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“There is Power”: Contemporizing Old Music Traditions for new Gospel Audiences in Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

Jean Ngoya Kidula
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Extract

The genre commonly labelled “gospel” is probably the most lucrative music business in Kenya. Its popularity is facilitated in part by the propensity of musicians to draw on diverse resources for Christian religious songs. Musicians further invoke indigenous Kenyan and contemporary popular music genres in local and international languages for national distinctiveness and global inclusiveness. Top-of-the-line recording facilities in Kenya enable artists to produce a broad spectrum of music at a pace comparable to anywhere in the world. The diversity of repertoire and a ready access to studios have spurred some individuals to venture into the gospel music industry for fame and fortune. This complex, ambiguous position is articulated in an interview with three Kenyan female gospel artists who “are well aware that secular music makes for better business and exposure but the trio is not doing it for either.” They stay with gospel because “gospel music made us” (Kageni 2009).

Type
Articles
Information
Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 42 , 2010 , pp. 62 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 By The International Council for Traditional Music

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