Kenya’s Gospel Industry is dominated by two scintillating showstoppers… Bahati and Willy Paul; The two whizkids who stormed into the industry with nothing more than a catchy tune and a sizzling voice. And took over. Completely.
No Gospel artist has quite managed to hypnotize the masses in the manner that Bahati and Willy Paul have… Since their entry into this lucrative industry,run by not-so-righteous cartels and that mints millions per month, Bahati and Willy Paul, these ghetto kids with a past so eerily similar and a story so uniquely alike, have mastered the art of endearing themselves to the public by, over and over, dishing out hit song after hit song, playing the ‘I grew up poor but I made it’ card, aligning themselves to the King makers and, consistently, orchestrating trivial scandals and attention-grabbing antics to keep them in the news and keep their stories on heavy rotation on Kenyan blogs. And they’ve succeeded… In not just rising to the very top of the Gospel food chain but also ensuring that they remain indispensable and, in Willy Paul’s case especially, invincible. And that’s quite a feat… Especially coming from post-teenage,resource-strapped Church crooners.
Aided by popular Gospel DJs and influential Industry cartels, Bahati and Willy Paul have finally come of age… But even so, the struggle, especially amongst themselves, and their not-so-grown up fans, is still real.
They both sing alike… Some sort of Bongo mish-mash with a smattering of not-so-intelligent Swahili sanifu, a similar whiny singing tone, similar pop beat, simpler composition style, similar musical themes and similar countenance.
Earlier this year, Bahati even went on one very publicized Social media rant to lash out at his arch-rival Willy Paul branding him a thief,a crafty crook and a dishonest ‘friend’ and we all know how that played out.
Months down the line, it doesn’t seem like these two have buried the hatchet… Their very public PR photo-Ops notwithstanding.
But really… Who is THE BOSS? who truly calls the shots-or deserves to call them? Whose the OG? Whose the Numero Uno? Just who shines brightest between the two? Well, let’s see….
IMAGE
Willy Paul
Even though his image is not very original,and even though it still bears a very heavy teenage vibe and betrays a very prominent high-school hangover, Willy Paul has quite the image. He is fashionable-though not original. Has a trendy hairstyle that is easily imitable and that sure blows girls away, has quite the taste in shoes-Jordans mostly-and is known to don some very sleek tuxedos too. His biggest downside, however, is that he still wears earrings… Or ear studs. 50 years after Independence. Fail. And ummm, those Burna Boy-esque fake leather jumpsuits and pants…Korogosho.
Bahati
The boy’s got quite a sexy hair do(no homo)… A well-manicured mesh of short locks that sit atop his head and bring out the full glamor in him. He’s also known to wear some very stylish jumpers and branded hoodies. Also, he’s big on shoes… Nice cools sneakers. And, unlike Willy Paul, his fashion sense appears a little original and unpretentious. He, judging from his social media postings, is very image savvy. It doesn’t hurt to add that he knows just how mesmerizing his smile is-to the girls, the girls, NOT ME! And is also known to pull that baller image with his headphones constantly hanging on his neck. Win.
COMPOSITION
Willy Paul
He was once accused by Bahati of stealing his music but I call bullshit! Willy Paul, to me, doesn’t need to steal anyone’s music, not especially someone with such wanting composition skills as Bahati. Willy is a master composer… He is, however, notorious for plagiarizing stuff and ruthlessly sampling other people’s work and passing it off as his own but even then, he manages to maneuver around the stolen idea and restructure it into something uniquely his. Almost seamlessly. His lyrics are, to be honest, almost always crap, but he manages to sing them well. And cover up the absolute stupidity of his wanting songwriting. He has a tendency to repeat a line or verse over and over but his choruses carry the day most of the time. His songs are also very catchy and his energy is legendary. His beats? Awesome! Perfect for any party, any season. Win.
Bahati
For someone who claims that his music suffers thievery, he does very little to convince us that it’s WORTH stealing. Bahati’s composition skills, if he has any, are nothing to write home about. He’s a wanting composer. With dreary, whiny lyrics, repetitive themes, monolithic tones and monotonous sound. And even when he does something new, it’s never really new… Or worth the wait. His songwriting skills? Absolutely minimal. He can really do with a new composer. Really.
VOICE
Willy Paul
This kid has THE BEST voice in this while goddam industry! It’s powerful, rich,versatile,commanding,catchy,clean,booming and totally attention-grabbing. You will know Willy Paul has the BEST voice especially when he is making an intro in his songs… You get the feeling that Willy Paul is the BEST in songs like Kitanzi, Sitolia, Vigelegele and Tam Tam. Sweet,succulent, juicy and mesmerizing is his voice… It blends so well with the booming beats, washes down so well with the instruments and comes so much alive. In so many ways. Good Lord!
Bahati
Hmmmm… I loved his voice projection in Barua. And he didn’t sound so bad in Lover either. But truth be told, Bahati’s voice still needs some serious work. It’s weak, not-so-commanding,paltry and rather immature. But maybe it’s his age … Maybe. Sometimes the beats are bigger than his voice and when doing a party song, his voice falters away… Weakened and swallowed up. It needs to grow. He needs work. Pronto
PR SKILLS
Willy Paul
Willy has NO PR skills. His life is a complete disaster… With scandal after scandal, drama after drama and a very poor way of weaving his embattled way out of the mess. Willy has pathetic communication skills and he’s said to be notoriously big-headed. His TV interviews, too,always make him look worse than he already does. And no matter what he does, he is always so easy to loathe. And hard to embrace. Oh! What a mess!
