I was reading an article in the Business Daily about Valerie Kimani and I got instantly confused over the idea that she can’t be accepted on home ground unless she does her music in Genge or Kapuka format! That her venturing into the neo-jazz genre that she has will damage the Tusker brand to it’s youth following.
I hate to believe that Kenyan youth are that shallow! That we can’t listen to various genre of music that comes from our own. That’s really sad in my eyes… and it’s good that foreign labels have taken her & her album up… wait and see after international acclamation how she will be welcomed back home suddenly by the very same youth. I guess a prophet is never welcome in his own home!
In any case personally I don’t like the whole Tusker Project Fame name. How is it we are advertising Tusker beer to children under the age of 18 comfortably without anyone raising any sort of objection! Then we wonder what young children are doing in the clubs, drunk and stumbling all over!
I say to Valerie… you go girl - do your thing. Take personal contentment over fame and everything else will follow… and with that I shall be buying her CD this month.
that cd is awesome!
Comment by 31337 — April 9, 2008 @ 9:07 pm
I knew someone would prove the article wrong. Thanks for the heads up. All I get from guys is that she is trying too hard to be jazzy etc etc… give the girl a chance or better yet ‘you’ come up with an album that’s proper jazz so that we know…
Comment by Vee — April 10, 2008 @ 6:15 am
I cannot picture Valerie doing kapuka or genge (whatever those are!!)
But what I have heard so far is awesome go valerie!
Comment by prou — April 10, 2008 @ 6:44 am
Valerie rocks, the problem today is that our musicians all want to look and sound like Chris Brown or those crunk noisemakers.
Her music is timeless, something you will be able to listen to in 20-30 years from now and say, “yes, this song still does it for me.” I really don’t think the same can be said of some obnoxious sounding tune called,” tichi anataka chichi” that I heard in a mat the other day.
Valerie rocks, and I know she is destined for bigger, better things.
Comment by Maik — April 12, 2008 @ 9:18 am