"READING THE REFERENTS": (INTER)TEXTUALITY IN CONTEMPORARY KENYAN POPULAR MUSIC Joyce Wambũi Nyairo A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2004 Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own unaided work. It is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted for any other degree or examination in any other university. ___________________________ Joyce Wambũi Nyairo Fifth day of October, 2004. i Abstract This study explores the meaning of contemporary Kenyan popular music by undertaking literary interpretations of song lyrics and musical styles. In making these interpretations, the fabric of popular song is shown to be a network of referents and associations with texts situated both within and outside of the song-texts. As polyphonic discourse, these vast range of textual and paratextual referents opens up various points of engagement between artiste, songtext and audience and in the process, the surplus meanings generated by both the poetry of the text and the referents embedded within it account for the significance of popular songs as concrete articulations that mediate the realities of modern Kenya. Through the six chapters that make up the core of the study we see the mini-dramas that are played out in the material conditions within which the songs are produced; in the iconographies that are generated by artistes' stage names and album titles; in the strategies of memory work that connect present-day realities to old cultural practices; in the soundtracks of urban spaces and in those of domesticated global cultural trends and finally, in the mediation of the antinomies surrounding the metanarrative of the nation and the realization of political transition. I conclude by suggesting that Kenyan popular music demonstrates how contemporary postcolonial texts inform one another, opening up a dialogue between texts and also between local events, experiences and knowledges. Equally important, the study defines contemporary Kenyan culture by working out the sources of the images and idioms built up in this music and accepting the complexities of postcolonial existence as a site of fluid interaction between various cultural practices and competing modernities. ii Dedication To the memory of my father, Celestino Macharia. And for Alfred, Ronald, Stefi and Wanda. iii Acknowledgements My employer, Moi University, Kenya, granted me study leave to undertake this research. Financial assistance for the project came from the National Research Foundation, South Africa as well as the Postgraduate Merit Award and the Harold and Doris Tothill Bequest Fund of the University of the Witwatersrand, for all of which I am truly grateful. Isabel Hofmeyr and Michael Titlestad gave me intellectual counsel with a lot of compassion. I thank them dearly for patiently helping me shape many woolly ideas and for their constant encouragement. My time in South Africa was made bearable by the friendship and practical support of many to whom I offer sincere gratitude. First, James Ogude, who never tires of throwing academic challenges and who, together with his family, has consistently given support to many "Nyairo projects". Monika Kathina, Peter Kagwanja and their daughter, Astri, gave of their time and space in Pretoria and patiently indulged my forays into their resourceful study. At Wits Sophie Macharia, Ann Ndungu, Salome, Cathy, Wanjiku and Elizabeth brought comic relief to the sojourn. Robert Rono and Levi Ochieng gave much appreciated technical assistance. For their camaraderie and willingness to run numerous errands I thank those of my former students at Moi University who became my colleagues here at Wits. Their presence and stimulating research interests have provided me with inspiration and nourished my faith in the pursuit of knowledge. Tom Odhiambo, Maina Mutonya, Agnes Muriungi, Godwin Siundu, Grace Musila, Florence Sipalla, Dina Ligaga, Fred Mbogo, Anthony Ambala, Anne Muriungi and Westen Shilaho: I truly believe that you hold the key to the revival of Kenyan literary scholarship. I must also acknowledge the varied assistance of many friends in Kenya, to whom I offer sincere thanks. Tabu Osusa, and Bill Odidi generously gave of their time, shared their knowledge and helped me to set-up interviews with musicians, producers and studio managers. They also worked tirelessly to help me locate rare recordings and to source archival material. Many artistes and stakeholders in the music industry very kindly discussed their work with me. Foremost amongst them are Poxi Presha, Idi Achieng, Juma Odemba, Markus Kamau, Eric Wainaina, David Ohingo, Tedd Josiah, Alph Rabar, John Andrews, Jennifer Shamala, Gidi and Maji. A number of professional colleagues added to the quality of this work. Mbũgua wa Mũngai taught me to write grammatical Gĩkũyũ. Eunice Kamaara, guided my translations from Gĩkũyũ with refreshing humour and carefully proofread my draft at very short