Article #68715

Digital artists from Maa-speaking peoples including the Maasai and Samburu are gaining popularity in Kenya with a blend of traditional and modern sounds

As the sun sets, a goat’s leg sizzles on the fire in Kenya’s Mau Forest, a bumpy three-hour drive from the nearest Tarmac road. “Nowadays, Maasai shoot with cameras, not spears,” the manager says as he watches a Maasai musician looking at himself on a smartphone screen.

Julius Kesier, alias Kamurar Maasai, a musician and influential community mentor, is being filmed at his manyatta settlement. The spear he carries is purely for show.