Evolution, transformations and trends in kalenjin tradition songs

Abstract

Since the production of the earliest Kalenjin traditional albums inthe 1920s, the community’s traditional songs have evolved andtransformed. This article traces this historical process byconsidering how these songs developed from folk songsperformed duringKambaget(sports competitions) and from theearliest compositions of Bekyibei arap Mosonik, Kipchamba arapTapotuk and their contemporaries, to the modern-day Kalenjinpopular hits. The article documents the earliest recordings ofKalenjin music tracks as well as the bands, and traces the legaciesof Kipchamba’s Koilong’et Band from the artists of 1940s andthose of the later decades through to the younger generations ofthe 1990s, 2000s and today. This is done in order to determinethe zones of contact as well as departures from prototypical andpopular Kalenjin traditional songs. Taking the 1990s liberation ofthe airwaves as focus, this essay analyses the extraordinaryvariety and complexity of“The Oldies”and compares these tocontemporary artistic products that have recycled aspects of thishistorical canon