So they aren't Kenyan, after all, but they sound just as good, and they make the fans just as crazy as if they had been born and raised here.

Deux Vultures of the Monalisa and Teremka fame, are Tanzanians; and Chameleon is a Ugandan. But their Sheng can hold its own in the company of any Kenyan version.

By quickly learning and infusing Sheng, an urban blend of Kiswahili, English and Kenyan vernaculars, into their music, many artistes from Tanzania and a few from Uganda are being received in Kenya as though they were home.

Although they have not been recognised for their contribution, Tanzanian artistes have been putting their stamp on Kenyan music and deserving all the attention and praise they have been getting for their new style, known as "Bongo Flavour".

Names like his TID (Top In Dar), Jahmo, Gangwe Mob, Mad Ice, Mr Nice tracks like Siamini, Zeze, Girlfriend, Baby Gal, Kidalipo are on many adoring fans' lips and have become household anthems, dislodging favourite Kenyan artistes.

A notable sign of the immense popularity these groups enjoy was when Tanzanian sensation TID came to Kenya for performances. Even though TID’s tour of the country was mostly dogged by controversy with the climax being when he fell short of what the Kenyan fans were expecting and angered many of them and failing to foot a bill at a Mombasa Hotel, the chord with which his songs have struck with Kenyans is still unbroken.

The Tanzanian (or Bongo) musicians have also been placed among other Kenyan celebrities like the late E-Sir, Nameless, Nonini, Redsan, Wyre, Kalamashaka, K-South Flava, Big Pin, Nazizi and the rest who have gained popularity from their brilliant tracks.

The local music charts usually have more than three tracks from Bongo artistes, with the two top slots mostly being occupied by Tanzanians.

Most of those who call the radio stations to vote in the songs say the Bongo groups have executed a "major entertainment coup" on the local scene because of their unique singing technique.

"A website, www.Bongo Explosion, is regularly visited by Kenyans who want to know more about their music and when they will release their next track. How do we know they are Kenyans?"

Bongo Flavour fan Dedan Miricho says Kenyans know more about Tanzanian music than they do about what their fellow countrymen have to offer.

Fakil Liwali, the Homeboyz Events manager, says the Tanzanians are more original and diverse in the issues they tackle something which is very different from Kenya.

"In Kenya, when someone sings about going to a party at the Carnivore [Restaurant], everybody else follows suit and now we have over 10 tracks talking about having fun at the Carnivore," he says.

"The Bongo songs are mostly filled with life experience tracks, which brings humour to the tracks," Liwali says.

The Tanzanians have a message in all their songs and they hardly use explicit language – a habit most Kenyan musicians are still to cure.

Liwali also attributes the success of the Tanzanians to the exposure they have been receiving on East African Radio and TV.

"The East African stations are playing a major role in the growth of their artiste’s music and this should be emulated to help our very own."

But not everybody agrees that the Tanzanian musicians are popular because of any reason of superiority.

Bluu Zebra producer Tedd Josiah blames it all on anti-Kenyan-music radio presenters, whom he says are supporting the blend more than they are local talent.

"These (radio presenters) are pro-anything that is not Kenyan or to be precise, wholly anti-Kenyan music and they are okay with that."

"Radio presenters favour these guys (from Tanzania) and leave us out in the cold to struggle to be heard in our our own country. This is very unfair and should stop," he adds.

Josiah, who spurred the rap duo Gidi Gidi and Maji Maji to fame last year, says the Tanzanian blend of music is better than what Kenyans offer.

"Nobody can compare our music to theirs, ours is superior and that’s a fact. So when someone tells you that Tanzanian music is better, he or she is lying."

Josiah says Kenyan presenters do not support local artistes, and that is why foreign music is doing well even in unfamiliar territory.

"It’s only that we don’t have exposure and the presenters who are supposed to help the young artistes are helping a different camp," says the disillusioned music producer.

R&B sensation Kevin Wyre says, however, that Tanzanian musicians have introduced their own style of music which Kenyans heard for a first time and loved it.

"That’s the trend in Kenya. Anything unusual, they welcome it and it becomes a big hit, but unfortunately it soon dwindles and is forgotten," says Wyre, who is Josiah's deputy.

Wyre is riding high with his new track, Usuhuba, and adds: "The fact that the Tanzanians' local FM and television stations are giving them a lot of airtime and assistance unlike in Kenya where artistes have to struggle for their music to be played."

Tanzanian musicians are said to release more music videos than their Kenyan counterparts.

"Going by that, these people will continue rising high while we continue going down," Wyre said.

David Mathenge, alias Nameless, also acknowledges that Bongo Flavour is sweeping across the country like never before. The new style and the enthusiasm it is generating is uplifting for Kenyan musicians, he says. He, too, like Wyre, believes the attention Bongo is receiving is based on its novelty, and that with time, fans will return to where they belong. There is nothing to worry about, he adds, as Kenyans too have penetrated the Tanzanian market.

"Lets welcome them like they have welcomes us in their country without fears that they are going to stage a coup in the Kenyan entertainment industry," he says.

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