ABSTRACT
This chapter interrogates the possible role of Kalenjin popular music in the construction, performance, and dissemination of violence. It proceeds from the supposition that popular music has been harnessed by composers not only to fan ethnic hatred, but also used as a means of memorizing perceived transgressions against the Kalenjin community. The chapter examines how the supposed transgressions against the Kalenjin nation are structured by popular musicians to arouse and direct primitive violent energies towards perceived aggressors, whom they perceive as the ‘other’. Primary emphasis is laid on how music texts are constructed to prime its potential listeners towards violence. The chapter locates the specific musicians within the physical Kalenjin territory in an effort to determine if the sentiments expressed are localized or widespread throughout the Kalenjin terrain. It contends that vernacular radio stations play a role in popularizing and disseminating lyrics with potentially violent content implicitly legitimizing violence.
