The Best And Worst Kenyan Songs Produced In 2014 (Part 1)

2014 has been a very productive year for many musicians as they saw their careers blossom and flourish immensely. Nice songs that have underlined the year 2014 have been produced, plunging artistes into various nominations and wins, building a name for Kenya in the international scene and attracting renowned celebrities and artistes who have done collabos with our own artistes.

From gospel to secular music, enthralling songs have been created and produced. Pitson, Willy Paul and others are some of the artists who made it big in the gospel industry this year. On the secular front, Sauti Sol have been the emperors in the entire kingdom, ruling the roost with verve and vigour, showing the world what they are best at.

Ghafla Kenya conducted a simple poll where I asked colleagues and friends to name some of the songs they think were the best in 2014 and those that they think should never have been produced because they are more than boring. Here are the results as given out:

Sauti Sol’s two songs Nishike and Sura Yako got the majority’s nod as among the best songs of 2014. These are the songs that helped the quartet land various nominations, notably the MTVEMA awards in Scotland where they won the best African act award but narrowly missed out on the best world act.

Nishike was however banned in Kenya because it was considered one of the dirtiest videos to have ever been produced in the country. Despite the ban, the video emerged as the most viewed on you tube with over 900,000 views. Was because of the ban? Well, I guess so.

Elani’s Milele hit is another song that was voted as among the songs that underlined the year 2014. The trio’s release received immense support when it first played on air in March this year. It sent out a clear signal that Elani were around to cause shock and send jitters down the spines of other musicians. Since then, the trio has been to places outside Kenya to do what they know best.

Pitson Geither made a name for himself when he came up with the Lingala Ya Yesu hit maker that catapulted the banker into the limelight. When he sat down to do the song, little did Pitson know that he had embarked on a journey that would see him dine with other renowned artistes in the country and beyond. To date, Pitson has released another song, Kilele, but it has not received the praise Lingala Ya Yesu got when it was first released 11 months ago.

Other songs that got incredible mentions include Kansoul Crew’s Dabotap and Nyongwa, which defined the group of three. Madtraxx, Mejja and Kidkora have continued to blaze with good hits, clearly showing that two heads are better than one.

Victoria Kimani’s collabo with Diamond and Ommy Dimpoz to come up with Prokoto is also considered here. Khaligraph Jones’ Embesha also got an incredible mention.

 Continued here: Part 2