Young Kenyan urbanites have historically favoured western forms of entertainment such as Hollywood films and pop music over local alternatives. However, preferences have steadily shifted in recent years and locally produced entertainment that emphasises cultural heritage and African identity has found a sizeable audience among young, upwardly mobile, urban consumers. This has opened new markets for local artists and entrepreneurs, creating fresh investment opportunities in the country\u2019s creative economy.<\/p>\n
The music industry in particular has been at the epicentre of this cultural shift. A crop of vernacular musicians who are able to blend traditional African storytelling with modern beats has emerged. The kind of music they produce appeals to a new generation of music lovers who are open to listening to alternative urban tunes sung in vernacular languages such as Luo.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Luo musicians seize opportunity<\/strong><\/p>\n Coster Ojwang is a contemporary Luo musician based in Nairobi who has found fame and success singing to urban audiences in his native Luo language. He tells\u00a0African Business<\/em>\u00a0that, ever since releasing his first track in 2021, there has been a steady increase in demand for the kind of music he produces.<\/p>\n This has propelled his music career to new highs and boosted his earnings as an artist. \u201cMusic has become a good business,\u201d he admits. However, he notes that when he started releasing contemporary Luo songs at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the commercial potential of his blend of music was not immediately clear at first.<\/p>\n \u201cThe songs were beautiful but not catchy. Some of them were sad songs. They were touching on areas people were either scared to touch on, or that people never thought would generate money and get you paid in clubs,\u201d he says, recounting his first-ever track,\u00a0Oriore<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cI wrote and sang about my life, living in the village with my grandmother, the place of faith and tradition in the village, and moving to Nairobi, what that meant,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n After releasing a few more songs and publishing his first album,\u00a0Tales of the Fisherman<\/em>, in June 2021, Ojwang encountered a challenge that later on proved to be an important turning point for his future in the music business \u2013 he was getting attention but very little of that was translating to revenue.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was considerable chatter online after the album, but zero bookings,\u201d he says, noting that this led him to want to be \u201cmore and better known beyond his voice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI remember asking myself, what if we play music but no one knows me, so no one is going to book me. So I decided to use some of my art money to put together my own gigs,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Indeed, Ojwang is a multi-talented artist who has painted for a longer period than he has recorded music. He established his art studio in Nairobi in 2015, plying his trade as a contemporary impressionist. He says he\u2019s remained active in the art scene ever since, participating in several exhibitions in the city and abroad.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I started the music business, I had stabilised the art business and established myself in the Nairobi art scene. I knew how to make art, how to do exhibitions, and so on. I also kept my expenses low to save money for music,\u201d he says, speaking to\u00a0African Business<\/em>\u00a0from his art studio in Nairobi.<\/p>\n Organising his own shows, recording the performances, and posting on social media paid off handsomely. The idea, he explains, was to create a platform for his fans to experience him in live performance, and not just hear his voice.<\/p>\n \u201cI was able to put together a band, including a guitarist, drummer, keyboard players. Now we\u2019re ten members, but when we started we were just four,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cMore people came to know us better and our approach really set us apart\u2026 there were no gigs playing those kinds of songs, playing them well with a big band, and recording and posting on social media. The bookings soon followed,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Commercial breakthrough<\/strong><\/p>\n With revenues from bookings growing, Ojwang stumbled on yet another commercial breakthrough in his music career, when he decided to start collaborating with other musicians in his genre. They performed together at festivals and also collaborated on several tracks that made it into his second album.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first album only gave me 45 minutes of performance. You know people won\u2019t like all the tracks in your album, so I couldn\u2019t play all of them on live gigs. I figured I needed more songs, so I did my second album in 2022 called\u00a0Fweny<\/em>, which translates to revelations. It had 17 songs,\u201d<\/p>\n This album featured collaborations with other prolific contemporary artists such as Okello Max, Watendawili, Serro and Swiga. This, he argues, helped expand his reach as these were already big names.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were my peers but had been in the music scene for a longer period. Working with them opened new markets. We were playing in different venues and meeting new people, and I started feeling the power of what I am doing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n This opened a host of game-changing opportunities in live events across the country, including some that Ojwang helped put together called\u00a0The Fish Market<\/em>, where he and other contemporary Luo musicians entertained crowds with their different songs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason to launch\u00a0The Fish Market<\/em>\u00a0was to give contemporary Luo musicians the space to showcase their art and talent.\u201d<\/p>\n Building on this momentum, he decided to take the risk and do his first large solo event. \u201cI did a\u00a0Fisherman Experience<\/em>\u00a0in May last year, where it was just me. It rained heavily but the show was still a success. After the show I released my album\u00a0Imposter Syndrome No More<\/em>\u00a0in October 2024, which had 17 tracks. Things have not been the same since\u2026 It opened doors.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, in February Ojwang was signed onto Sol Generation, the high-flying record label linked to members of the defunct but wildly successful afrobeats band Sauti Sol. \u201cWelcome Coster Ojwang. We are stoked to announce that Coster Ojwang has inked a three-year publishing admin deal with us. Looking forward to the journey ahead,\u201d stated Sol Generation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Preserving local traditions<\/strong><\/p>\n For Chief Nyamweya, co-founder and creative director of Pungulu Pa Productions, an animation studio in Nairobi, the surge in demand for local content among Kenyan audiences is \u201cdriven by the need to preserve local traditions in a globalised world.\u201d<\/p>\n He tells\u00a0African Business<\/em>\u00a0that as more young Kenyans interact with the rest of the world \u2013 either through travel or virtually online \u2013 demand for art forms that help them assert their African heritage will increase, especially among the urbanised middle class.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the people who are the most impacted by globalisation. These are the people who are travelling the most and interacting with people from other continents. They are the ones who are more likely to want to assert their identity.<\/p>\n \u201cSo as they become global citizens, they recognise the importance of heritage, of having a unique identity,\u201d he elaborates.<\/p>\n He says that these attitudes on the importance of local content in media and entertainment are being passed onto future generations, with more young parents opting for children\u2019s programming that teaches their kids about local culture.<\/p>\n This has created an opportunity for Nyamweya\u2019s studio, which specialises in creating animations for children aged 3-8 years old.<\/p>\n Content for future generations<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAt Pungulu Pa, I direct Uli & Tata\u2019s African Nursery Rhymes, an animated series that follows the extraordinary adventures of two siblings in search of Africa\u2019s children\u2019s songs,\u201d Nyamweya says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe series was created during Covid lockdowns by three Kenyan parents \u2013 myself, my wife and a close friend \u2013 in response to the glaring lack of authentic African children\u2019s content.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Uli and her brother Tata stumble upon magical traditional instruments, they inadvertently summon Tuki, a wise blue giant\u00a0turaco\u00a0<\/em>bird from Kakamega rainforest. Together, they journey across the continent in search of Africa\u2019s disappearing nursery rhymes,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough song and story, they learn important life lessons while celebrating Africa\u2019s rich cultural and natural heritage,\u201d he adds, noting that during production he travelled across multiple villages in Kenya and Tanzania to collect the stories.<\/p>\n When asked what inspired him to focus on children\u2019s animations, Nyamweya argues that producing content for children has been a more worthwhile commercial endeavour than doing the same for adults.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we learnt when we started doing children\u2019s animations is how fickle adult audiences are. By the time people become teenagers, they are very picky. They\u2019ll watch your content for 10 seconds, and if it doesn\u2019t grip them, they are on to the next thing,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n \u201cWhereas children are much more loyal, like if you do something that captivates children, you have a fan for life. So our focus has been three to eight years old\u2026 that\u2019s really done wonders in terms of engagement and growing the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n Nyamweya believes that the creative economy in Kenya has the potential to create far more jobs than it currently offers \u2013 but that years of public underinvestment are holding it back. Lack of money and jobs means that many talented creatives are trying their hand at something different, he says, challenging authorities to borrow a leaf from countries like France which invests heavily in the arts both at home and abroad.<\/p>\n \u201cTalent goes where the incentives are. The reason why people aren\u2019t becoming animators is because the incentives aren\u2019t there. Right now, too much of it depends on just the sheer brute force of the individual,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Young Kenyan urbanites have historically favoured western forms of entertainment such as Hollywood films and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,21,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-entertainment","category-local-content"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik.png",1687,1120,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik-300x199.png",300,199,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik-768x510.png",640,425,true],"large":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik-1024x680.png",640,425,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik-1536x1020.png",1536,1020,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik.png",1687,1120,false],"wpucv-grid-three":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik.png",360,240,false],"wpucv-grid-two":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik.png",600,398,false],"wpucv-grid-one":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik.png",800,531,false],"wpucv-classic":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik.png",256,170,false],"wpucv-classic-small":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik.png",150,100,false],"wpucv-galary":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik.png",400,266,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik-1115x715.png",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik-800x500.png",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik-1024x680.png",1024,680,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik-540x340.png",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/artistes-afrik-400x250.png",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["Saint Rich"]},"category_info":"Africa<\/a> Entertainment<\/a> Local Content<\/a>","tag_info":"Local Content","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1483,"href":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1481\/revisions\/1483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eandelmagazine.com\/eandelmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Source: African Business<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"