Lewd, vulgur content is now mainstream Photo: Courtesy

It has been long coming.

Now, the verdict has been delivered and war has been declared in a new twist of events that has put the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) at loggerheads with local celebrities whose art is said to be brushing with the law.

When Blaqy’s Show Me and Money Maker videos were released two years ago, there was an outcry from the public that caught the attention of KFCB that immediately banned the songs.

In particular, the Money Maker video had graphical visual illustrations of the popular video vixen Rispher Faith twerking her derriere so sexually suggestively that one would confuse the video to those ratchet sickening videos only produced by Jamaican dancehall musicians.

Since then, Blaqy has disappeared from the music scene. Then came Sauti Sol’s Nishike video, a raunchy sex-idolising hit-up clip that caused hit waves in the Kenyan entertainment scene as it split fans into two divides with some raising an outcry about the suggestive near nude pictures while others defended it as a great work of creative art.

However, probably the most memorable of these was the 2011 Swaggerific Concert at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, a dancehall show that left even the most bold shaken.

The glorification of sex in music Photo: Courtesy

With top Jamaican dancehall singers Busy Signal, Ding Dong and RDX all paraded to share the stage that Saturday night, Nairobi was no doubt marked for a dancehall Easter blast.

But then, what had begun as a decent show was transformed into a raunchy act as skimpily dressed female fans, too eager to impress the Jamaicans, exposed more flesh than anticipated, almost marring the event.

At the height of the concert, fans were treated to disgusting scenes as scores of half-naked girls went sexually explicit with RDX and Ding Dong on stage, crooning to the vulgar laced Bend Over hit among others.

The scene was horrific as obscenity ruled the dimly lit stage with girls, one of whom said to have been a minor, got raunchy with the singers before hundreds of fans who had thronged the venue.

One after the other, the girls took to the stage and did the popular Bend Over dance move with their backside and front explicitly exposed to the revellers.

The musicians danced, urging the girls on with sexual strokes, caressing them to lovemaking positions in complete disregard of morality. It looked like a scene cut from an X-rated adult movie.

Most of the video clips recorded by the media could not run on TV. It was also a hot potato for YouTube. A video clip posted on the site was ripped off a few hours after it was posted with YouTube claiming it violated its policy on nudity and sexual content.

 Half the pictures our paparazzi shot make an uncomfortable view even for an adult viewer.
There is nothing new about Kenyan musicians following what seems to be a global trend of using what KFCB has now termed as “proliferation of immoral music videos and offensive stage names”.

During a Press conference convened by the KFCB CEO Ezekiel Mutua last Sunday, the classification body raised concerns about lewd videos, offensive stage names and obscene lyrics being applied by local artistes to boost their popularity.

He singled out a number of vernacular Kamba musicians on which a study had been carried after what he termed as an outcry from members of the community over their being ‘unbecoming’.

“The survey confirmed that some musicians are indeed using offensive stage names to attract following from young people in the community.

Most complaints by members of the community regard a deliberately graphic glorification and glamorisation of irresponsible sexual behaviour, consumption of alcohol and drug abuse, which continues to be promoted as fashionable among the youth in the region,” Mutua remarked.

“The music has lowered moral boundaries in the name of rights, democracy and freedoms, leading to unprecedented exposure of children and youth to adult content, negatively affecting and influencing young people into crimes and other vices adversely affecting the community,” argued Mutua.

He went on to say that the research found that the songs in question not only celebrate promiscuity, but in many instances denigrate women as objects of sex, creating a misleading impression that men who thrive on sexual escapades are heroes worth being idolised and celebrated.

“Some of the most popular Kamba secular music artistes use derogatory stage names that are not only attractive to the young people, but grossly demeaning to women. These include Katombi, Maima, Vuusya Uungu, among other offensive names.

“Some of the most popular songs in Ukambani contain extremely lewd and vulgar lyrics that are unsuitable for general audiences during the watershed period.

 Nearly all the music videos reviewed contained grotesque and suggestive dancing styles, with some containing explicit sexual scenes.

The majority of the music videos present semi-nude female dancers, with extremely suggestive sexual gyrations,” he noted adding that the majority of the songs reviewed openly showcase and glorify the use of alcohol, drugs and other substances, including marijuana (bhang).

The board has since issued a 14-day ultimatum to all the concerned to comply with the law. The blacklisted musicians are required to cease using obscene language and offensive stage names, and recall all the content from distribution, broadcasting, and exhibition. The said content has already been banned and will not air in public places including bars, restaurants, public transport vehicles, radio and TV stations as well online.

“The board is in deliberation with its lawyers and will contact all the musicians suspected of breaching the law.

Owners of these public facilities violating this guideline, will face prosecution, and will be liable for a fine not less Sh200,000, a sentence of five years or both,” warned Mutua.

This move has attracted both praise and criticism in equal measure with some claiming that music fans had the last voice on the content artistes released as they are the ultimate consumers.

“If most of these music is meant to be played in night clubs and other places where children are not allowed to access and where the life is all about that, then what sense does it make to ban this music?

Who are we cheating with this seemingly popularity move,” wondered DJ Ezz, further claiming that most of the revellers who make DJ music requests in the clubs love most of the said vulgar songs.

“I don’t see how I can stop playing what the fans want. For example, when there was public outcry about the Sauti Sol Nishike song, funny enough, this was the single that was on top of DJs play list everywhere in urban Kenya.

This now seems to be a war on what the law is pushing for against what the people want,” he added.

Still most of the videos that media houses have declined giving airplay due to their lewd or obscene content are finding their space online as artistes outsmart censorship bodies in the game.