Kenyan musician Hubert Nakitare, well known by his stage name Nonini, has disclosed that he moved to the US mostly because of the difficult economic conditions during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The well-known Genge musician-turned-entrepreneur stated in a Friday interview on Citizen TV that lockdowns enforced by the government rarely affected musicians, which led him to look into other options.
Nonini, who is in the nation for a musical endeavor, added that he wished to spend more time with his family, particularly 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” He said.
He clarified that cartel-run CMOs are the reason behind the dire state of the Kenyan music business, pointing out that this has been the situation for the longest period of time under all political administrations.
By including private organizations in addition to the three government associations—the Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP), the Performance Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK), and the Music Publishers Association in Kenya (MPAKE)—the musician demonstrated his tenacity in pushing for reform in the region’s music industry. He claimed that it is terrible that musicians are being forced to join those three associations.
Nonini also made point that we do not support our own musicians, which is a problem plaguing the Kenyan music industry.
The artist agreed with host Lulu Hassan that identity is the primary factor.
He said that the thing that makes money is for Kenyan artistes to promote their products.
