'Jogoo la shambani haliwiki mjini': the village and the town in the 'Mugithi' and one man guitar performances in Kenya

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Periodical article

Title:	'Jogoo la shambani haliwiki mjini': the village and the town in the 'Mugithi' and one man guitar performances in Kenya
Author:	Mutonya, Maina wa
Year:	2013
Periodical:	African Studies Quarterly (ISSN 1093-2658)
Volume:	14
Issue:	4
Pages:	1-16
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Kenya
Subjects:	popular music Kikuyu urban population identity
External link:	https://journals.flvc.org/ASQ/article/view/136171
Abstract:	The 1990s marked an emergence of a relatively new genre in the contours of Kenyan popular culture. The Mugithi performance signaled a beginning of new directions, largely in Kenyan music and specifically in the contemporary Gikuyu music in terms of themes and style. The performance, mostly an urban phenomenon dominated by Gikuyu one-man guitarists, is a major site for negotiation of identities and incorporates the interface and interplay between the traditional and the contemporary, especially in the urban setting. This article highlights the inherent contradictions in creation and re-creation of urban identities as expressed in this music. The main argument is that identities are always contested and different socio-economic situations call for a negotiation, if not a re-negotiation of identities. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]