I’ve been talking to Bamboo lately and seems like he is about to make a come back in Kenya. Which I think will be good in all aspects of the music industry. I am not sure how well he will fit in with the current great talents available in Kenya. It almost feels as if he is a veteran who shouldn’t be able to compete on the same level, however sometimes I think about artists like Snoop and Ice Cube and I realize that sometimes its okay to make Novelty albums just for fun or just for your old skool fan base.
It will be difficult for Bamboo to hit the charts like he used to a few years ago, however I think with the right combination of tracks and producers there is a high possibility he might make a lot of noise. One thing I have learned about East African as a whole over the last 13 months is that music doesn’t really get out much. What I mean is that, there is a lot of new music being released each day but the fans and media tend to latch on to one song and ride it for a long long time. Essentially some of the hits we showcase here are probably not going to become massive hits until Next year. It makes sense if you think about it, the normal/average listener needs to be re-marketed to over and over again in order to sell the hit. Music rotation on radio stations still very prevalent. It almost makes me happy that GetMziki exists where that void and hunger for new sound and new music needs to be fulfilled.
Take this song for instance – its off the upcoming Bamboo Mixtape (Tha Swahili Mixtape). This is a banger that could have been big when the Go-go Ridim hit the scene. Actually I think the track is still highly relevant and can be blended in with other great hits on this ridim. However it will take a while before media actually acknowledges this track exists and also before most DJs start playing this track over and over again.
Anyway thats my two cents today – Bamboo comes raw on this track, his sheng is a little rusty like mine but still the flow is sufficient to get anyone excited about GENGE… (Kenyan hiphop)
listen to Ako Kadem here:
[audio:http://files.getmziki.com/Bamboo-Ako_Kadame.mp3]download the track here:
