Home› Africa›East Africa & the Horn›Kenya
Music of Kenya
Taarab on the Swahili coast, Ethio-jazz and the krar, Somali qaraami, Benga guitar music, Kenyan and Tanzanian bongo flava.
Sung and searched in Swahili. The YouTube button above can run your search in that language.
A brief history
Early 20th century
The guitar was popular in Kenya even before the 19th century, well before it penetrated other African countries. Fundi Konde was the best-known early guitarist, alongside Paul Mwachupa and Lukas Tututu the middle of the 1920s, dance clubs had appeared in Mombasa, playing music for Christians to dance in a European style. During World War II, Kenyan and Ugandan musicians were drafted as entertainers in the King's African Rifles and continued after the war as the Rhino Band, the first extremely popular band across Kenya. In 1948, the group split, with many of the members forming the Kiko Kids or other bands. By the 1950s, radio and recording technology had advanced across Kenya. Fundi Konde, the prominent guitarist, was an early broadcaster and influential in the fledgling recording industry.
Popular music
Popular music
The guitar is the most dominant instrument in Kenyan popular music. Guitar rhythms are very complex and include both native beats and imported ones, especially the Congolese cavacha rhythm; music usually involves the interplay of multiple parts and, more recently, showy guitar solos. Lyrics are most often in Swahili or native languages, like Kalenjin though radio will generally not play music in one of the ethnic languages.
Benga music has been popular since the late 1960s, especially around Lake Victoria. The word benga is occasionally used to refer to any kind of pop music: bass, guitar and percussion are the usual instruments. Partially from 1994 and wholly from 2003 Kenyan popular music has been recognised through the Kisima Music Awards. A number of styles predominate in Kenya including Benga and Reggae have separate categories, and a multitude of Kenyan artists are awarded each year.
Read the full article: Music of Kenya Text under CC BY-SA 4.0
Playing now
What Kenya is listening to in 2026
Articles
No articles for Kenya yet. Save a Markdown file to content/articles/ with
country: Kenya in its front matter.
Live radio
Radio from Kenya
Music only, no news or talk. Stations that play the local tradition come first, then the most listened. They play in the corner of the page.
Station directory by Radio Browser Streams come from each station's own server.