How Spotify’s Gengetone Fire Was Formed

Spotify is a new digital music service that allows users to access millions of songs across the continent. The music can be accessed remotely using various record labels on a laptop or even a smartphone.

Kenya’s music scene has been experiencing tremendous changes in recent years, with new and different genres of music emerging.

Spotify decided to embrace the good work that the Kenyan Gengetone artists were doing by coming up with a new hot music genre called ‘Gengetone Fire’. The Gengetone Fire is an exercise aimed at inputting exactly what the audience likes but also using data because Gengetone has a unique and specific vibe that requires one to be a critical thinker in order to understand the lines.

Gengetone was first launched in the year 2021, and their vibes have truly been embraced and acknowledged by the entire East African community. Spotify has made that easier by compiling a list of East African tunes in one pack, a playlist that reflects the culture and spirit of Gengetone artists that are 18–24 years old.

The playlist that has been described as ‘Music for the streets by the streets’ has been the talk of town lately, not just by the youths in the country but also by the elderly, who point out viral Kenyan artists like Fathermoh and Ssaru, who released a banger by the name of Kasikie Vibaya’ that has over 20 million views on YouTube.

Matata, Octopizzo, Breeder LW, Iyanii and Mejja are the Kenyan artists that have been selected out to have been doing well lately.

The genre has relatable lyrics, often reflecting everyday struggles and triumphs, that capture the attention of young listeners looking for music that speaks to their daily life experiences. The infectious beats and danceable rhythms also provide the perfect soundtrack for social media challenges and viral trends that have been making headlines on TikTok, which is also a way of promoting the artist’s work.

At first, the music was basically released to target the Gen Z group, but it has surpassed that, as even people who aren’t in that category have contributed greatly to the success of Gengetone artists and their tracks.

Thanks to Spotify, other countries and other people have blended in and have gotten the chance to vibe on the good tunes of the Gen Z clan by creating a local playlist entailing all their tracks, making it easier for newbies and uninformed people to easily listen to their tracks.

Spotify currently holds over 15 million streams of the genre, with other countries contributing greatly to the growth of the genre. Some of the countries that have recorded significant numbers in streaming Kenyan music are the USA, UK, Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria, and Uganda.

Initially, Gengetone wasn’t doing well, but since the Gengetone Fire playlist was introduced, things have really changed, as the new move has played a pivotal role in transforming the genre’s perception. Its growing popularity is evident, with Gengetone Fire streams increasing by 88% from last year. The playlist has become a conduit for exporting Gengetone to the masses, and new players have emerged alongside the OGs, expanding the genre’s reach.
Actually, The Majority of the playlist streams are from Kenya, followed by the USA, Tanzania, Uganda, and the UK, which round off the top five.

We can conclude by saying that Gengetone’s potential for global recognition is undeniable, as the work that has been portrayed speaks for itself, and the interest from the diaspora further solidifies its bright future.

If you are looking for a streaming music app that you can use, then consider banking on Spotify because they have been in existence for over 5 years now and have quite a large community of 551 million users.

Their mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by these creators. They also Discover, manage, and share over 100 million tracks, including more than 5 million podcast titles.