notice. Kembo Sure and Nathan Ogechi provided valuable secondary material. Closer home, I acknowledge the efforts of Helen Oruko who helped with transcribing and translation. I sincerely thank John and Susan Chemweno, neighbours turned into translators, who together with their children, Kibi and Cheptoo, kindly helped to sustain my family through my many absences. Many, many members of my extended family iv tirelessly offered prayers for the success of this project. Alex and Julia Nyairo gave material support while Al Nyairo was generous in mailing me rare books from the US. Last and by no means least, my heartfelt gratitude to the very dependable research assistants I found in my nuclear family. My husband, Alfred K. Nyairo, readily combed music outlets, accompanied me to performances, consistently gathered references, debated musical traditions, shed light on many legal intricacies and was always willing to courier my needs to South Africa. And our children ― Ronald, Stefi and Wanda ― wittily updated my Sheng, supplied trivia on local and international artistes, and passionately urged me on to the finishing line. In the wake of all this assistance, only I bear responsibility for any shortcomings in this study. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration Abstract Dedication Acknowledgements Abbreviations PART 1 Introduction xi Chapter One 'Poverty, Piracy, Poor Facilities and Government Indifference': The Political Economy of the Kenyan Music Industry 1 1.1 The Production of Culture 2 1.1.1 The Example of 'Unbwogable' 4 1.2 Then and Now: A Profile of Kenya's Music Industry 10 1.2.1 Of Media Hype and the Millennium Boom 14 1.3 Piracy 20 1.3.1 Polic(y)ing the Industry 26 1.4 The Markets 30 1.5 Conclusion 36 PART 2 Chapter Two The In(ter)vention Of Names 39 vi 2.1 Author(is)ing Authority 41 2.2 In Search of the Authentic 52 2.3 Discourses from afar 60 2.3.1 The Middle Ground 68 2.4 The Power of the Nickname 69 2.5 'My Signifier is More Native [Kenyan] than Yours' 72 Chapter Three Zilizopendwa : Between the Romantic and the Discordant — Cover Versions, Remix and Sampling in the (Re)membering of Kenya 79 3.1 Popular Music as Memory 81 3.2 Zilizopendwa as Cover Versions 86 3.2.1 Modernising the Folksongs 90 3.3 Remix: Irony and Disjuncture 98 3.4 Remix as Continuity 105 3.5 Samples of the Past 113 3.6 Conclusion 122 Chapter Four (Re)Figuring the City: The Mapping of Places and People 125 4.1 Theorising Space 126 4.2 Nairobi: 'Green City in the Sun' 130 4.3 Walking in the Margins Vs. Walking in the City 140 4.3.1 Of Local Mona Lisas 144 4.3.2 Thugs and Conmen 147 4.4 Conclusion 152 vii Chapter Five Kenyan Hip Hop: Of Global Networks and the Circulation of Local Soundtracks 157 5.1 'Bridges of Sound': More than Global, Less than Local 159 5.2 'Uhiki' and the Legacy of 'Put up Your Hands and You Scream' 164 5.2.1 Matatus: Soundtracks and Trendsetters 171 5.2.2 'Ting Badi Malo' and the Further Domestication of Hip Hop 176 5.3 'Ukilya Moko': Gospel Goes Hip Hop 183 5.4 Conclusion 189 Chapter Six 'Ritwa Riaku' and 'Unbwogable': National Longing and the Antinomies Of The Postcolonial Nation 193 6.1 Reading Postcolonial Politics 194 6.2 Corruption and Ethnicity in Sawa Sawa 203 6.2.1 'Daima': Between Cycles of Betrayal and Hope 217 6.3 Transforming Ethnic Discourse into National Desire 224 6.3.1 Rewriting National History 227 6.4 Conclusion 235 Conclusion 240 Works Cited 254 Selected Discography 270 Appendix i) Interviews 272 ii) Web discourse 273 iii) Kalapapla (2003) Album sleeve 277 viii iv) Web Discourse 278 v) Map — Nairobi Metropolitan Area 280 vi) Adverts a) Nissan Hardbody — Atoti 281 b) Flamingo Airlines — 'But Do we Say' 282 c) VCT — Eric Wainaina 283 ix Abbreviations AFM Action for Music ASCAP American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers CBS Columbia Records CD Compact Disc DJs Disc Jockeys DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo DVD Digitally Versatile Disc EMI Electric and Musical Industries KANU Kenya African National Union KBC Kenya Broadcasting Corporation MC Master of Ceremonies MCSK Music Copyright Society of Kenya MISC Music Industry in Small Countries MP 3 Acronym for Moving Pictures Experts Group 1 or MPEG 2. MTV Music Television NARC National Rainbow Coalition VOK Voice of Kenya VCT Voluntary Counseling and Testing x INTRODUCTION [T]o perceive and interpret the richness of popular expression requires historically situated shared knowledge. (Johannes Fabian 1998:16) 'Reading the Referents' In thinking through the import of postcolonial studies, Simon Gikandi (2000a) laments 'the absence of the postcolonial text, its reader and its referent' (90). Gikandi is further concerned that a colonial regime of interpretation clouds much of the scholarship on African writing so that local knowledges and histories are shunned while allusions to Western modernity are both privileged and are seen as the mark of great writing.