Elusive continental fame for Kenyan celebs

Stevens Muendo and Caroline Nyanga

It was a rare phenomenon when three of Kenya’s top musicians Nameless, Wahu and Amani flew to Mombasa for a special meet the fans tour.

The trio were at Black Havana where hundreds of enthusiastic fans had thronged for a treat of a lifetime. And what a breathtaking concert it was!

Wahu

Compared to South Africa and Nigeria who have been dominating the continental music awards, it is believed that Kenyan artistes still have an uphill task before they can break this trend.

"Kenyan remains the pride of East Africa. But our artistes are yet to conquer Africa. We have numerous nominations in the MTV Awards and maybe this is our time to prove that we have come of age. It would be humiliating to have our stars beaten on home turf," says Steve Ogesa, who has been behind MTV Awards with Zain voting activations all over Africa.

"I have been around Africa and I can tell you that people respect the Kenyan nominees. But even then, how do we expect them to ever win if we don’t vote for them," he notes. "Artistes in other countries like Nigeria have loyal fans who vote for them in large numbers. We need to notice that the more wins in continental awards, the more the continental recognition and growth in our industry."

Curving their niche into a wider voting block and music market, the Kenyan nominees argue that they have done everything necessary to win that much needed continental voting appeal. The top three have recorded hit songs with artistes from Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa a thing which has popularised them all over Africa.

"I think awards in general are a hoax. They are usually controlled by a certain group of people within the entertainment industry who know nothing about music and are just out to put food on their tables at the expense of good artistes," argues Abbas, laying the blame squarely on individuals made to sensitise the public on the voting criteria. syas Genge artiste Nonini.

"In my opinion, no matter how hard Kenyans may try to vote they will not compete fairly with countries like Nigerian or Congo due to population," add Nonini.

MTV Kenyan artiste representative Arthur K disagrees.

"That is how people have been looking at it and I think that is where we have been going wrong. The fact that Nigeria has a population of 150 million compared to Kenya’s 30 million can work for Kenya’s advantage. If our voting has a higher percentage in terms of our population as compared to Nigeria’s, then we stand a better chance of winning.

"Lately, Kenyans have been voting in big numbers and Wahu’s win has been a great inspiration. We have been advertising and spearheading voting campaigns. We stand a high chance of winning awards this year," he concludes.

However, Nonini still refutes this fact.

"Kenyans are not used to the culture of voting when it comes to international awards. Some people think the nominations are biased. Seeing the same names being nominated year in year out despite immense talent out there is discouraging," he says.

Another singer, Chizi goes on to back some of Nonini’s sentiments saying:

"The fact that Kenyans don’t keep up with the voting criteria makes it difficult for them to vote. Meanwhile, I strongly believe we are yet to get our best representatives as far as artistes go to do us proud by putting Kenya on the world map each time they are nominated."

Gospel Ragga artiste Rufftone thinks that most artistes have failed to create a fanbase of loyal fans. Such a fanbase would come in handy when the need for votes arises.

"Most of our fans don’t feel the personal connection with artistes and when it comes to voting, they don’t really feel obligated to do so," he notes.

That not withstanding, Kenya’s music industry has grown in leaps and bounds over the last five years and local stars have been getting recognition from all over the continent.

It however remains the prerogative of Kenyans to decide whether our nominees will carry the day when the big stage comes home in two weeks time. Over to you voters!