Cabu Gah: Why is the entire Jamaican music industry suddenly coming to Kenya?

Orville Richard, popularly known as Shaggy, was flying high with his sensational hits "It Wasn't Me" and his arrival shook the country - ladies went bonkers, the media was thrown into a silly frenzy, dudes scrambled around to find their best look for the concert and the elderly sat back, aghast, and watched as the madness unfolded.

Shaggy's arrival created a massive pandemonium and, on the day of his arrival to Kenya, all hell broke loose.

It was Shaggy's first tour of Africa and he chose Kenya as his first country.

The concert day was total chaos as thousands jammed the carnivore grounds to watch as this gruff-voiced Jamaican lothario tore up the roof and left crowds panting for more.

Fast forward to 2004 and yet another Jamaican superstar was on his way to Kenya.

Sean Paul, just like his counterpart and contemporary Shaggy, created the same commotion and anarchy his predecessor had caused - or even worse.

Beenie Man had come earlier too and had ladies, including renown radio ladies working at top radio stations, fawning over him and scrambling to take a photo.

They all knew who had the keys to the Beamer.

Since then, Jamaican stars have made a beeline for Kenya and especially in this Twitter era, even jumping online to solicit for shows for themselves.

Over the last week, dance hall sensation Konshens and singer Shensea, both hugely popular in Kenya, have gone on Twitter to create a buzz around themselves and teasing Kenyans with a possible arrival.

As usual, the fans reacted with glee.

Kenya has traditionally been extremely welcoming to the Jamaican music fraternity and have always filled up their shows to the brims.

Years ago, Alaine's concert at City Cabanas, Mombasa Road, caused such messy traffic jam hundreds of motorists ended up stuck along the road as throngs of hyped-up fans struggled to access the venue and jam along to "All or Nothing".

Jamaican artists have such a mesmerizing pull on Kenyans not even the Chris Brown concert elicited the type of mayhem that normally follows the expected arrival of a top Jamaican singing star.

The love seems to go both ways as most of these Kingston artists seem to have found their softest spot yet in Africa and can't seem to resist the hypnotizing allure of Nairobi.

Morgan Heritage, the legendary reggae family band, were reportedly so enamored with Kenya, they camped here for months long after their concert had been a wrap.

Word had it that they were even planning to buy property in Naivasha.

Such is the bewildering romance between Kenya and Jamaican reggae stars.

"I guess it goes way back to the Shaggy days, the Sean Paul days. These artists were treated so well in Kenya, received so well and pulled off such successful shows that they must have spread word back home about Kenya and every artist was also curious to try this country. Kenyans also have a natural love for dancehall and reggae and they will gladly pay thousands to attend these shows, " Soila Cole, an events organizer behind the Etana concert, told Citizen Digital.

"Etana was here in 2019 and she came back less than 24 months later. No other artists do that. Jamaican artists will come back year after year. I guess that's part of what makes Kenyans love them. I guess Kenyans can tell that these Jamaican stars genuinely love Kenya and that's why fans are always ready to show love back, " she adds.

When Shenseea, the Jamaican dancehall princess tweeted about her plans to tour Kenya, the tweet garnered over 7,000 likes in hours. It now stands at a staggering 12,000 likes.

"It's all about the Kenyan dance culture. Kenyans love to dance and there's no better music to dance to than Jamaican music. It's also widely popular across all spectrums... It cuts across the ghettos, the uptown, the young and also the not so young. Look at our political rallies for instance, the politicians always blast reggae music in their rallies. It's a national genre and Jamaican artists know that too, "DJ Juan, Supremacy Sounds co-founder, says.

As Kenyans wait for Konshens, Shenseea, Popcaan and Charly Black to land, the hype around the stars continues to build up, the anticipation continues to soar and the buzz couldn't get hotter.

They may not even have dropped new music lately, they may not even have hit the headlines lately and may not even have dropped a scandal lately, but the moment a Jamaican star announces their intention to visit, the whole nation stands still.

For sure, thank God fi di gyal dem.