Kenyan Hip-hop and the Covid-19 Pandemic

The world is re-emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are only now beginning to understand the full impact of the crisis. In Kenya, we need to take this opportunity to reflect on how we can better prepare for future pandemics. At the same time, we need to reconsider culture’s role in helping us cope with and make sense of difficult events in our lives.  

One of the most powerful ways that culture can help us to process difficult experiences is through music. During the pandemic, we saw the government use music to communicate public health messages. We also saw artists use music to explore the emotional, social political, and economic impacts of the crisis. 

Without a doubt, we know that music can help us to feel less alone, and it can give us a sense of hope. It can also help us to process our grief and anger. In a time of crisis, music can be a lifeline. It is for these reasons that the arts are essential to our well-being, and they can help us to build a stronger and more resilient society.  

In this episode of The Kenyanist, we were joined by Felix Mutunga, to discuss his recent research on the role of Hip-Hop in reframing narratives of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya's urban margins. In a conversation with our host Kamau Wairuri, Felix explores the impact of the pandemic on the lives of people in these areas and how Hip-Hop music is used to amplify social and political issues in Kenya. 

Sources cited:

• Ndaka, Felix Mutunga. "Lyrical Renegades: Reframing Narratives of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Kenyan Urban Margins Through Hip-Hop." Journal of African Cultural Studies 35.1 (2023): 89-103.
• Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. "□ Can the Subaltern Speak?." Colonial discourse and post-colonial theory. Routledge, 2015. 66-111.