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((Short description|Overview of hip hop in Kenya))
((More citations needed|date=December 2019))

((Infobox music genre
| name              = Kenyan hip hop
| native_name       = 
| etymology         = 
| other_names       = 
| image             = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = 
| stylistic_origins = ((hlist|[[Hip hop music|Hip hop]]|[[contemporary R&B]]|[[dance-pop]]))
| cultural_origins  = 1990s, [[Nairobi]], Kenya
| instruments       = ((hlist|[[Drum machine]] | [[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]] | [[rapping]] | [[vocals]] | [[Sampler (musical instrument)|sampler]] | [[synthesizer]]))
| derivatives       = ((hlist|[[Southern hip hop]]|[[West Coast hip hop]]|[[East Coast hip hop]]))
| subgenres         = [[kapuka music|kapuka]], [[genge]], gengetone, shrap, Kenyan drill
| subgenrelist      = 
| fusiongenres      = 
| regional_scenes   = 
| local_scenes      = 
| other_topics      = 
| footnotes         = 
| current_year      = yes
))
((Culture of Kenya))

'''Kenyan hip hop'''<ref>((Cite web|url=https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/entertainment/local-news/2000189439/revealed-the-real-origin-of-kenyan-hip-hop|title=Revealed: The real origin of Kenyan hip hop|first=Caroline|last=Nyanga|website=Standardmedia.co.ke|access-date=26 December 2021))</ref> is a [[genre]] of music and a culture that covers various forms and subgenres of [[Hip hop music|hip hop]] and rap originating from [[Kenya]]. It is most commonly a combination of [[Swahili language|Swahili]] and English (Kenya's official languages) as well as [[Sheng slang|Sheng]] and a variety of tribal languages.

==Development==
As hip hop gained recognition in the global music scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it became increasingly common in Kenyan media. As most American rappers were of African descent, Kenyan youths felt represented and inspired, and started emulating them by wearing African American urban fashion; exchanging albums, mix tapes, hip hop magazines such as ''[[Word Up! (magazine)|Word Up]]'' and ''[[The Source]]''; and reciting song lyrics and rapping in English.<ref name="rebensdorf.3">((Cite web |last=Rebensdorf |first=Alicia |title=Representing the Real: Exploring Appropriations of Hip-Hop Culture in the Internet and Nairobi – Capital in Hip-Hop, the Internet and Nairobi |url=https://www.lclark.edu/~soan/alicia/rebensdorf.capital.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109003820/http://lclark.edu/~soan/alicia/rebensdorf.capital.html |archive-date=November 9, 2007 |website=Lewis and Clark College))</ref> The movement spread further when [[matatu]]s painted with [[Graffiti#Modern-style graffiti|graffiti]] started playing rap music, and some Kenyan artists started releasing rap-influenced songs.

According to Alicia Rebensdorf,<ref>((Cite web |last=Rebensdorf |first=Alicia |title=Representing the Real: Exploring Appropriations of Hip-Hop Culture in the Internet and Nairobi |url=http://lclark.edu/~soan/alicia/rebensdorf.101.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013032817/http://lclark.edu/~soan/alicia/rebensdorf.101.html |archive-date=October 13, 2007 |website=Lewis and Clark College))</ref> initially there was a strong correlation between rap music and wealth in [[Nairobi]] in the 1990s. The extremely high cost of rap CDs, magazines, merchandize, and music equipment led the genre to be initially exclusive to middle- and upper-class youths.<ref name="rebensdorf.3" /> Music videos were a primary source of exposure to the global rap/hip-hop music scene and culture. In this visual medium, the social and cultural meanings of lyrics were overshadowed by the "visual images of wealth and the verbal speed of the rappers", producing a "relatively materialistic notion of rap music and hip-hop culture".<ref name="rebensdorf.3" />

According to the documentary ''Hip-Hop Colony'',<ref>((Cite web |title=HIP HOP COLONY |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQxx7T_cEfc |access-date=26 December 2021 |via=[[YouTube]]))</ref> the beginnings of Kenyan hip hop was like a "new breed of colonialism," transplanting the original styles from the Westernized world to Africa.<ref>((cite web |title=Emerge Media Films presents HIP-HOP COLONY: The African Hip-hop Explosion - A film by Michael Wanguhu |url=http://www.hiphopcolony.com/ |access-date=2014-02-25 |website=Hiphopcolony.com))</ref> However, Kenya has not only embraced but also appropriated the genre, creating its own distinct version. Since its explosion in the mid-1990s, Kenyan hip hop is now generally written and performed in English, [[Swahili language|Swahili]], and Sheng, a slang combination of the two.

