Music | Sauti Sol: A Brief Review

They are Kenya's all-male afro-pop singing band, and probably the most versatile music group in East Africa. They don’t release music in quantities. Quality is their thing, as is versatility.

For all their efforts, it's not easy to recall they have been around for quite time. Next year they make 10 years in the industry.

But perhaps their biggest successes have come over the last 4 or 5 years. While one would easily categorize them as Afro-pop, their latest song, Sura Yako would suggest otherwise.

It is done in a rather coastal sound, with a tempo similar to Jose Chameleone's Wale Wale. The latter was accused of reinventing Rumba (or what we commonly call Lingala) in the early days of its release.

From Songs like "Still the one" which was a favorite of many soul and RnB fans, through Nishike, and Sura Yako (a complete antithesis of Still the One), Sauti Sol are on a roll.

With a couple of international accolades under their belt already, only the sky could be their limit.

It's easy to see they could still be around, and killing us (like they say in modern music, these days) with good stuff.

The band formed in Nairobi by vocalists Bien-Aimé Baraza, Willis Chimano and Delvin Mudigi in 2005. Initially an a capella group, guitarist Polycarp Otieno joined before they named themselves Sauti. 

Sauti Sol derives its name from two languages. Sauti (Kiswahili for voice/sound), and Sol, the Spanish equivalent for Sun.