t make \u2018African\u2019 music,\u201d he shared. \u201cWhen introduced as a Kenyan artist, I\u2019ve noticed that most people tend to latch onto the \u2018Afrobeats\u2019 label. By making me a \u2018Kenyan artist,\u2019 the type of music I make ends up coming second to where the music originated from, and potential listeners may not get to realize that Kenyan\/African music can sound a lot different than what they normally expect.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that he\u2019s seen \u201cmany other talented African artists fail to break through the noise because their music is expected to sound a certain way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the state of music industries around East Africa. In most nations in the region, their music industries are nonexistent, which often leaves artists to fend for themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty challenging, as we have a fairly nascent scene but barely have the industry infrastructure to really prop up what the artists are doing, so everything we do, we\u2019ve done ourselves, which is commendable, but phew, it\u2019s exhausting,\u201d Blinky Bill, one of Kenya\u2019s most prominent musicians and producers, wrote via email.<\/p>\n
Fixing those industries is no easy feat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the industry has so much room for growth,\u201d Odour-Noah said. \u201cI think the harder part is structuring that growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many East African artists end up giving up. Most Kenyan artists I grew up loving have long left the industry to pursue more profitable careers, leaving up-and-coming artists without support and guidance.<\/p>\n
But East African artists are finding their way through.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur culture is so rich,\u201d Odour-Noah, who is working on integrating Kenyan folklore and songs into her work, said. \u201cI come from a country where we have 43 tribes. And some of the tribes, there are nine, seven, six dialects. I want people to be curious and see what we have to offer. And I\u2019m positive that one day, that will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ngala is optimistic, too, and shared that he believes change starts with East Africans in the region and the African diaspora.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, the East African music industry hasn\u2019t done much to support its artists,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe system hasn\u2019t been the most beneficial for artists in the past, with difficulties collecting royalties, less East African music being played on radio, and so on. There are plenty of East African artists around the world, and I feel like if enough of their music is supported and highlighted (especially within East Africa), then East African artists could see much more attention. My main thing, though, is that it has to start at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ngala\u2019s right; it starts at home. And while East African music industries evolve, it\u2019s on listeners to go out of their way to seek East African music. It may seem like a hassle, but trust me, it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Music was an essential part of my family\u2019s household when I was growing up. Our day-to-day lives always had a soundtrack. Sometimes, we washed dishes to American greats like The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, The Jackson 5 and Stevie Wonder. Other times, usually when my parents were feeling particularly homesick for their native country, Kenya, they\u2019d blast artists like Nameless, E40 or Ogopa Deejays. I loved it all, from Diana Ross\u2019 dreamy vocals to Ogopa Deejays\u2019 vibration-inducing beats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":36220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,31],"tags":[7,14,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-36223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"category-music","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"yoast_head":"\n