Kenyan musician Hubert Nakitare, popularly known as Nonini, recently shared that his decision to relocate to the United States was primarily driven by the challenging economic conditions exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
During an interview on a local TV station on Friday, the prominent Genge musician-turned-entrepreneur revealed that artists faced severe hardships due to government-imposed lockdowns, prompting him to seek alternatives.
Nonini, currently back in Kenya for a music project, explained that a significant factor behind his move was the desire to be closer to his 11-year-old son.
“I relocated because I wanted to be closer to my son, although it was mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown that restricted creatives from conducting live shows. The government did not offer incentives to creatives; those were tough times,” Nonini said.
Expressing concerns about the state of the Kenyan music industry, Nonini attributed its challenges to the control exerted by cartels over Collective Management Organizations (CMOs).
Nonini further highlighted the need for change by advocating for the inclusion of private entities alongside the existing three government associations: the Music Publishers Association in Kenya (MPAKE), the Performance Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK), and the Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP).
According to Nonini, artists should not be compelled to join these three associations exclusively.
“We have tried to change the music bill to facilitate for musicians to join private entities. Musicians are being forced to restrictively join government music entities, which is problematic. We are calling on the Kenyan government to add private music entities to aid in financing musicians’ service delivery,” lamented the Genge musician.
Nonini also emphasized a prevalent issue in the Kenyan music scene, emphasizing the lack of support for local talent.
“The Kenyan music industry is good. The problem stems from disliking our culture and criticizing it. We do not like and support our products,” Nonini added.
Addressing the diversity within Kenya, Nonini agreed with the host of the show, that the root cause of the problem is identity.
“Unfortunately, Kenyans are very diverse. We are influenced by many cultures. We tried to make Genge Kenya’s identity, although we were met with criticism. As we speak, Genge is in the Grammys in the Best African Music category,” he said.
Nonini offered advice to fellow Kenyan musicians, urging them to advocate for their brands, emphasizing that it is the key to creating wealth in the industry.
