Black Savage was a groundbreaking Afro-Rock and psychedelic funk band from Nairobi, Kenya, making waves in the 1970s. Formed in 1969, their members, including Barrack Achieng on bass, Job Seda (later known as Ayub Ogada) on percussion, Noel Drury Sanyanafwa on drums, Jack Odongo on keyboards, and Gordon Ominde (Golden Simone) on guitar and vocals, met during their school years in Nairobi.
They became quite popular among young people in the city with their vibrant blend of Afro-Rock, psychedelic funk, and soul. Although their recorded output was limited to one LP, “Something for Someone” (1975), and a few singles like “Do You Really Care” and “Grassland / Kothbiro,” their music has seen a significant revival. After being largely unavailable for decades, a 2018 compilation by Afro7 Records brought their unique sound to a wider international audience, earning them renewed appreciation. The band eventually broke up in the early 1980s and is no longer active, but their legacy as pioneers in the Kenyan music scene lives on.
Zambia was producing zamrock in the same period. Sometime ago I saw European bands releasing covers of zamrock tunes. Slim Ali alipotelea pia, but I do think benga deserves more appreciation, especially the old benga
Man, Kothbiro blew my mind when I was going through samples in a Kanye album. Imagine Kanye sampling jaluo niggas from the 70s lol.
Then Jim Jones and Rick Ross sampled it too and used the whole melody.
The song, “FC Gor Mahia,” was released in 1970, two years after the club was formed, and became a popular anthem. Juma Toto was a musician, not a football player.
Hiphop has always been sampling since day 1 which is an art
Most of them buy music from everywhere and spend alot of time listening,unaweza release a song huko 70s in kenya it flops mbaya sana 50 years later unapata fame and money.
Kuna hii nightclub ya france was using an old kikuyu song to promote an event.
We also had high quality vernacular benga( Luo, Kikuyu, Kamba, Kalenjin) and well arranged coastal taarab and bango. Even jazz was up there by local bands. Siku hizi ni ummeffi za gengetone tu.
The original is a lot better yes. But consider this, it’s got 2 or 3 lines, and that goes for s lot of classic non rap songs. They’re more about the instruments and how good the voice is. They have simplistic lyrics that repeat all song.
A lot of rap’s lyrics is vulgar and showy yes, but if you appreciate art, explicit words shouldn’t scare you.
Think of it as poetry, cause that’s what it’s supposed to be, this really is a well written bit of poetry, subject matter aside.
And the instrumental is also dense and varied, though it’s not live instruments, it’s full of the same elements.
Plus these are some if the more ignorant rappers. If you listen to a Kendrick album for instance, you’re getting thousands of lines, packed with puns, lyricism, hidden meanings sll conveying actually social conscious messages and containing a sweeping narrative/story throughout the songs.
You don’t hear that in most genres.
Anyway, here’s lyrics from one of the most iconic Michael Jackson songs ever aka the greatest artist ever, vs this crass showy rap song.
The difference in the songwriting and depth is clear to see, despite the cursing. These aren’t even considered lyrical rappers.
