Legendary disc jockey DJ Pinye ha some words for Kenyan artistes, the Gengetone-inclined ones to be particular.
The veteran turntablist, who just turned 51, in an interview with a local publication, gave an inside look at what he thinks has been ailing the Kenyan music industry for years one end. He blamed laxity and a nonexistent work ethic on why Kenyan artistes have yet to have a global appeal, unlike their counterparts in other countries. “Something serious needs to happen, these young guys do not want to work…it’s shortcuts all the way, someone like a Diamond needs to come locally and then people realize the work ethic…there is no artist in Kenya who has work ethic like Diamond, then why are we complaining? It means you don’t want to work,” he stated.
He reiterated that Kenyan artistes have it ‘too easy’ and are not about putting the work and are comfortable with just appealing to a local audience. He cited Gengetone as an example, saying it gets no airplay in the biggest African music exporters, South Africa and Nigeria. “People do music for Kenya only yet there’s the internet, the world is so small, you can’t play gengetone outside Kenya , I want you to do a song that will play even in South Africa,” he added.
The once Kenyan music gatekeeper an indisputable pioneer famed for the classic The Beat TV show further faulted the disappearance of music labels and other music structures as contributing to the stagnation of the Kenyan music industry. Using teen crooner Nikita Kering, he quipped: “The problem is that there’s another nineteen-year-old who wants to do what Nikita is doing, so where does Nikita go? There’s nowhere to go, there’s no structure where labels sign you, before we had Ogopa, Calif…when everybody is independent, you’re struggling by yourself.”
He nonetheless is adamant about having positivity in what the future holds for Kenyan music, saying he still is in his mission to oversee its growth and improvement.