The music of Kenya is very diverse, with multiple types of folk music based on the variety over 50 regional languages.
Jean-Bosco Mwenda, also known as Mwenda wa Bayeke, was a pioneer of Congolese fingerstyle acoustic guitar music. He was also popular in other African countries, particularly in East Africa, and in the late 1950s and early 1960s was briefly based in Nairobi, Kenya, where he had a regular radio show and became a profound influence on a generation of Kenyan guitarists.
The Kamba or Akamba people are a Bantu ethnic group who predominantly live in Kenya stretching from Nairobi to Tsavo and northwards to Embu, in the southern part of the former Eastern Province. This land is called Ukambani and constitutes Makueni County, Kitui County and Machakos County. They also form the second largest ethnic group in 8 counties including Nairobi and Mombasa counties.
Benga is a genre of Kenyan popular music. It evolved between the late 1940s and late 1960s, in Kenya's capital city of Nairobi. In the 1940s, the African Broadcasting Service in Nairobi aired a steady stream of soukous, South African kwela, Congolese finger-style guitar and various kinds of Cuban dance music that heavily influenced emergence of benga. There were also popular folk songs of Tanzania and Kenya's Luo peoples that formed the base on benga creation.
Judith Wambura Mbibo, known by her stage name Lady Jaydee also referred to as "Lady JayDee in town" or "Lady Jay Dee", is a Tanzanian singer. She specializes in the R&B, Zouk and Afro Pop genres. Lady Jaydee was voted as the Best Tanzanian Female R&B Artist in 2002, performed at the Kora All Africa Designers Competition, and was awarded for the "Best R&B Album" at the Tanzania Music Awards on 6 August 2004. In July 2005, she won an award for "best female video for South Africa". She was among the first females to sing R&B in Swahili. Lady Jaydee is signed to one of Africa's most successful music label, Taurus Musik. She is also known as the Queen of Bongo Flava.
Marie-Claire Mboyo Moseka, known professionally as M'bilia Bel, is a Congolese singer and songwriter. Dubbed the "Queen of African Rumba" and "Queen Cleopatra", she is regarded as one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Congolese and African popular music. Her music is a blend of traditional Congolese rumba, soukous, rap, and zouk, with lyrics that often delve into themes of love, politics, hedonism, militancy, jealousy, sentimentality, and education.
Pascal-Emmanuel Sinamoyi Tabu, better known as Tabu Ley Rochereau, was a leading African rumba singer-songwriter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was the leader of Orchestre Afrisa International, as well as one of Africa's most influential vocalists and prolific songwriters. Along with guitarist Dr Nico Kasanda, Tabu Ley pioneered soukous and internationalised his music by fusing elements of Congolese folk music with Cuban, Caribbean and Latin American rumba. He has been described as "the Congolese personality who, along with Mobutu, marked Africa's 20th century history." He was dubbed "the African Elvis" by the Los Angeles Times. After the fall of the Mobutu regime, Tabu Ley also pursued a political career. His musical career ran parallel to the other great Congolese rhumba bandleader and rival Franco Luambo Makiadi who ran the band TPOK Jazz throughout the 1960s, 1970s and '80s.
Joseph Athanase Tshamala Kabasele, popularly known as Le Grand Kallé, was a Congolese singer and bandleader, considered the father of modern Congolese music. He is best known for his role as leader of the band, Le Grand Kallé et l'African Jazz, in which capacity he was involved in a number of noted songs, including Indépendance Cha Cha.
Ndombolo, also known as dombolo, is a genre of dance music originating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Derived from soukous in the 1990s, with fast-paced hip-swaying dance rhythms, often accompanied by upbeat, percussion-driven music, the style became widespread in the mid-1990s and the subsequent decade, dominating dancefloors in central, eastern, and western Africa. It inspired West African popular music, coupé-décalé, Kuduro, and East African dance music.
Congolese rumba, also known as African rumba, is a dance music genre originating from the Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. With its rhythms, melodies, and lyrics, Congolese rumba has gained global recognition and remains an integral part of African music heritage. In December 2021, it was added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.
Samba Mapangala is a Congolese singer and bandleader who has been based in Kenya for most of his five-decade musical career, most notably there creating and leading Virunga, which has been one of the most popular bands in East Africa for more than 35 years.
Juliana Kanyomozi is a musician actress and entertainer. She is a multiple award-winner Ugandan pop musician, an R&B and Afro Beat Singer well known among Western Uganda's decent musicians. Juliana was born on 27 November 1980, at Toro Fort Portal in Western Uganda of the Mutooro tribe. She is one of Western Uganda's descent among other musicians including Angella Katatumba, Allan Toniks and Ray G.
Zap Mama is a Belgian singer-songwriter, performer, composer, lyricist, activist, video artist and ethno-vocal therapist born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, raised in Belgium. Zap Mama sings polyphonic and afro-pop music, a harmonic music with a mixture of infused African vocal techniques, urban, hip hop with emphasis on voice. In order to explore and discover the vast world of oral tradition music, she travels throughout Africa, learning, exchanging and sharing information about healing songs, lullabies, mourning, and practising polyphony with griots (bards), Tartit tuareg women, Dogons, Peulhs, Pygmies, Mangbetus, Zulus and others.
Joseph Mayanja, better known by the stage name Jose Chameleone, is a Ugandan AfroBeat artist and musician. Chameleone sings in Luganda, English, and Swahili.
Mose Se Sengo was a guitarist, composer and band-leader from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was one of the pioneers of Congolese Soukous.
Carol Atemi Oyungu is a Kenyan singer, songwriter and entertainer. She first made her mark by being in a girl band Intu until 2007 when they each decided to go solo and work on individual projects. In 2003, she joined Eric Wainaina, as an assistant vocal harmony provider for his band. Oyungu released her first single "Happy" in 2004 and her debut album Hatimaye in 2008, and her second studio album Manzili in 2013.
Taurus Musik is a pan African record label founded by Ikechukwu Arthur Anoke in 2012 as its flagship label. Taurus Musik dabbles in artist management that includes PR, music release, promotion and execution for big wigs in the African Music Scene including Lady Jaydee, Alicios Theluji, Kagwe Mungai, Gin Ideal, Trina Mungai, Urban Hype, Ivlyn Mutua and Tallie.
The nations of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mexico established diplomatic relations in 1975. Both nations are members of the Group of 24 and the United Nations.
Jolie Detta Kamenga Kayobote, professionally known as Jolie Detta or Evangeliste Myriam, is a Congolese singer-songwriter, dancer, and evangelist. She made her music debut with Choc Stars between 1983 and 1984.
Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner is a political scientist and politician who serves as the Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, effective of 13 June 2024. She replaced Christophe Lutundula.
Congolese