Image: Courtesy
Following the recent drama involving Kenya's celebrated boy band,Sauti Sol and presidential aspirant, Raila Odinga of Azimio political party the band has lost 2 thousand subscribers on their YouTube channel.
In the midst of the drama, CEO of the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) Dr. Ezekiel Mutua came out to address the move by some Kenyans to unsubscribe from the group terming it as juvenile.
On his Twitter page, he wrote, " Unsubscribing from @sautisol YouTube is a juvenile reaction. Rudini haraka ( all of you, go back) We may have differences but we must not be blinded by politics to the point of hate. Let's deal with the issues at hand in a civil manner. Sauti Sol remains one of our greatest bands in Kenya's history."
The Azimio party used Sauti Sol's hit song 'Extravaganza,' during the unveiling of their presidential's running mate.
According to Ezekiel, the Azimio la Umoja team had paid Sh562,500 as required by the law. Thus Azimio’s campaign secretariat was within its rights to play the 'Extravaganza' hit song during the unveiling of their party’s presidential running mate.
The band threatened to sue Azimio La Umoja over copyright infringement on their song.
This angered some of the citizens who are die-hard fans of the political group. Following the stance, Sauti Sol ended up losing two thousand subscribers on their Youtube channel.
As well as a lot of backlash from netizens who did not back up their cry for respect for the art.
However, following all this drama Sauti Sol's band member Bien has maintained that the band will not be letting go of the legal battle of copyright infringement between them and Raila Odinga's party Azimio.
Bien went ahead to clarify that he had no grudge with the political party. It was all about respect for the art and artists.
The boy band issued a statement expressing their disappointment in their song being used in a political rally without their consent and clearly distanced themselves from the political party adding that they are not supporting any political party.
Following losing a few of their subscribers, Bien posted on his insta story saying that no one can take away one's gift no matter what.
"Nobody can take your gift away from you. It is yours forever. Anybody who thinks they can is delusional and deeply insecure. Fear no-one. Answer only to your gift."
