The season Kenyan DJ Peter Chuani alias DJ Pinye says local musicians are not doing enough to put Kenyan music on the continental map, let alone the international scene.
DJ Pinye also attributed the slow growth of Kenyan music to a lack of structure, saying there are no local music labels where musicians can turn to for support.
“There’s no structure where labels sign you. Before we had Ogopa, Calif…when everybody is independent, you’re struggling by yourself…,” said Pinye.
On the lack of work ethic among local music acts, DJ Pinye claimed no Kenyan artiste can match up to Tanzania’s Diamond Platnumz.
“Something serious needs to happen, these young guys do not want to work…it’s shortcuts all the way, someone like Diamond needs to come locally and then people realize the work ethic…there is no artist in Kenya who has work ethic like Diamond, then why are we complaining? It means you don’t want to work.”
“People do music for Kenya only yet there’s the internet, the world is so small, you can’t play gengetone outside Kenya. I want you to do a song that will play even in South Africa,” said the 51-year-old mix master.
According to DJ Pinye, young and upcoming musicians need mentorship to grow.
“Mentorship is the magic word, someone needs to step up and decide to do this thing…what we need to see is the process not one photo on Instagram, there is a process and a growth,” he said.
Pinye mentioned he is optimistic about the local music industry and he is determined to make it better.
“My purpose is to change the Kenyan music industry, to just make it better, to look for someone who can turn things around and make it bigger than it is,” he said.
