There’s more to Kenyan popular music than Just a Band (even CNN’s David MacKenzie has taken notice of the band’s viral activity) as Chief Boima at Ghetto Bassquake has shown recently. He has been posting videos and links–based on a recent visit there and with reference to sites such as Get Mziki–of some of the vibrant music scene in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. The production is high quality, so is the videos.  This is not your parents’ music.

Like the vocalist Dela, in the video below, performing “Ulivvo” (from her debut album “Paukwa”):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vS77MSAo20&w=480&h=295]

Then there’s Sauti Sol. Here with “Sunny Days”:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8rmMPSVfKU&w=480&h=295]

And Stan, another artist who plays real instruments:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCqgCVbpYqA&w=480&h=295]

Or Muthoni the Drummer Queen (with my favorite track,  “Mikono Kwenye Hewa”):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XWbFrwo8Mk&w=480&h=295]

The smooth (in Boima’s words) kapuka–that’s the genre–of Marya featuring Colonel Mustapha on “Hey Baby”:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwrgJzD2Jkk&w=480&h=295]

Finally, here’s a snippet of spoken word from Insect (real name Kelvin Kiprono) that puts into perspective the Kenya these young people have inherited from their parents:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye9MXK9582w&w=480&h=295]

Via Ghetto Bassquake