Visiting Ugandan guitarist Israel Nsereko Kalungi, ndong’o player Joel Sebunjo and Ronald Kibirige Omulanda do the healing effect of music in the ArtMatters.Info office in Nairobi

Music lovers and critics in Kenya are getting concerned over the issue of originality in music. Has the age of creativity ended?

They wonder. One can almost predict what music is going to be played at an entertainment joint by the resident performers of copyrighted material or 'one-guitar-man' even before the performance: the menu consists of Zilizopendwa music by the likes of Fundi Konde (Majengo sendi tena) and Daudi Kabaka (Msichana mrembo), Malaika by Fadhili William, Shauri yako by Orchestra Marquis du Zaire, Sina makosa by Simba Wanyika and Stella by Freshley Mwamburi.

Before a performance fiasco at the Carnivore in 2000, Tanzanian Cool James (James Dandu) had been hyped up by Nation Media Group in a fashion not un-similar to that of another musician called Emily C (Emily Chelangat) whom the group had three years earlier (in 1997) described as a 'music sensation' but who was later discovered could not perform on stage during a concert at the Carnivore. Dandu's rehashed version of Prof Omar Shaaban's Sina Makosa had received massive airplay and praise. But critics still cannot establish whether it was Cool James or Bobo Sukari of Bilenge Musica who actually revised Sina makosa.

Who created Oi ngai wakwa-was it Wahome Maingi or Jim Reeves? What about Jowa-is it Poxi Presha's or KC and the Sunshine Band? While the former has copied Reeves' North to Alaska melody, the latter uses KC & the Sunshine Band's track! One would be forgiven if he or she concluded these songs were done by Reeves in Kikuyu and KC in Dholuo, respectively. Harrison Ngunjiri (Hardstone) has used the late Marvin Gaye's track, Sexual healing, on his Uhiki hit.

Israel Kalungi and Ronald Omulanda

The popular Latin American song, Labamba, by Ritchie Valens who recorded it in 1958, has been copied by many musicians worldwide. Singer Margaret Waitherero of Nairobi adopted its melody and sang it in Kikuyu two years ago. It is currently a hit. Waitherero says she recorded the song because she likes it and also because people like it when she plays it at a Nairobi entertainment joint.

"I did not know that people would complain when I included it on my 10-song album, Chuki ya nini? I did not do this as a short-cut to riches or for lack of creativity. I recorded the song because I like its melody," she defended herself in an interview. Examples of people who have translated or copied popular songs and recorded them as their own abound. Although these are usually contemporary Christian choruses and hymns, the practice is by no means restricted to these.

The trend of redoing other people's music in Kenya is becoming a worrisome phenomenon to music pundits who are speculating that the age of creativity is over and that what remains is for one to retrieve other people's creations from the archives and rehash it. However this article is not about Cool James, Emily C or 'one-man-guitarists. It is about creativity and intellectual property rights. Wilson Kimama, a 'one man-guitar' artiste at Utalii Hotel, says it is wrong to record other people's songs and go on to reap from it without acknowledging or paying the owner for their intellectual property. He says copyright allows an artist to play another's music for not more than 15 seconds running.

"This rule is broken with impunity in Kenya as people play complete songs without flinching an eyelid," he observes, arguing those doing this are not artistes. He contends that Michael Jackson's inclusion of a section of music on one of the songs on his best selling album, Thriller, put him in a legal tussle forcing him to compensate the aggrieved party. Ignorance or liking of the song and recording it without crediting the original composer or paying for it is no defence, he asserts.

Sam Muthee, he of the Dereva chunga maisha song fame that is used as the signature of the road safety campaign by Kenya Broadcasting Corporation radio, says music can be "adapted, modified, and even updated" but that one must pay the owners of the music they are using. "Although we should not throw creativity to the wind, anyone who derives joy in being a copycat should follow the copyright rules," he says. "Music in this country is not treated like an intellectual property that it is and that is why people are invaded our intellectual property, occupying it and not being punished for it."

Popularly known as 'Retired General,' Kimama says laziness is killing creativity among musicians as they seek short-cuts to fame and wealth. "The human mind is not dormant. We must work harder. There are 7488 music chords which we can hardly exhaust. Music, like fashion, changes. But we should not be complacent in redoing other people's hits of yore. Unlike their predecessors, today's people have technology but this appears to be killing their creativity," he laments.

Sammy Muraya, he of the Mama Kiwinja fame, says those recording music either using other people's tracks or translating them without permission are guilty of plagiarism unless they pay royalty and credit original creators of the music. He says the copying trend is threatening to kill the music industry as there will be no music variety worth listening to.

"The hardest part of music composing is getting the melody. It usually takes me sleepless nights to come up with it. Is it fair, then, for someone to just take the track I have agonised over to create without acknowledging it as mine and paying for it?" he poses. "According to copyright laws, one may use another's music without seeking permission from the original creator 50 years after the artiste's death. I fear this is not what is currently happening on the Kenyan music scene."

Fadhili William's Malaika is one of the songs that have been copied by many artistes to the extent of almost being abused. Boney M, Miriam Makeba, Harry Belafonte, and Them Mushrooms have all recorded their own versions of Malaika. Creator of Wape Vidonge vyao, Malika Mohammed, had a disagreement with Samba Mapangala over copyright when he adapted her song without permission. So angered by the trend is Muraya that he challenges those revising other people's music, "If you are artistes, why don't you compose your own original songs, come up with original beats and offer it for sale?"

Most hip-hop performers in Kenya use tracks done by other people, leading to the question: are they musicians?

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