How Firirinda/Firirida changed Kenyan music Industry

Kenyan music has largely been influenced by Tiktok. Firirida/Firirinda has not been left behind. Firirinda / Firirida has largely changed how music is pursued in Kenya today. It is a testimony music never gets old. Generations after generations but good music still stands out. Kenyan artists had to witness this new wave brought by “Firirida/Firirinda”. In this article, I’m going to show you how “Firirida/Firirinda” changed the music industry.
What does Firirinda mean?
Firirinda simply means “Free Rinda” or “Free Dress” . The word Firirinda is taken from the word swahili and kikuyu language firi to mean ‘free’ while rinda to mean ‘dress’. So when you combine the word free+rinda you get Firirinda or Firirida. The pronunciation matters depending on the dialect used. For example people from urban areas pronounce it as “Firirinda” while those from rural areas like to pronounce it as “Firirida” ignoring the letter ‘n’.
Tiktok and Firirinda
In February 2021 we had one of the greatest song to go viral in Kenya for the first time thanks to TikTok. As far as music is concerned.
How Old Is Firirida?
In 2021, Firirinda/Firirida is 35 years old. The song was released on 1986 by Dick Njoroge also known as Dick Wamunyonyi. The song was usually sang on ruracio’s (Kikuyu cultural pre-weddings).