https://twitter.com/CampMulla/status/906783380313919488

Nearly twelve years ago, the widespread popularity of terrestrial broadcasts like MTV started the Nigerian music renaissance that spread across the continent. Over the next few years, the continent witnessed the rise of more terrestrial broadcasts with programming aimed at grooming young Africans with Western urban culture. By the end of 2000s, Afropop had unarguably come a long way from 2Face’s internationally-acclaimed “African Queen” ballad to D’banj’s collaboration with Snoop Dogg, amidst a potential contract with Kanye West amonsgt other developments. African music was progressing on a scale that spread across a wide range of genres, with new thought leaders pushing further and even beyond where their forerunners had never imagined.

Around this same era, Kenyan quartet Camp Mulla, emerged as the most progressive alternative hip-hop groups on the continent. The group’s influence was especially wide-spread thanks to the success of their biggest single “Party Don’t Stop” across Africa and beyond. Its funky urban style and incorporation of some of the tropes of easy-to-consume pop that make mainstream Billboard chart toppers have drawn parallels between the quartet and Black Eyed Peas. Camp Mulla was one of the most youthfully-appealing groups out of Africa, at the time thanks to a band register of Kus Ma, Shappaman, lead singer, Karun and Thee MC Africa, all four in their late teens and early twenties. But the group’s forward-thinking innovative edge is perhaps the strongest indicator of why their return is so elemental.

When the group was freshly formed in 2009, Camp Mulla was one of the first African groups to primarily use digital distribution as a means of getting their music to audiences all over the world. Platforms like SoundClick, Reverbnation and SoundCloud were used as promotional and distribution platforms for the group’s earliest singles, “Party Don’t Stop” and “Addicted”. With the added bonus of branding through good music video execution thanks to collaborative work with Clarence Peters, Camp Mulla leveraged the first benefits of a digital generation for mainstream success, by extending reach beyond borders while producing distinctively good pop music.

Before the group’s split in 2013, Camp Mulla became one of the most influential music groups on the continent. They have opened for J.Cole, and a host of Nigeria’s biggest pop stars including, Davido, P-Square and Flavour. Unarguably Camp Mulla inspired a slew of younger generation boy bands and hip-hop groups like LOS and DRB Las Gidi amonsgt others. According to archives, despite the group’s stellar run, Camp Mulla’s split was caused by a multiplex of issues, including internal friction between members and most notably, the decision of lead singer Karun to leave for school in the United States.

It’s been nearly five years since but over the weekend, Camp Mulla’s on-stage reunion became the highlight of a concert headlined by Tekno. That their appearance became the most talked about occurrence at a concert where Tekno who has been on a winning streak for the last two years, was expected to close, indicates how vibrant the cult following that trailed the group to success has been over the years, despite the hiatus. It may be a long shot to dream but perhaps seeing Camp Mulla’s reunion may just signal hope that some of the generation of hip-hop groups they inspired may return to the studio (Yes, I am looking at you, L.O.S.).

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