Benga: The Kenyan Guitar Sound That Grew From an Ancient Lyre

Put on an old Kenyan record from the 1970s and you may hear it: a lead guitar playing rapid, rippling, almost harp-like patterns; a bass guitar bouncing busily, playing a melody of its own; a steady, driving drum beat; and voices singing in harmony in Dholuo, Kikuyu or Kamba. This is benga, the first great popular music to grow from Kenyan roots.

From the nyatiti to the guitar

Benga was born among the Luo people of western Kenya, around Lake Victoria. Its roots lie in a traditional instrument, the nyatiti, an eight-stringed lyre played by Luo musicians who also tap rhythms with a toe ring against the instrument. Nyatiti players perform long songs of praise, history and commentary, plucking fast, interlocking patterns.

In the 1950s and 1960s, as electric guitars became available, young Luo musicians began to transfer the plucking patterns of the nyatiti — and of the orutu fiddle — to the guitar. Rather than strumming, they picked individual strings rapidly. The bass guitar, instead of simply keeping time, took on a lively melodic role. The result was a new sound, bright, fast and danceable.

The golden age

Benga took off in the 1960s and 1970s, as independent Kenya's cities grew and record companies in Nairobi recorded local bands. Key figures include:

• George Ramogi and Ochieng' Nelly — early pioneers of the electric benga sound.
• D.O. Misiani and his band Shirati Jazz — among the most famous benga bands, active for decades. Misiani's songs often carried political messages, and he was arrested several times for lyrics that annoyed the authorities.
• Victoria Kings and other Luo bands that dominated dance halls and radio.

Benga soon spread beyond the Luo. Kikuyu musicians such as Joseph Kamaru and Kamba bands adopted the style, adding their own languages and rhythms. For a time, benga was the dominant popular music across Kenya.

Songs about everything

Benga songs covered love and heartbreak, praise for friends and patrons, social problems, politics, and stories of everyday life. Musicians often recorded songs commissioned by fans — praising someone, mourning a death, or celebrating a wedding — making benga part of the fabric of community life.

Competition and change

From the 1970s, benga faced strong competition from Congolese rumba, played by bands of Congolese musicians who settled in Nairobi and became hugely popular, and later from reggae, hip hop and international pop. Kenya's music industry also struggled with piracy and limited support. Many benga legends performed into old age with small audiences.

In recent years, however, benga has enjoyed a revival. Younger artists sample it, reissue labels have released classic recordings for international audiences, and Kenyan musicians blend benga with modern styles. Its influence can be heard in genge, gengetone and other Kenyan pop.

Benga belongs to a family of African guitar musics that grew in the mid-20th century, alongside highlife in Ghana and rumba in the Congo, each born when local traditions met the electric guitar.

Why it matters

Benga is a perfect example of how African musicians took a new, imported instrument — the electric guitar — and taught it to speak in their own language. The patterns of an ancient Luo lyre live on in the rapid fingers of benga guitarists. To hear benga is to hear Kenya finding its own modern voice.

Further reading

• John Nyairo and James Ogude, "Popular Music, Popular Politics: Unbwogable and the Idioms of Freedom in Kenyan Popular Music," African Affairs 104 (2005)
• Douglas Paterson, "The Life and Times of Kenyan Pop," in World Music: The Rough Guide (Rough Guides, 1999)
• Music In Africa — Kenya music overview