Kenyan Gengetone group Ethic has apologised to fans over their latest song, ‘Tarimbo’.
The couple of days old song caused a stir right from the moment it was released last Friday (01.11.19). Led by Kenyan rapper Xtatic, many questioned its lyrics which seemed to advocate for the raping of women.
Through a series of tweets, they stated that they did not intend to objectify women in their songs and they strongly condemned rape. “It has come to our attention that our latest single ‘Tarimbo’ has stirred up mixed reactions and elicited various negative interpretations from different quarters.
“As recording artists, it is our sole duty to entertain our fans and NOT deploy our content to propagate hate against any person, most importantly women,” read a tweet.
Further, they stated that they are remorseful for the reactions the song elicited and maintained that they did not intend to disrespect anyone. “As artists, we are sons to our mothers, brothers to our sisters, uncles to our nieces and friends to our female friends and fans, and it is not in any way our intention to publicize this.”
“As Ethic Entertainment, we are truly remorseful for any dolor caused by the lyrics to our single, and for every single person that was triggered to a displeasing memory or emotion by it, receive our sincere apologies. Rest assured that no disrespect was intended,” said Ethic.
Following the massive uproar from members of the public, the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) boss Ezekiel Mutua banned the song, called for the immediate arrest of the group for promoting violence against women through their music and added he had contacted Google to take down the song which is still up on YouTube with close to a million views.
However, the wording and language in the apology posted on Twitter might be a way of Ethic Entertainment’s management team trying to save face after the blowup. The group recently put up a photo on Instagram with the caption, “wakihate tunapenetrate.”