Welcome to Throwback Thursday!

Welcome to Throwback Thursday!

We dedicate our Thursdays to reviewing and revisiting our past projects, events and generally things we have been involved in.

Today, as we are gearing up to release our latest edition of the Retracing series titled Retracing Kenya’s Songs of Protest, we shall revisit one of the earlier editions in the series: Retracing Kikuyu Popular Music.

Retracing Kikuyu Popular Music is the 2nd edition in the Retracing series. It was officially released on Friday 17 December, 2010. The launch was held at Alliance Francaise de Nairobi and included a concert that featured performances by non other than the legendary musicians Joseph Kamaru and DK Mwai.

The Retracing Series

Joseph Kamaru in the 1970s

Dk Mwai

The project traced the roots of Mugithi and aimed at answering the following questions:
Why did Gospel music become such a big part of Kikuyu popular music?
Is it true that there is a Jim Reeves, Don Williams or Kenny Rodgers cassette in the home of every music-loving Kikuyu?
Why is it that amongst the Kikuyu rural elite and urban middle-class, one of the nicknames given to a fast-talking know-it-all is “Jimmie Rodger?”
How did the name of the American “father of country music” – Jimmie Rodgers – come to be inscribed in the spoken idiom of the Kikuyu of the 21st Century? Why does Kikuyu urban guitar music carry the riffs of American country music?
Why do virtually all Kikuyu popular musicians wear American Stetson hats and Denim suits, and occasionally, a leather jacket and studded belt?

Retracing Kikuyu Popular Music Front Cover

Retracing Kikuyu Popular Music takes a journey into the roots of Kikuyu music tries to answer these and many other questions. The answers may not be straightforward but in trying to unlock the riddles, Ketebul Music avails part of the archive of Kikuyu popular music in new and accessible formats.