Foster, C. (2001, December 28). Paying Off: Berklee's Eric Wainaina has become a hero, and a rising star, for his song mocking bribery as a way of life in his native Kenya. The Boston Globe, p. D1, 6.

OVERVIEW

Eric Wainaina was born into a musical, Nairobi family in 1973. Three of his dad's brothers sing and play guitar, and Eric's aunts sing as well. Parties in his home would be filled with his uncles' music and their stories told in Kikuyu. Back then Kenya didn't have much of its own popular music, so Eric grew up listening to Western pop like the Jackson Five, Boney M., and Abba. When Eric first heard Paul Simon's "Graceland" in 1989, he heard something really new. It was the combination of South African music with English lyrics and Western harmonies.

It was the most amazing thing I ever heard. I might get criticized for this, but Paul Simon is like my musical father. He really influenced my music. From then on, Eric wanted more Kenyan influence in his music.

The guitar line is very Kenyan and very Congolese. The soaring guitar line and repetitive guitar pattern are unlike jazz, where the improvisers try to find new ground. With Kenyan drumming or guitar-playing, the object is to find a pattern and keep to it. While still a teenager, Eric Wainaina co-founded a Christian a capella singing group called 5 Alive. It even toured England and Switzerland and opened in Kenya for Barry White in 1995. The group disbanded when Eric and two other members came to Boston to study at Berklee College of music-famous worldwide as a center for the study of jazz and pop music.

In Boston, Eric goes to the 12th Baptist Church in the Roxbury section of Boston. He stays in the Martin Luther King, Jr. house the church owns.

Wainaina has taken two years from performing to make his CD, "Sawa Sawa" (2001). The title song of the album is a gospel song, he says.

'It means everything is going to be all right. I've always had this dream of making it big in the music industry and so it's kind of like my little prayer, that everything will be all right.'

Another song is "Kenya Only" written in 1997. According to the musician, "one of the messages of this song is to forget politics; let's be unified." The author of this article adds,

The song was being aired in 1998 when bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, suddenly put it in a new light-as a song of unity. It was adopted as the official song of mourning and he performed it on national television.

The most popular song on the album, however, may be "Nchi ya Kitu Kidogo" or "Land of 'A Little Something'." It is a lament about bribery in his country, and fans sing it to him when he walks the streets of Nairobi. Released in June of 2001, Wainaina was singing it at the Kenya Music Festival that summer. Vice President George Saitoti was there and a nervous organizer of the even waived at Wainaina to stop the song. " 'I thought, why is he trying to call me?' " Wainaina remembers…and suddenly the whole audience was singing with him, and it was too late to stop anyway.

'Then I realized it's because Saitoti is here and I'm doing this sensitive song. And I was thinking, "Well, I'm not going to stop, you know? There are 4,000 voters in the audience and they're the people who need to get the message" So I just went on singing.'

"NICHI YA KITU KIDOGO"

Kenyatta said that there is nothing for free
But that wisdom has been misunderstood
Even trying to get your child into school
Is impossible if you don't pay a bribe
Getting a phone line is a rough task
A small token will buy you a road license
Police harass citizens who do not have national Identification Card
We are pulling our nation backward

Chorus:
A country of "something small" is a country of small-minded people
If you want "tea" my brother, go to Limuru
(Kinyatta was the first president of Kenya. "Tea" or chai is slang for a bribe, and
Limuru is where most tea is grown.)

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

• What kinds of music are young people around the world listening to these days?
• What is your favorite kind of music? Do you know or like Paul Simon's "Graceland"? Do you enjoy any kinds of world pop?
• If you know of Eric Wainaina, do you like his music? If you don't, would you be interested in finding it?
• If you had been performing a song that was politically sensitive, and officials signaled you to stop, what would you do?
• Do musical artists have a political responsibility?
• The writer of this article says, "Kenya's problem with corruption is deep and affects all levels of society…But the government seems reluctant to take steps" (outlined by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank). Do you agree that corruption and bribery are problems in Kenya? What do you think should be done about it? What part can ordinary citizens play?
• From what you know about Eric Wainaina, what is your opinion of him? What do you think of this article? What more would you like to know?

IMPLICATIONS

• What kinds of music are young people around the world listening to these days?
• What is your favorite kind of music? Do you know or like Paul Simon's "Graceland"? Do you enjoy any kinds of world pop?
• If you know of Eric Wainaina, do you like his music? If you don't, would you be interested in finding it?
• If you had been performing a song that was politically sensitive, and officials signaled you to stop, what would you do?
• Do musical artists have a political responsibility?
• The writer of this article says, "Kenya's problem with corruption is deep and affects all levels of society…But the government seems reluctant to take steps" (outlined by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank). Do you agree that corruption and bribery are problems in Kenya? What do you think should be done about it? What part can ordinary citizens play?
• From what you know about Eric Wainaina, what is your opinion of him? What do you think of this article? What more would you like to know?