2019 was one of the years that saw a revolution in the music industry. There were newcomers in the game who shook the whole industry as well as the recognition of the now popular gengetone music.
Issa vibe!
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Gengetone music has received love and hate in equal measure, since most of the songs are vulgar and talk about drugs, sex and partying.
Big names like Motif di don and magix enga were some of the producers behind the success of the music groups.
From the beats, the lyrics the sensation and the vibes they spread, here are some of the music groups who rocked our year.
Sailors
The fast rising gengetone music stars, made our year memorable. The new kids on the block took the entertainment scene by storm, something which we are proud of.
The group which is comprised of Miracle Baby, Shalkido, Lexxy Yung, Masilver and Qoqosjuma had their big break in April this year after releasing their hit song ‘Wamlambez’.
The song became the national anthem with the popular phrase Wamlambez, Wamyonyoez, going viral and even gaining recognition overseas.
Sailors is the group behind popular hits like Jesu ni Mwathani, Pekejeng, Queen B, Wamlambez, Wainame and Nyandus. They even raised the bar higher when they released ‘Wakiritho’, a hip-hop song featuring legendary Octopizzo.
Hitting 500k views in the past was like rocket science but Sailors have made it look easy as ABC. All their music videos have garnered over a million views with Wamlambez topping the list with over 5 Million views.
They always have the energy with the most loved member being Miracle baby who is always hyped and psyched up setting his fans in the gengetone mood.
It’s evident that sailors are the king of entertainers.
Boondocks Gang
Boondocks Gang are a three-man gengetone group comprised of Exray, Maddox and the ladies favourite, Odi Wa Murang'a.
As their names suggest, boondocks mean ghetto or hood, and they do street music which people really love.
This group released hits like ‘Mathogothanio’ which featured KRG the don & Dj Lyta, 'Kidole', 'Kimangoto', ‘Thao’, ‘Mboko haram’, ‘Rieng’, ‘Madam’ and ‘punyeto’. They also featured in parte after parte remix, a song that was a major hit that everyone sung along to.
Ochungulo family
Ochungulo, a band that consists of Nellythegoon, Dmore and Benzema (alejandro), rose to fame when they released ‘Krimino’ after a dramatic twist of events at Parliament.
This musical group has always been ready to jump into trending topics and turning them into hit songs. They did that perfectly well with ‘mbingijii imekulwa na ndogi’, a phrase that made the song go viral.
This year, they kept their fire burning and released hit songs like 'Ngwai', 'Twa Twa', ‘Dudu’, ‘Aluta’ which featured Gwaash, ‘Kaa na mama yako’ which received massive airplay, ‘na iwak’e, ‘Thutha’ and ‘Aluta’.
Ethic entertainment
Ethic was one of the biggest breakout groups to emerge in Kenya’s music scene in 2018. The group which consists of Rekles, Swat, Zilla and Seska waltzed into the spotlight with their hit song, ‘Lamba lolo’ which was the talk of the town. Since then, the group has been releasing hit songs like no one’s business.
This music group kept us entertained with popular hit songs like, 'Pandana' figa', club banger ‘Instagram’, ‘chapa chapa’, ‘tarimbo’ and ‘thao’,
They did a collaboration with talented RnB singer Otille Brown in ‘Dala Dala’, a song that garnered over 1.4 Million views.
Even though 2019 was a good year for them, they suffered a major blow after two of their songs were taken down from YouTube. ‘Figa’ was deleted over copyright claims while ‘Tarimbo’ was deleted for promoting violence and rape among women.
Hart the Band
Popular boy band, Hart the band released a debut album ‘Made in the streets’ an album that caused a wave in the music industry.
After a long silence in the Music scene, the band came back bigger and better with a redefined sound. Their 12-track album comprised of romantic love songs like ‘Lover lover’, ‘PDA’, ‘For You’ and club bangers like ‘Bad manners’.
The band collaborated with other big names like Victoria Kimani, Cindy Sanyu, Nyota ndogo, Kaskazini and Bensoul to bring us amazing music.
The band which consists of Mordekai Kimeu, Kenneth Muya and Wachira Gatama is known for their poetical verses, breathtaking voices and wistful catchy lyrics which makes their songs lively and entertaining.
‘El shaddai’ which featured Cedo turned out to be one of the people’s favorite songs. It had powerful inspiring message and good melody.
Other musical groups that kept our year memorable are; Rico gang, and the fast-rising boy band, Kaskazini, who featured in Sauti Sol’s ‘Extravaganza’. Their new song ‘if I had your number’ has also been received massive love and recognition from people.