With only two weeks into the month of March, Kenyans have been treated to the biggest and most spectacular Kenyan concerts since Beats of the Season — the biggest Kenyan concert to ever happen, back when TheRaverend was still a toddler!
Back to Kenya, Ngoma Festival rivaled that. It was an event that gave Kenyan legends a new lease of life and breathed freshness to how we look at Kenya music industry. Ngoma Festival dispelled all the curses and myths that surround Kenyan music uptake and consumption.
The myth that Kenyans can’t support their own is flaming hot KAK. And what is also sad are claims that they can never perform with a live band or Kenyan musicians lack content meaning you can never have a night of only purely Kenyan music 100% Kenyan!!! Well, all that was dispelled last Saturday night.
A mixture of millenials, wagenge and wahengas come out to support not only Kenyan music but also old school Kenyan music.
That said, it is time for #TheRaverend to speak to all the stakeholders, who for the past 20 years have doubted what I believe is the gem of East Africa — Kenyan music.
For starters, corporates need to recognise and pay respect to the hard work the musicians are putting in our music industry. Together with the promoters, they need to stop short changing our amazing talents!
If Ngoma Festival is anything to go by, it’s time corporates invested heavily on the Kenyan music industry because just paying royalties is not enough!
Kenyans, young and old, are hungry and are appreciating Kenyan talent, and, so, should the big companies who have seriously neglected the industry.
Kenyans artistes on the other hand should not feel threatened by foreign acts but instead all Kenyan acts should up their game and package themselves better to also sell outside the republic.
I don’t have an issue with A Boy From Tandale, for coming to Kenya and dropping his album, I don’t fear the Nigerians or the reggae artists, who are here on a daily basis, compe ni compe, roho safi. All I care about is for the corporates to give the same support and sponsorship they give these foreigners to our very own deserving artistes.
No foreign act should come and run the industry and be the darling of the corporates, while our own are ignored. That’s unacceptable.
The Raverend believes we have dope talent and we can hold our own if all Kenyan artistes stopped with the mediocre sideshows and package themselves better than any of the foreign artists.
Kenyans artistes need to believe in themselves and fans will buy and support their products. They also need to tun their bizniz like one, not like a kiosk.
You cannot be the creative, the manager, the PR person, the marketer, social media executive, the lawyer, the photographer, the broker, the agent and the comments moderator etc. Huwezi.
Kenya is the New York/Hollywood of East Africa: We just need to get our act together and once we achieve that, no foreign artiste will mess with us. Instead, they will beg to be part of the magic that’s is Kenya!
Just like the hand shake between UK and RAO, it’s time we welcome the rest of Africa to come to Kenya and we should not fear nobody because we are Kenya and we are the best in everything that we do!
See you all at the bar as we work to make Kenya greater again.
