Boomba music, also referred to as kapuka (due to the beat pattern; not to be confused with kapuka rap), is a form of hip pop music popular in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. It incorporates

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

and African traditional musical styles. The lyrics are in

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

, Sheng or local dialects. It is associated with the Ogopa Deejays and is believed to have originated in the late 1990s with artists such as Redsan, Bebe Cool and

Chameleone Joseph Mayanja (born 30 April 1979), better known by the stage name Jose Chameleone, is a Ugandan AfroBeat artist and musician. He sings in Luganda, English, and Swahili. Early life and education Joseph Mayanja was born on 30 April 1979 to ...

. It went on to dominate East African airwaves (especially Kenya and

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

) after the release of the Ogopa Deejays' first album in 2001, which included artists such as the late

E-Sir Issah Mmari Wangui (May 20, 1981 – March 16, 2003), better known by his stage name E-Sir, was a Kenyan hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American ...

, Nameless, Mr. Lenny, Amani, Mr. Googz and Vinnie Banton amongst others. The over-saturation of playlists with this music style caused some to criticise it, including the artists K-South who had a hit titled "Kapuka This, Kapuka That". This also led to other styles such as

genge Genge music is a genre of hip-hop music influenced by dancehall, originating from Nairobi, Kenya in the 1990s. The term " Genge" was coined by producer Clemo and popularized by Kenyan rappers Jua Cali and Nonini at Calif Records. The genre is ...

music being formed by producer

Clemo Clement Rapudo Sijenyi (born June 2, 1980) better known as Clemos, is a music producer and co-founder of Calif Records based in Life Ministry House near Hurlingham Business Center along Jabavu Road in Nairobi, Kenya. He won an award for "Producer ...

to diversify the market. Despite the critics the music continues to be very popular in Kenya although more so now in Uganda. Of late, "genge" has also come to refer more generally to boomba and "kapuka" music.

Vegatone

Vegatone, Riftsyde flava or Naxvegas muzik is a genre of hip hop/Afro Dancehall music that originated from the town of

Nakuru Nakuru (nicknamed Nax) is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and it is the fourth largest city in Kenya and the largest in the Rift Valley region. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban population of 570, ...

or colloquially Naks/NaxVegas as many youths call it. The music is a blend of indigenous kapuka mixed with a reggae baseline. It is characterized by very flashy Musicians who mainly rap and sing about their sexual escapades and the number of women that they keep, but cipher their language to avoid being explicit. Vegatone has evolved in recent times. Artists in this genre include award-winning artist Teferah who has numerous hits having worked with Nyanda from Brick and Lace on the song "Put It On Me" produced in Romania by Tommo records, and getting signed to an American music label Mpact Muzik in 2017. Teferah is seen as a break-through artist in this genre. Other Vegatone artists are Rhonda Bwoy, Skymer, Juss Nera, Hush BK, Avril, Vivian, K-FRESH, Igiza, Obako, Mavo, 77 and many more. Nakuru is credit for creating the viral sounds of Gengetone which uses the slang used in Nakuru and most Gengetone producers are from Nakuru Sadafa, Mavo on the beat, Duboiz, Samba on the beat, Andah water, Magix Enga and other creatives that fuse Vegatone arrangements. Vegatone is a common sound especially on Kenyan and local nakuru radios highly popularized by Radio presenter Caleb Koyo.

Kapuka rap

Kapuka rap is a genre of

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

that is derived from Boomba music, but incorporates more

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

than

and

ragga Raggamuffin music (or simply ragga) is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music with heavy use of sampling. Wayne Smith's " Under Mi Sleng Teng", produced by King Jammy in 1985 on a ...

but still incorporates some

. Artists such as

Collo Collo (), known as Chullu in antiquity, is a port town in the Skikda Province in northeastern Algeria, and forms part of the Collo Massif region. It is the capital and one of three municipalities of the Collo District. Formerly a Phoenician t ...

and

Camp Mulla Camp Mulla was an alternative hip hop group originating from and based in Nairobi, Kenya. The group rose to prominence with the release of their single " Party Don't Stop" on 31 August 2010, with that and their subsequent works earning them a n ...

incorporate kapuka rap in some of their songs.

Examples

*"KArE" –

P-Unit P-Unit is a Kenyan hip hop group consisting of Kenyan hip hop artists Frasha, Gabu, and Bon-eye. Biography The crew released the album ''Wagenge Hao'' in 2010, recorded at Decimal Media by lead singer/composer "Pradip The BOSS". The album had 17 ...

(incorporates a lot of

and some hip hop) *" Party Don't Stop" –

(incorporates some

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

) *"Feel No Pain" – Camp Mulla (incorporates some electronic dance music) *"Chini ya Maji" -

(incorporates some

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

and some hip hop)

References

{{Hiphop Kenyan hip-hop Music of Kenya Hip-hop genres African-American music in Africa Swahili words and phrases

Vegatone

Kapuka rap

Examples

See also

References