Sanaipei Tande says some event promoters, DJs and producers in the Kenyan music industry prey on female musicians.
Speaking during an interview on Spice FM, the singer and actress said she has personally encountered promoters who demanded sexual favors in exchange for giving her shows.
“I’ve lost shows because a promoter tells you he wants you to go to Naivasha to perform and we agree and there’s M-Pesa so you can send me my deposit but they want it to be a thing for “why don’t we meet and have a drink, we’ll be in Nairobi this weekend”… somebody is texting you at 12pm (that) we can do something,” she said.
Sanaipei said she has been told stories by many women in the Kenyan entertainment industry who have suffered a similar predicament.
“There’s casualness in the industry that I could not deal with. A lot of girls would tell me if you want a DJ to play your song you have to do a little something with him. A producer tells you he can produce a song for you for free lakini kuna vile,” she said.
The ‘Mdaka Mdakiwa’ singer also lamented poor pay for local music acts.
“Somebody would want you to perform for like an hour and they want to give you Ksh.40,000. I probably must get dancers, a band…unfortunately, when you push for more money they decide to go with somebody cheaper,” said the ‘Kina’ actress.
Sanaipei further called for more quality content in the Kenyan music industry.
“We have quality in this country, I recently did the Remembering Whitney concert…I was in shock, the ladies who were called, not known names or brands but they have beautiful voices and beautiful stage presence…they should be in the forefront but they say they are not interested because we support mediocrity,” she said.