== History ==
In 1990, the teenage singer and producer Ricky Oyaro made the initial impact on the Kenyan music scene with the hip-hop/[[R&B]] single "Renaissance", which triggered a renaissance in the then-ailing Kenyan music industry. The song received massive airplay on radio and ''Music Time'' on Kenyan television. Jimmy Gathu, one of the earliest known rappers on the Kenyan scene, would soon follow with his 1991 hit "Look, Think, Stay Alive",<ref name="Jimmy Gathu song">((cite web |date=2007-11-18 |title=Matatu Safety Pop Video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N8P0aZRAi8 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/-N8P0aZRAi8 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |access-date=2014-02-25 |via=[[YouTube]]))((cbignore))</ref> a song dealing with road safety. Soon after, more and more Kenyan youths started rapping on TV. The show ''Mizizi'', which aired on the [[Kenya Broadcasting Corporation]], gave young rappers a platform to express themselves, giving rise to Kenyan hip hop.

The first major commercial hip hop hit emerged in 1996 with "Uhiki" by Hardstone (Harrison Ngunjiri), which sampled a Kikuyu folk song and [[Marvin Gaye]]'s "[[Sexual Healing]]",<ref name="stars">[http://eastandard.net/archives/index.php?mnu=details&id=1143969692&catid=123] ((dead link|date=December 2021))</ref> and was produced by [[Tedd Josiah]] of Audio Vault Studios (now Blue Zebra). Other popular pioneering acts were Kalamashaka with their national hit "Tafsiri Hii",<ref name="stars" /> [[K-South]] with "Nyabaga Kodo Gakwa" (which was also sampled from a Kikuyu folk song), and [[Poxi Presha]] with his breakout hit "Dhako Kelo".<ref name="stars" />

[[Gidi Gidi Maji Maji]] became well-known in 1999 for their song "Ting Badi Malo", and released their debut album ''Ismarwa'' the following year. They went on to release their popular and politically charged hit "Unbwogable" in 2002; the word took on the meaning of "unshakable", "unstoppable", or "unbeatable" and was subsequently used by major politicians and in reference to 2008 US presidential candidate [[Barack Obama]].<ref>((cite news |date=4 December 2008 |title=Unbwogable |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/unbwogable/ |access-date=2014-02-25))</ref><ref>((cite web |date=2005-02-04 |title=unbwogable |url=http://www.waywordradio.org/unbwogable/ |access-date=2014-02-25 |website=Waywordradio.org))</ref>

In 2006, Ukoo Flani Mau Mau was awarded Best Song (Hip Hop) at the [[2006 Kisima Music Awards]] for "Punchlines Kibao", featuring Vigeti (Kalamashaka, Kimya, and Ibra da Hustla (Nako 2 Nako)). The song was produced by Musyoka and recorded at Andaki Studios, deep in the heart of [[Dandora]], Kenya's home of hip hop.((Citation needed|date=March 2023))

== Awards ==
The first all-Kenyan hip hop awards ceremony, the UnKut Africa Hip Hop Awards, was held virtually in 2018 and in-person in December 2019 with over 10,000 votes cast. The event was hosted by UnKut Africa, an entertainment organization founded by Ruby V.<ref>((Cite web|url=https://www.the-star.co.ke/sasa/society/2020-01-20-unkut-hip-hop-award-winners-celebrated/|title=Unkut Hip Hop Award winners celebrated|website=The-star.co.ke|access-date=26 December 2021))</ref>

==References==
((Reflist))

((Genres of African popular music))
((hiphop))

[[Category:Kenyan hip hop|Hip hop]]
[[Category:Kenyan music|Hip hop]]
[[Category:Hip hop by country]]

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