Singer Otile Brown has challenged his colleagues in the East African region, urging them to work harder to compete at the international level.
During a recent interview with Oga Obinna on YouTube, Otile Brown claimed that contrary to popular belief there isn’t a single East African artiste currently recognized as international.
“This International title, we are going to have to fight for it because right now the industry is stuck. Let nobody lie to you; in East Africa, there is no international artiste. We are all on the ceiling; there is no international artiste,” he insisted.
Otile pointed out that currently there is no East African artiste comparable to Nigerian singer Ruger, who has achieved remarkable success in a short period.
“Let’s keep it real. If y’all want to keep it real, we have so much work to do. So, let’s not lie that we need to package ourselves and all that noise. Some children just broke into the limelight the other day, they are not my age mates, people like Ruger and the likes. A child that just came the other day, yet no artist in East Africa can compete with Ruger on the international level,” he stated.
Break the ceiling
To address the evident gap in the regional music industry, Otile urged fellow artistes to break their limitations, emphasizing that focusing solely on Bongo music will not propel them onto the international stage.
“East Africa, we have so much work to do. Why is it hard, not just for Kenyan artistes, but even for Tanzania and Uganda and everybody? It is because we need to break the ceiling. Let’s start embracing other music genres and all that. Because if it is just Bongo, I can sing for you Bongo until the day after. Even now, if you give me a beat, I can sing for you a really serious song, just give me a studio,” he claimed.
