5 Of The Best Yet Most Underrated Kenyan Artists!

There are 5 artists who are phenomenal and I will never forgive myself for not going on record as having stated this fact.

And some of these guys are old in the music industry while some are newbies but all the same they aren’t being recognised enough for their work ethics and talent. and this facts gut me because I believe in celebrating talent. With that said, here are the artists I feel are under rated:

Nick Mutuma

This lad is multi talented. he’s an actor, a radio personality and now, he can add another feather on his cap: he’s a rapper. Lad reminds me of Jammie Foxx. but moving on swiftly, his rap song “254 Anthem” is stellar track! It’s the kind of music that would get anyone else noticed because of the quality of not just the instrumentals but the lyrics as well and the lass doing the chorus is also rather talented. Then why isn’t it recieving as much love as it should? Hmmm… Me thinks there’s a bias against him.

Dora

This lass is a producer and a singer cum rapper and she is damn good! First time I heard her on her debut track “Oyela”, I was blown away. With the quality of that track I thought for sure she’d receive alot of love from the radio stations but I was wrong and I am wondering why. Most people I talk to tell me that what matters is the quality of the track in which case her’s should get played but it’s not… I think she’ll pull a Camp Mulla and that’s when everyone will sit up and try to jump on her gravy train like ALL the media houses here did with Camp Mulla!

Fena Gitu

Have you heard “Africa Massive”? If you have, you know she is a talented artist and the production team behind her share in her dream ergo her work is simply wonderful. Only heard the track receive airplay on ONE FM. Why is that? if a track is good it should receive love. I’m beginning to think that there’s a bias against people from financially stable backgrounds making music… It’s like radio DJs are afraid to play their music and give them a shot…

Bamzigi

Let’s face it, Bamzigi is old in the industry. But he did something Kenyans don’t know how to: he reinvented himself. And with that, he switched from doing strictly hiphop to electro. And unlike most of the bad electro attempts Kenyans have made (which is ok because it’s a learning curve we’re on), he has found the right formula for himself. yet his tracks still aren’t getting love. “Mutumia Morogi” is an excellent track yet it isn’t receiving airplay. Why is that? Are radio stations afraid of experimenting with something new and different? Are radio deejays waiting for the track to hit elsewhere before they begin playing it?

Willy Paul

All scandals aside, Willy Paul is a good artist. Pity it took a scandal to have him recognized as such. He has his vocals right on pitch and his harmonies never go off key yet he’s been sidelined till his scandal came about. What is this mess about? Listen to “Sitolia” to get what i’m getting at.

The thing is, if we want to grow our local music, we need everyone in the sector to support not just a select few but everyone. I want to hear more Man Wazimu playing, I want to hear more of the guys I mentioned above. It shouldn’t be up to Channel O to create our stars as was the case with Camp Mulla. Because if we rely on Channel O and them, everyone in the music industry loses the moral authority to comment about the local entertainment scene. And they become commuters: people waiting to ride someone else’s success rather than do the hard work of building them up.