Those of you who know me personally know of my rather... ummm.... well... my love for Africa.. the people, the food, the music. 

My first "real" exposure to the music I've really come to love was back in... ummm.. 2002? or was it 2003?  Somewhere back then when I was on one of my many trips to Nariobi, and I attended the Miss Kenya Finals.  The Finals were held in the infamous Carnovore Restaurant and Night Club (by the way, if you ever make it to Nairobi, this is a must visit place).  The event in itself was amazing, and a load of fun, but... it was also a chance for local-ish artists to come out and entertain the crowd between events.

The most memorable band... The Longombas singing Dondosa.  Sadly it's not up on YouTube, so you cannot see them perform.  You can listen though here on EastAfricaTube.  The two singers (brothers) came out on stage and when they started dancing... well you've seen the movies of the women screaming when the Beatles sang?... this was the same... it was deafening

This lead me into a whole new world of music... like Awilo Longomba, Extra Musica, Werrason, and many others...

A couple that really are top of my list.. Brenda Fassie:

and Lady Jay Dee:

If you're up for it... and feel like exploring a little, poke around in YouTube and look for:

• Ndombolo
• Mr. Nice
• E-Sir
• Ogopa DJs
  
• Saida Karoli
• Obsession
• Jose Chameleon
• Adhiambo
• Wahu
• Mr Lenny
• Luo music

The keywords are a mix of artists, song names and music styles... some traditional, some hiphop, and some dance styles.

Oh, another fun video to watch is from a very popular Kenyan TV show called Churchill Live, and the Dance 101 skit... good fun and a nice example of the fun dances they do in East Africa... enjoy