Next week Zanzibar will be the centre of focus on African music with the Trace Awards 2025. This the continent's most prestigious music awards ceremony.
This much-publicised event will bring together the greatest talents from Africa and its diaspora for a celebration of musical diversity.
The grand event follows the inaugural one that took place in Rwanda last year, one that featured feature artistes from more than 30 countries; from Africa, South America, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean and Europe.
It is the ceremony where African music is celebrated and where African music greats are recognized and awarded with all genres of music; afrobeat, dancehall, hip-hop, afro-pop, mbalax, amapiano, zouk, kizomba, genge, coupe-decale, bongo flava, soukous, gospel, rap, rai, kompa, RnB and rumba, among others screaming for recognition.
And truth be told, this is where artistes who have been claiming supremacy in their dominance if not popularity in the continental entertainment space spruce their egos. It is simply the creme de la creme reality moment that and where the weighing scale determines who commands African music and its influence across the continent and the globe.
And too, this comes with a dream performance line up. Among the artistes who will light up the stage will be icons such as Rema, Diamond Platnumz, Yemi Alade, Fally Ipupa, Joshua Baraka, Titom and Yuppe joined by many other renowned artists.
Tanzania will be represented by Diamond Platnumz, Alikiba, Zuchu, Marioo, Nandy, Abigail Chams, Young Lunya, and Jux. Ivory Coast will showcase iconic figures such as Didi B, Josey, Tamsir, KS Bloom, Team Paiya, and HIMRA, delivering unforgettable performances.
From the DRC, Fally Ipupa, Innoss'B, and Gaz Mawete will take the spotlight, while Nigeria will shine with King Promise, Qing Madi, renowned producer P Priime, and the unmissable Rema and Yemi Alade.
South Africa will be in the limelight with Makhadzi and the duo Titom & Yuppe. Additional talents will enrich this lineup, including Sabrina (Cameroon), DJ Moh Green (Algeria), Chelsea Dinorath (Angola), Joe Dwet File (France/Haiti), Nesly (Martinique/French Guiana), Barth (Reunion Island), Kenny Haiti (Haiti), and Joshua Baraka (Uganda).
Kenyan music enthusiasts will enjoy a performance by Bien who is the only Kenyan nominee in the awards. That is how poorly Kenya, the one time Africa's talent epicenter, is represented.
It is a representation that leaves a big question on Kenya's musical authority across the continent in comparison with the now domineering heavyweights from Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal and close home Tanzania.
How did the Kenyan representation in such a unforgettable, emotion and electrifying continental moment - call it the Grammys of Africa - become so unfelt coming from an age where the big stars here swept the MTV Africa Music Awards, the Kora All African Music Awards and Channel O Music Video Awards?
Reflections are made on how Wahu Kagwi was the big winner during the inaugural MTV Africa Music Awards in 2008. In 2009, Kenya made another clean sweep with Nameless winning two of the most coveted categories.
And come 2010, Kenya's celebrated gospel singer Daddy Owen made a first scooping the Best Anglophone Artiste award - the first gospel artiste to achieve such a feat.
It was the age when the Nigerian R&B duo P-Square as well as Fally Ipupa were big names in Africa but still, Kenya's dominance in the music arena was evident with its growth projection being the benchmark for all African stars who would trope to Nairobi now and then to learn something or two about making it big.
That is when Kenya was the melting pot for big stars. For any star to make it big in Africa, you had to pay homage to the city in the sun.
Throw it back to 2005. The Kora African Music Awards in Durban, South Africa were a Kenyan affair. Streamed to millions of fans in Africa, Longombas, Maximum Melodies, Kaz and Neema exchanged the podium to receive their awards making Kenyan artistes the envy of them all.
That year rap group Kleptomaniax, gospel star Esther Wahome, Harry Kimani, Eric Wainaina and DNG were part of the big team nominated and representing Kenya down south. That was how much of an impact and penetration Kenyan music had penetrated across the continent.
In Kigali, Rwanda, last year Kenyan nominees Nadia Mukami and Janet Otieno had to settle for performances to ascertain Kenya's presence. And even then, the performance were below per as compared to other acts who brought their 'A' game on a stage where Africa was showcasing itself as the new music frontier.
It was a night of grand entrances and exits, a grand red carpet affair and epic performances - all exposing Kenya as a one time giant now watching and learning from the side-lines.
Two hours before his performance, videos of Diamond jetting into the city on a private jet in the company of family members and his team had turned the Tanzanian singer into the biggest trend across Africa.
Diamond stormed the stage with his dance troupe, to his 'Achii' hit song featuring Koffi Olomide, to thunderous applause. As he switched on to his then new single, 'Shu', an infectious Amapiano track featuring Chley, everyone got onto their feet.
It was a big night for Nigerian stars Davido and Rema, who won two awards each, with Nigeria proving why it is the force to reckon with when it comes to African music.
Davido took home the prizes for Best Male, and shared Best Collaboration with South Africa's Musa Keys for 'Unavailable'.
Rema scored in the Global African Artiste, and Song of the Year categories, with 'Calm Down'.
'Love Damini' by Burna Boy, also from Nigeria, took the prize for Best Album and Vivian Chidid received the plaudits for Best Female.
Rema - whose single, Calm Down, with Selena Gomez set a new record as African song of all time after a record 57 weeks on the Billboard - praised his team, fans and media houses for accepting his music.
"This is the biggest award (ceremony) I have ever attended in the continent. I thank all the radio and TV stations from the East, South and North for playing my songs," he said.
And now Bien Aime, popularly known for his Sauti Sol group, will be the Kenyan hope come the big day in Zanzibar.
Bien who has been nominated in the Best Artist - Eastern Africa category, stands out as the only nominee in the highly anticipated Eastern Africa category. And what are his probabilities of winning? The list is hometown dominated with Zuchu, Nandy, Marioo and Harmonize. Then there is Bien (Kenya), Joshua Baraka (Uganda) and Rophnan (Ethiopia).
The powerhouses; Nigeria and South Africa are leading the pack with Tyla, Tyler ICU, Rema, Asake and Burna Boy having dominated the nominees list. In the Song of the Year, Burna Boy is in it with Higher, Tyla with Jump AND Tyler ICU's Mnike.
Nigeria's dominance is also felt in the Album of the Year category with Burna Boy's I Told Them, Asake's Lungu Boy, and Rema's Heis. Ghana's Amaarae, King Promise, and Stonebwoy are also profiled as well as Ivory Coast's Josey and Togo's Toofan.
The ever competitive Best Male Artiste category features Rema (Nigeria), Burna Boy (Nigeria), Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania), Wizkid (Nigeria), King Promise (Ghana), Bruce Melodie (Rwanda) and Asake (Nigeria). Yemi Alade (Nigeria), Tiwa Savage (Nigeria), Ayra Starr (Nigeria), Zuchu (Tanzania), Simi (Nigeria), Makhadzi (South Africa) and Josey (Ivory Coast) are the contenders in the Best Female Artiste category.
This nominees list makes no secret of the Nigerian (Afrobeats and Afropop) and South African (Kwaito and Amapiano) music dominance in Africa, this also having edged out the Kenyan beat out of Kenyan entertainment joints.
Think about it! When Kapuka music beat was taking shape as the Kenyan urban music beat in the 90s, the South African Kwaito sensation was just emerging and Afro-pop was just a baby learning to walk.
And as the attention gets set on Zanzibar for the big arena, the biggest question will still remain; how do we trace Kenyan music in this new music power play.
