“You are being taken for fools… na mnakubali” is what artist Steph Kapela thinks of the Kenyan music fanbase.
On his TikTok account, Kapela posted a video explaining why Nigerian and Tanzanian music is doing extremely well in Kenya.
Kapela highlights that Tanzanian and Nigerian music does well in Kenya at the expense of Kenyan artists and fans.
Is Bongo or Afrobeat better?
Kapela explains that Kenyans are being gaslit and they are not aware of what really is taking place in the music industry.
Additionally, he elaborates that Nigerian and Tanzanian artists gang up and raise “Marketing” money to pay for airplay in Kenya.
Consequently, Kapela mentions big media platforms which take this money to play Nigerian and Tanzanian music tracks on rotation.
In his breakdown, he continues that the Kenyan audience will naturally love the Nigerian and Tanzanian artists instead.
This phenomenon can be attributed to the heavy rotation cycle their songs get over Kenyan songs.
Kepela call out event organisers
With Kenyans listening to Diamond and Ruger on rotation, events and concert organisers will chart the same artists who will make back their “advertising” money and much more.
Additionally, with four to five or so concerts, Kapela explains that Bongo and Afrobeat artists make obscene profits thus hurting Kenyan artists.
Kapela explained that it is not that Tanzanian or Nigerian music and artists produce bad music rather they have an unfair competitive edge.
Consequently, this edge is because of Kenya airplay platforms that take money over supporting Kenyan art and Culture.
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What Kapela was explaining
What Steph Kapella was talking about is the Payola culture in radio play and the music industry.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, Payola is “a secret payment to someone for doing something illegal in business”
Payola is synonymous with music airplay globally dating as far back as the early 50’s in America.
However, Payola was observed in Kenya from the mid-70s down to the early 2000s in Kenya.
Kenyan producers are aware of this phenomenon but there’s a lack of proper structure to ensure Kenya music competes on equal grounds.
In an interview, Kenyan Producer Motif Di Don shared that a similar model can be adopted but not without systems.
