Tabu Osusa
{{short description|Kenyan music producer}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Tabu Osusa
| image = TABU OSUSA.jpg
| caption = Tabu Osusa in Nairobi, April 2018
| image_size =
| birth_name = Tabu Osusa
| alias =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1954|07|21|df=y}}
| birth_place = Mirogi, Nyanza Province, Kenya
| death_date =
| genre = Funk, Benga music, African Music
| occupation = Record producer
| years_active = 1974–present
| label = Ketebul Music
| website = {{URL|http://www.ketebulmusic.org/}}
}}
Tabu Osusa (born 21 July 1954) is a Kenyan author and music producer, and the founder of Ketebul Music.{{cite web|url=http://www.singingwells.org/11-04-02-blog-7-from-kenya/|title=Meet the team from Ketebul Music - Singing Wells|website=www.singingwells.org}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/magazine/434746-616094-eadnu5/index.html|title=East Africans 'unfit' for hall of fame|publisher=}}
Career
In 1974 Osusa decided to travel the DRC then Zaire, settling in Barumbu Kinshasa where he was first introduced to music by the Kenyan saxophonist Ben Nicholas. Osusa returned to Kenya in 1977 and briefly joined the band Les Kinois. Since then, Osusa has been a composer, recording artist, songwriter, promoter, band manager and producer.
In 2007, Tabu Osusa founded Ketebul Music. He is the acting director of the organisation, assisted by some people with varied knowledge and skills in the wider field of arts and culture. The chairman of Ketebul Music is the kenyan cartoonist Maddo.
In 2014, Tabu Osusa with Ketebul Music was appointed by the Smithsonian Folkways to select artists and co-produce the albums African Rhythms: Songs from Kenya{{cite web|url=https://folkways.si.edu/music-of-kenya-and-ketebul-music/music/playlist/smithsonian|title=Music of Kenya from Smithsonian Folkways and Ketebul Music - Smithsonian Folkways|website=Smithsonian Folkways Recordings}}
Tabu Osusa was the lead author of Shades of Benga: The Story of Popular Music In Kenya 1946-2016. The book published in August 2017 traces the origins of Kenya's popular music to the end of the Second World War to date.{{cite web | url=https://www.voaafrica.com/a/4121890.html | title=Shades of Benga - Music Time in Africa }}{{cite web |url=https://allevents.in/nairobi/shades-of-benga-photo-exhibition-concert-and-book-activation/1938275986446145 |title=Shades of Benga Photo Exhibition, Concert & Book Activation |date= |website=allevents.in}}
In 2016 he was nominated Five Music Rights Champion by the International Music Council{{Cite web|url=http://www.imc-cim.org/news-imc/imc-news/3708-dame-evelyn-glennie-ramy-essam-and-tabu-osusa-nominated-imc-five-music-rights-champions.html|title=Dame Evelyn Glennie, Ramy Essam and Tabu Osusa nominated IMC Five Music Rights Champions|website=International Music Council}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Kenya topics}}
{{Music of Africa}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osusa, Tabu}}
Category:Kenyan record producers
Category:People from Nyanza Province