The Art of Sampling and Its Rise in the Kenyan Music Industry

Sampling in music is using a portion of an existing recording in the production of a new song.

The sampled material can be a rhythm, melody, beat, vocals, or speech. Most Kenyans became aware of sampling as an art form when the arbantone genre began to be popular. Arbantone became a popular genre in Kenyan music between 2023 and 2024, with producer Sound Kraft and his Like a Boss records record label responsible for releasing the biggest artists and hits under the arbantone genre.

In 2024, there was an event hosted and organized by producer Motif and radio veteran Roy Karuhize who sought to ensure that the arbantone genre would not fade away like its predecessor Genge tone who at the time seemed to have taken a back seat. Genge, in that same year, was finally being recognized by the recording academy as being eligible for Grammy Nomination.  The backlash that arbantone received then and even receives today is the fact that many argue that Arbantone artists and producers are not doing anything unique but simply taking other artists songs and remaking or repurposing them as their own.

The biggest drawback to sampling and the rise of arbantone in the Kenyan music industry is the fact that because Kenyan artists are choosing to sample artists from outside of Kenya, if these songs are to gain commercial success, then a majority of the revenue from this music will go to the original copyright owner. So, whereas an artist and the producer or label would share the revenue, this revenue would be further split to include the original owner in the case that a sample has been used and cleared. The second issue that is likely to arise is the issue of sample clearances. In the United States, before you can release a song that has samples, you must ensure that the original copyright holder approves the use. In Kenya, many artists are sampling without permission, and this may not affect them now but will if their songs become a global hit or begin earning revenue.

There is nothing wrong with Sampling. Sampling has been there since music began and will be there for as long as music is there. What we as Kenyans must do is make sure we learn about sampling and make sure that we avoid previous mistakes that have been done in that area. In 2018, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were ordered to pay Marvin Gaye’s family $5 million in a copyright infringement case for a song sampled. Just imagine how much Jamaican artists could make if they went after Genge tone and Arbantone producers. What everybody and we are saying is that it is okay to sample, so long as you sample correctly.

Very few people know legendary Kenyan musician Ayub Ogada, but his song Koth Biro has been sampled by Gotye, Black Savage, Royce Da 59, and even Kanye West. We want to see more Kenyan music sampled! Wouldn’t that be great? It’s the best and easiest way for us to export our sound. Yes, by all means, sample music, but also think about making music that people will want to sample, even years from now. We shouldnt be trying to figure out what song you sampled but wowed by your music enought to want to sample it.