The Scorpios

Lingala…… The bulk of Congolese song’s lyrics are composed in lingala [ngala] – a Bantu dialect or lingua franca commonly spoken across the Congo-Kinshasa and Brazzaville regions. These culturally-rooted songs, for decades categorized under lingala music slot have steadily gained global popularity – giving rise to contemporary sub-genres like ndombolo and soukous styles.

Benga music is widely regarded as Kenya’s trademark rhythmic sound. It is characterized by a distinctive guitar-plucking style and sizzling hi-hat drumming. Bass guitar riffs step up a song’s tempo, keeping pace with high-pitched vocal harmonies. In a nimble interplay of chords, solo and rhythm guitarists ‘chase’ each other as if mimicking the Luo community’s eight-string nyatiti lyre’s quick push-and-pull, syncopated melodies.

Rhumba…..  widely described as an Afro-Cuban musical rhythm /dance wherein slow, flirty and romantic body, hip movements are drawn out in tandem. here are assertions the roots of rhumba rhythm can be linked and traced to traditional coastal Giriama music known as mwanzele. “Though we developed the rhythm blending it with assorted influences, it took long for local musicians to record songs and the Cubans/Congolese got to the studios before we could” – to quote words of late Fundi Konde, veteran Kenyan music doyen.

Cavacha or Kavacha is a type of rhythm found in the popular music of Zaire and Kenya. It is a fast-paced rhythm typically played on a drum kit, often with the snare drum or hi hat. Like a running train.

Afro-Rock ……. is popular funky-like music (and widely touted as an Afro-beat offshoot) pioneered in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the multiple-nationalities outfit Osibisa and several other mainly West African afro-pop bands. Its infectious elements – a subtle call and answer rhythm – are believed to had somewhat drifted into the East African region influencing numerous local bands from the early 1970s era among them Air Fiesta Matata.

Chakacha is bouncy, coastal flavoured beat popular across the Indian Ocean Islands. It is partially influenced by Arabic, Indian and Portuguese elements attributed to slave trade era along East coast of Africa. The Seychelles, Mauritius and Reunion Islands have similar rhythms known as Segaa and Iskista in Ethiopia.

Taarab is often described as a Middle Eastern and African musical melting pot style with diverse influences rooted along the Swahili coastal historical slave trade routes. The genre’s popularity reportedly sprouted in Zanzibar in the 1920s performed by big-band orchestras – whose lyrics were subtly expressive poetry.