Celebrities' arrested development

                             Her career was once up and running

 

 

The pioneers, it seems, are fighting hard to remain relevant in an industry that seems inert and too bottlenecked to allow them inch their way onto the next level. When the lights beam the stage at Walter Sisulu Square, in Kliptown Soweto, South Africa tomorrow night, with sanguinity, hundreds of local music fans will join millions across Africa in cheering the Kenyan music celebrities battling it out in this year's 10th annual Channel O Africa Music Awards.

With their music videos You Guy, Money Lover, Stella Stella Stella, Mtoto, Oya and Hit 'Em Up having been nominated in the awards that have proved elusive to Kenyan singers over the years, P-Unit, Sauti Sol, STL, Victoria Kimani and Xtatic, respectively, will be facing an acid test as they sit at the high table with the other continent’s music giants.

Over the last ten years, top Kenyan artistes have made the South African trip only to turn out spectators with the battle getting narrowed into a West African-versus-South African showdown; the two regions that are arguably Africa’s music bedrock.

It is only loyal to believe that even at the least, one of the eight nominations Kenya has been awarded will win a gong, but by far, it would to be a far fetched dream for anyone to imagine Kenya will steal the show from the two regional arch-rivals whose supporters had no other business — over the last two months — but to massively vote and drum up support for their own while locally fans remained in slumber giving little hoot about their very own nominees.

Lets not whine about Pulsers’ poor voting patterns and the inability of our stars to stir passion among them to vote — for that is not where the issue is.

It is the fatigue of an industry whose growth seems to have stalled with little breathing space being allowed to the many talented stars now suffocating in an arena where pioneers seem to give them no room even as they themselves remain clueless what to do to enhance their static music careers.

In Nigeria, celebrated artistes such as P Square (who will be honoured during tomorrow’s Channel O Music Video Awards) and D’banj have upped their game beyond the continental sphere creating space for their fellow new artistes to grow through homegrown and regional concerts they used to host a few years ago. They have also created mentorship networks for upcoming artistes through their revered stables and further helped package them to ensure continuity. Some of them have even signed their very own and created a management team around them to ensure professionalism with their singing prowess now attracting international attention.

Ironically, P Square started their music career in 2003— many years after some of the known Kenyan celebs who are still looking for shows in ‘market places’ and backstreet county clubs— had established their names.

While our Class of 2000 celebrity is still looking for ‘fix my house rent’ shows in Narok, Voi, Wote and other ‘village towns’, their Nigerian and South African counterparts are minting mega money in Europe and other Western states having upped their game to global levels.

In fact, having reached what seems as their peak and failed to rebrand to jump to the next level, most of the artistes who used to rake in big cash through concerts barely five years ago are finding themselves struggling to get a concert for as little as Sh30, 000 (which they would grab without hesitation, now).

“If I am still looking forward to doing shows which ideally suit upcoming artistes, where will those upcoming artistes perform? As artistes, we must each have a plan and grow from one phase to the other without necessarily blotting the system. This is the only way we will ensure continuity and growth in the Kenyan music scene,” says singer Jaguar, who has now made it his task to nurture new talented artistes.

“It is true that most of the artistes who were very vocal and successful some few years ago have failed to make music progress and found themselves trailing as the new crop of artistes bring in fresh breath in the industry. Most of them are finding it hard to compete here, let alone thinking of how they can ooze continental influence,” remarks the Kipepeo hit maker, noting that this is a very dangerous sign in an industry expected to support the livelihoods of thousands.

Many of our artistes don’t take music as a career. They rarely make projects of their plans and therefore end up living in a vicious hand-to-mouth cycle. And with no managers or even professional advisors surrounding them, they end up stagnant for years.

It is not all about making hit songs and then signing a Sh1 million deal with say Safaricom as many have had such lucrative endorsements, enjoyed fame and fortune and in a short while slumbered back to nothingness.

“As P Unit, we have a very clear accord. For starters, we benchmark our progress every year and set plans on where we want to be the following year. That is why none of our songs resembles any other. You will be so shocked to know that we are not only a singing group but a company where we earn salaries, never determined by the money we make from show,” informs Frasha of P Unit.

"Very few artistes think of having major concerts beyond Nairobi and because of this mediocre thinking, they end up fighting for the few shows available, ignoring the fact that they should have been big time entrepreneurs," he adds.

Gospel artiste Victor Mbuvi, him of the Kwata Kawaya fame, concurs,

"It is not that there is not enough room for everyone to make money through concerts. It is only that we don't seem to have a system of categorising each artiste's level. I honestly believe that the industry is yet to grow in volumes if artistes, especially those who seem to have reached their peak discover who they really are," he remarks.

But there is also the very human challenge of personal greed among stable owners who manage artistes unprofessionally — and for the same greed factor — fail to guide their signed artistes to attain new career highs.

Some of Nairobi's leading music stables have killed artistes’ careers by keeping them at levels where they control every aspect of their life, fearing that should they make the great breakthrough, they would no longer seek to be (mis) managed by them.

Some have even gone ahead to sabotage their musicians by keeping them in limbo, not releasing their recorded works while others charge volumes for commissioned events and pocket the lions’ share leaving their artistes with the pocket change.