Is Gengetone Dead?

 

The Origin

Is Gengetone dead? Is gengetone Alive? Nobody knows,nobody cares,well except for me because if I'm writting about it...This is because I predicted it in 2019 and 2020.I twote about the content and durability of the music,3 years later we are here now.

It is not a joy to see the careers of so many promising young men just go up in smoke.The joy comes after I say,"I told you so" because I told you so.Its not like anyone saw my tweets then,or now.I just like putting information out there,just outside there.

In a screenshot of one my tweets dated Nov 2019,This was at the height of Gengetone success.I attended MANY videoshoots ,while featuring in some of them and I was able to interact with the artists.One thing I noticed was the lack of organisation and corporate awareness.Msanii lazima ajue kuplease mahali pesa inatoka.In porn and politics,they call it Kissing ass.In this case Gengetone artists did not kiss the right ,or left butt.They made music for the masses and as Kenyans know,the masses don't own shit.So welcome to my qritiq of the pioneer gengetone men.

What do you call a group of young men straight from highschool ,who created a new Kenyan sound that went continental,just by making music about weed,sex and Miraa(Jaba,khat)? Pioneers,you call them Pioneers.What do you call the same group of young men when they can not be versatile enough to stop singing about the weed,leading to the unnatural death of their careers and the genre to some extent? Failures,you call them failures.But I would not,I would say they lacked ambition.

The opportunity of musical success came unto them ,they failed to grab it.Well they did ,but for a few years.Commercial music is not about talent,its about business,making the right moves ,aligning with the right people,networking ,HARDWORK.

 There are dozens of commercial artists in the industry right now,who are making bank,but talentwise they fall short.Most of them were talented but music changes every year and diversification is a bitch.A good  hardworking example is Octopizzo.He is arguably the most commercially aware artist of the last decade.Hiphop business is on Octopizzo's fingertips,I would say he cracked the code to commercial HipHop ,but talentwise he has been on a decline since Oliel era.I was in first year in campus when "Noma Ni" and "Oliel" dropped so trust me when I tell you that year was Stupendous for Octo.But since then Number 8 has been on a decline,business wise though he is at an all time high.With endorsements from Hennessy,Tecno making him bank.

This is business.Something our Gengetone brothers could not fully grasp.Exray and his brother Odi wa Muranga cracked the business for a minute.Exray alipenya someone would say ,Black market Records has signed a few of the artists including Mbuzi Gang, Exray,Some producers,and they are doing well,I imagine.

unpaid ad

In May 2014,the greatest entertainment export from Kenya ,released Nishike.Sauti Sol got the stick from media and government agencies claiming the song was inappropriate.Many radio stations even refused to play the song ,as their spokesperson Anyiko,was quoted saying by the Pulse Magazine in their issue on May 9th 2014.Nishike was labelled as the most satanic video by blogs and churches alike,I didn't really see the fuss about it because I was in High School and nudity was one of the things I craved,well,and Githeri with beef.But you see my point,Gengetone set a new bar on vulgar music.All the songs concentrated on weed and sex,they just shuffled the words and video vixens.

A thing to borrow from the Sauti Sol Facade,is their immediate growth after the release and heat brought by Nishike.The song transformed the audience perception of the group,from Boys to Men,these were now adults with money and the sex appeal of a slayqueen Kangaroo in Australia,they were here for the females.Gengetone though were here for the clout and small small money they got.I am using a tad bit too much of harshness in my tone because it gets me mad to imagine that they had the world at their feet and they threw it away.There are only a few gengetone names that pioneered this genre that are still relevant in the scene.Where is SWAT? Where are sailors? where is Fatboy Gwaash,Zzero,Rekles,Kim Swat and his gang?  Where the fuck did they dissappear to?

Gengetone is not dead per se,it just got tweaked a little by the versatile new gengetoners.Vic west,Fathermoh and Mbuzi Geng...It is new Age Gengetone but without the slur abuse ,drugs and outrageous Ghettoness.As Kuna Kuna can prove, Kenyans want to listen to gengetone, just not weed and Miraa songs.

Why are we here,you would ask?

Over the weekend I had an online spat with K4Kanali,one of the most talented lyricist of the gengetone Era.Together with Fatboy Gwash,these two made some of the biggest Gengetone tunes.Straight up bangers,they rarely missed.I respect the man,the talent and the hardwork THEN. K4Kanali and Gwaash made some of the biggest Gengetone hits, so I understand his arrogance when someone tries to question his ambition.But it was his tweet that caught my attention to be honest .You see when a star reminisces of his time at the top,I believe the commercial success  and social impact of his music should atleast feature.What surprised me most is what blood was reminiscing about.

Our boy is reminiscing over Vaginas,the amount,not even the quality,that

he got because of that one line.While I am jealous of his clear top scoring record in pus*y economics,I fail to see how that was a measure of success.Flexing is normal in music,but you create optics of business with it.I am going to share our conversation here,My self given work is to critic and that I will do to anyone,but K4Kanali got angry because I pointed that he was not ambitous.I honestly think he misses being the top of the game,but the only thing he misses are his priorities and Vagina.

Here was my Quoted tweet that made the brazza angry.

He got rattled by my response that he became insolent.What I am thinking is,he could not believe I ,a fan,could have the balls to call out him,a superstar of 2020,out of his bullshit.I understand though,in the stages of grief he illustrated the first and the second.I will take Insults anyday anytime if i feel like I am making sense.Here was his response;

Kanali got angry for nothing.I don't even understand why he came on the defensive,if you are successful as you claim to be,enda studio basi uachiie ngoma.Being a superstar I expected him to ignore me and laugh about it with his fellow artists in the studio calling me a damn blogger.But he could not do  that because he actually doesn't have the deals or shows to show for it..If he does,let him show it.Where are the endorsement deals that came with 4 countrywide hitsongs?This is a classic example of ignorance and arrogance that is held by our "failed Gengetone artists"

They assumed the genre was dusted so they stopped making music at all...Look at The Only one delo,classic example of a failed potential,he has bars for days but instead he chills around bars for days.I could name a bunch of artists that are not living upto their potential because of either lack of direction or just maringo ya ujinga.Former gengetone artists should learn from their predecessors in Kenyan Music who milked them when they were on top and then skipped Gengetown when shit hit the fan.Look at Bahati wa Diana,Khaligraph..They all made some gengetone songs when they needed to,when the sun went down ,they dipped like a Kamba woman visiting a dam.Versatility is key in music,change with time,songa na Idhaa....I have used Kanali as an example because he set himself up.

UPDATE: The brother is still mad on twitter , Instead aende studio atoe ngoma , anabishana na mimi 😂😂😂

While You are here,Check out 1978Arts on Instagram and on Twitter (@1978ent) and check out our works.Stream the new EP "AJT" by Alex Jodye on all Digital Streaming Plartforms.

Alex Jodye On Spotify

So in your opinion do you think Gengetone (The original) is dead?

 Do you think the generic sound being crusaded by Fathermoh and  furthermore iPhoolish and co is a refraction of the hardcore gengetone we wanted to export to the global scene?

in my opinion,Gengetone is not dead,but the pioneers are dead(Figuratively)

Email: saintbervon@gmail.com