I love music very much: am eclectic when it comes to music preference. There’s only one genre that I just can’t seem to understand, JAZZ. To me it’s and acquired taste, what with all them funny noises the musicians do between singing and some times closing their eyes and making their face funny too. My brother has tried to teach me some jazz by playing a few notes on his guitar but I still can’t quite get it. I must admit though the Kirk Whalum guy’s CD he gave me is really growing on me.
For one some don’t take good care of themselves. Have you ever been to a Kenyan music concert and after the first song the musician was panting as if he had run for miles? I mean would it kill them to work out once in a while?
Especially for those who music is their sole source of income.
Take care of your voice too .You can’t MC at an event all day then go for an overnight concert, that’s too much for your voice to take! Invest in a good voice coach to help you get even your diction right for crying out loud.
Then there are the interviews ...jeez! Its painful listening to some of them. I remember one musician being asked what genre of music he specialized in and he didn’t know the meaning of ‘genre’.
Do these people even read?
Come on if you intend to take over the world you need to do your research and know your stuff. Read about those who have been there and learn from their mistakes. I would highly recommend biographies too. I swear if I ever have to suffer another interview on telly of a musician putting his hooves in his mouth I will kill my self.
My brother once told me to be an entertainer you need to: do something he cannot do-be creative, tell him something he does not know, make him think for a minute and if all fails make him laugh at least (smart man, I tell you). I like his thinking, I just wish musicians could do this. Have you ever listened to a musician singing so horribly that you knew you wouldn’t attend any of his live performances even if they paid you ?well I have and it really is annoying.
I also don’t buy the am-trying-to be-myself bull some try to sell us. Imagine if some of us went to our bosses and said we won’t follow rules because-we were trying to be our selves (I bet most of us would be unemployed the next day). Sometimes you have follow what’s trending and wow your audience .e.g. I remember in some interview where 50cent was saying the way he had gone to perform his new songs but the audience kept asking for ‘in the club’ because they like it so much and he had to indulge them because that’s what he’s paid to do. So trying to be yourself is cute and all but it don’t sell records.
So sometimes the Kenyan musicians have nice songs and you’re happy to support them, that is until you see the music video and you change your mind. Some try to put nice cars borrowed from mash auto to impress the audience who know very well they can’t afford the car. Makes me want to go settle at the bottom of the ocean. The music videos don’t have to be over complicated people, look at Madtraxx - get down its so simple yet very entertaining. You don’t have to copy western styles to make it in this industry.
Don’t get me started on the ridiculous stage names. I recently heard that there’s a musician in Kenya called Bedbug. There seven kinds of wrong with that name, am not even going to get into it now! There’s a band called six pence none the richer and the story behind the name will blow you away, if not make you love them more.
As much as musicians love music it sometimes good to have other sources of income. Be a good business man too, there a reason why they call it show business. One can make money from other interesting venture like: Liz Ogumbo who is mixing her love for fashion and music, Amani mixing her music and doing commercials, Sanaipei Tande and her love for karaoke,radio presenting and some are doing clothe line etc. At least you have something to fall back on if your album doesn’t sell like you hoped.
As much as I m saying to treat music as a business you need to genuinely love it too. It goes a long way in making your performances more electrifying. Dela on one of the interviews said that for every performance she always makes sure she performs at least one new song. That point right there made me love her even more. This woman love what she does, you can see it in her face when she performs. Believe me if you are faking it the audience will find you out soon.
You need to look good, for real! Your career depends on your looks, am sorry we the audience judge you harshly. You can’t have a bad hair day, because I have never seen anyone in the office having a bad hair day and since you’re a musician 24hrs a day you just cannot have a bad hair day. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune either to look good, especially since we have Ngara where you can go in the evening when the kanjo askaris are not around and wear a large hat to hide your face and shop till you drop.lol
Don’t forget the bogus beefs that they normally have with each other. Seriously! Why cant you just do your thing and forget what the other person is doing, battle it out in your music. Make your music so good that people want to be you jameni. Those beefs are so 90s no one listens to them any more, at least I don’t.
That being said there’s no love lost between me and the Kenyan musicians as I know they have the potential to make it big even outside Kenya. In fact some are even well know outside Kenya than in Kenya (that’s a story for another day). It would be nice to see musicians’ able to live off their music and help grow this struggling industry.
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