Description
Ohangla music can be traced to the Luo community of Kenya. Over the years, it has changed in form and texture with the rise of new generations and new demands on the artists. The initial intentions, which were basically socio-cultural, have been overwhelmed by emerging economic trends and needs. In the process, even both instrumental form and manner of performance have been affected by generation changes and the new economic trends. There were, of course, earlier and much older artists who performed mainly in social places for entertainment with little or no tangible monetary profits to count. However, many other artists have since risen to popularity gaining a competitive edge with the older ones. They have established their styles, content and approaches which though borrow largely from the older generation, have a unique twist that makes them stand out in their class. These younger artists are driven by the need to meet the emerging needs of contemporary listenership and monetary intentions. This paper examines some of the dynamics involved in balancing between indigenous styles and practice and the modern market-driven trends among these artists considering that their performances are both gainful and leisure activities. The shift in generations has brought into picture interesting questions about content development, language use, instrumentation, and reliance on media for projection by the artists. Relying on the Theory of Recontextualization in music by Dora A. Hanninen (2003), the study will examine the performances of two selected Ohangla artists in Nairobi to highlight how their musical performances reflect a transformation from the indigenous to modern Ohangla music. Observation method will be used in this investigation. It is hoped that this paper will enlighten the scholarship on the dynamism of Ohangla music in specific and music on general.
| Keywords | Music, Ohangla music, Luo community, Indigenous cultures, Recontextualisation |
|---|
