Spotify Wrapped recent data has revealed where the gold is when it comes to music consumption. The nostalgic pop culture is gaining notoriety among Kenyans. To show how dominant it has grown, one just needs to look at the remakes of popular sets from the 1980s and 1990s in today’s music and the influence in fashion that is fast picking up.
“That’s hardly surprising, contemporary artists often draw on the music they listened to most growing up (usually what their parents listened to) as they form their own identities.”
“Just a Band’s 2011 release, Dunia Ina Mambo, which samples The Mighty Cavaliers’ 1976 hit by the same name comes to mind,” says Monica Kemoli-Savanne, Artist and Label Partnerships Manager for East Africa at Spotify.
“And as Spotify Wrapped data for 2022 shows, we seek it out as listeners too. Kenyans are no exception to that impulse, with tracks from the 2000s and 1990s dominating this trend. More particularly, Kenyan listeners appear to be heavily nostalgic for R&B and Rap from those decades.”
“Gidi Gidi Maji Maji’s Atoti, released in 2002, saw a resurgence in the last couple of months – thanks to a social media trend, making it the top streamed local throwback song,” she adds.
The top tracks from the 2000s, according to this year’s data, include many of the biggest global names of the decade. While some – like JAY-Z, Rihanna, and Beyoncé – remained massive powerful forces throughout the 2010s and into the 2020s, others feel very much like products of the time.
Most-streamed tracks from the 2000s on Spotify in Kenya this year
Mario – Let Me Love You
Ne-Yo – So Sick
Beyoncé – Halo
JAY-Z, Rihanna – Umbrella
Mariah Carey – We Belong Together
Mary J. Blige – Be Without You – Kendu Mix
Kanye West- Heartless
Rihanna – Take A Bow
50 Cent – In Da Club
Ne-Yo – Miss Independent
Further back, the top tracks from the 1990s include numerous Rap legends, from Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg to 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. Further driving up the nostalgia factor is the fact that Coolio and LV’s ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ features on the list.
Following the rapper’s tragic death in late September this year, the song now neatly encapsulates the duality of nostalgia. All at once, you can listen to it and feel a yearning for the time it was recorded, but also feel sad looking back on 2022 because it claimed the artist behind a song which helped define the era.
Most-streamed tracks from the 90s on Spotify in Kenya this year
Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg – Still D.R.E.
2Pac, Outlawz Hit ‘Em Up – Single Version
Pato Banton – Go Pato
Coolio, L.V. – Gangsta’s Paradise
The Notorious B.I.G. – Big Poppa – 2005 Remaster
Madilu System- Ya Jean – Remix (Congolese Rumba)
The Notorious B.I.G. – Hypnotize – 2014 Remaster
Mariah Carey – Always Be My Baby
2Pac – Do For Love
K-Ci & JoJo – All My Life
Looking at the top songs from earlier decades, it’s also clear that the influence of nostalgia in broader pop culture is playing a role in bringing that music to new listeners. Would Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” be the top song from the 1980s if it hadn’t been so prominent in the latest season of Stranger Things?
And how much of a role did Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic play in propelling Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” to the top of the 50s chart?
No. 1s from other decades on Spotify in Kenya this year
80s: Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
70s: Bob Marley & The Wailers – Three Little Birds (Reggae)
60s: Marvin Gaye – Sexual Healing (Soul)
50s: Elvis Presley – Can’t Help Falling in Love (Rock & Roll)
Given the ongoing global socio-political and economic uncertainty plaguing the world right now, it seems like nostalgia isn’t going to dissipate as a force anytime soon.
That said, it’s also okay to remind ourselves that we loved a lot of the things from those periods, but especially the music, because they really were as good as we remember them being.
What do you think?
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