Bahati
Everyone loves Bahati. On the surface, he appears like the sweetest thing ever. He has an ever present smile, appears to be in touch with his fans, manages to make himself look like the victim all the time, pulls off a very convincing ‘I am lovable’ image and appears to be absolutely harmless and genial. People who’ve actually met him swear he’s the most polite and humble of souls… Oh! What a sweet lil angel! Who doesn’t want to eat him up? Who!!? Plus he adopted two kids…And he reminds us of that activity every 15 seconds. Awww-fuckin’-wwww.
SONGS
Willy Paul
Every song that King Willy ever did, was an instant hit. And not just because it received mad rotation from biased DJs, in whose cliques he belonged,but because this brother is dangerously gifted at penning hits, crafting crazy choruses, belting out catchy tunes and conjuring up magical melodies. Willy is a genius. And that explains why two of his songs have garnered over a Million views EACH on YouTube(Sitolia/Tam Tam). His duets with Gloria Muliro, especially,are masterpieces. The kid’s dangerous. Michael Jackson dangerous.
Bahati
The ONLY Bahati song I thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed was Lover… Despite the absurd theme and awkward title. It was well written, arranged and sang… The beat, too, was a beast. Barua wasn’t so bad either… The video, to be honest, deserved whatever award it won. Classic. Most of his compositions though are, ummm, I’d rather stop here. Really. There is a lot of work to be done here. A lot.
FANDEMONIUM
Willy Paul
Fandemonium is basically the aspect of having mad, supportive club of diehard fans ala Chris Brown or Justin Bieber. And Willy Paul, even though he is somewhat invincible and unbreakable, still hasn’t managed to turn around his fans into diehards. Yes, he’s loved. Big time. And adored by thousands of panty less 16-year old girls but still, it hasn’t quite elevated him to the King Of The Fandemonium level that he should be at. On his Facebook page, you can see him get jeered at and insulted and mocked by hundreds of disgruntled fans for stuff he’s said, done or posted. But with an ego like his and a character that rotten, it’s hard to be a people’s darling. Hard.
Bahati
He’s got the sweetest, most supportive gang of fanatic fans you would ever need. They’d die for him, they swear by his name, they support him to the kilt and they’re fiercely defensive of him. He has his own little army. An unbreakable army. A dedicated army. All for him. Loyal as hell. Keep up.
FINANCIAL SUCCESS
Willy Paul
He’s been on a roll… Ever since he started out. He does big-budget, high-quality music videos flaunting his wealth, fine life,classy cars and flashy lifestyle. He even, for some three months or so, toured the US last year and,it is said,he made some serious bucks. Hell,he even jetted back with a very heavy appetite to show off the crisp dollars and, with it, pissing off pretty much everyone. But still, not enough money to trounce the double winner of the Groove Award for Best Male Artist.
Bahati
Not one to rush to social media to post photos of him caressing his bank notes, Bahati is sold to make serious guap. And still continues to everyday. He recently signed up for a lucrative promotional deal with Safaricom and he is the most sought after performer in almost all local events.. Gospel or secular. Bahati,according to sources, charges as much as 100k for a single concert performance. And sometimes,it balloons to as much as 200k. Corporates love him… And we know no one pays quite as well as corporates… So that translates to more mullah for mtoto wa mama. Plus we are told he even charges for regular appearances minus performance. And ummm, isn’t he really everywhere? Doing everything? Kid got bank. Serious bank.
AWARDS
Willy Paul
He’s scooped them for sure.. No questions about that. But mostly it’s the Grooves the apex of which was winning the coveted Best Male Artist gong a couple years ago,he received the Award with much glamour and aplomb. Flanked by his frequent collaborator Gloria Muliro and the Safaricom President Bob Collymore. His award winning streak came to an abrupt stop soon after… And it ground to an ignominious halt during this year’s Grooves. Ouch.
Bahati
He was The Lord Of The 2015 Groove Awards. Period. But given the Awards’ infamy and endless under-the-counter controversies,it really doesn’t matter,Or does it? Well…..Oh wait,.He’s won the Best Male Artiste Groove Twice in a row! Twice in a muthafuckin’ row! Ok,Alright. That pretty much sums it all up.
STAGE PERFORMANCES
Willy Pau
I told you he’s our
Michael Jackson. Believe me. He is.
Bahati
Man…He’s trying. Sure,He is.
Overall,It look s like a tie here…I really want to announce the Winner but I am stumped. Who really carries the day here? I would say they’re both good in their own different ways…
But,let’s face it man! As long as we are talking of ruling these airwaves,as a Gospel Artiste,who do Bongo gospel…If we have to look at their public performances,stage exploits,mad energy and zeal,if we have to look at the quality of their videos,creativity and massive views on Youtube,if we look at the voices and the composition skills,and focus SOLELY on their talents and showbiz feats,Willy Paul,The Baddest Byad Boy,wins this! Hands down!
Willy Paul scores a brilliant A.
Baha is trailing…With a B+.
Ok,come lynch me now!
