Raphael Kipchambai arap Tapotuk (1937–2007), widely known simply as Kipchamba, was a highly influential Kenyan singer-songwriter and musician, often celebrated as the "father of Kalenjin music." Born in Kapsirich village, Bomet County, in 1937, his formal education at Kaplong Intermediate School was cut short in 1955 due to a lack of school fees. This early life led him to a European settler farm in Njoro, Nakuru County, where he learned to play the acoustic guitar, adapting his earlier knowledge of the traditional Kalenjin string instrument, the chemonge. This blending of traditional musical sensibilities with modern instrumentation was foundational to his career.
Kipchamba’s musical career took off after he formed the Koilong'et Band with friends in the late 1950s, a group that recorded at Chandarana Records in Kericho. He specialized in a style of vernacular rhumba sung primarily in the Kipsigis dialect of the Kalenjin language. His songs were distinguished by their educational and pedagogical content, serving as a social and historical commentary on topics like culture, politics, education, and the economy, rather than focusing on straightforward romance. Over his half-century career, Kipchamba composed an estimated over 800 tracks, using Kalenjin oral techniques, proverbs, and idioms to narrate the history and culture of his people. He passed away on April 7, 2007, leaving a vast legacy that continues to define Kalenjin classical music.