Singer Victoria Kimani is back to mourning about Kenyans again. The lady with the penchant for the heavy elaborate make-up is decrying the fact that her fellow compatriots aren’t supportive of her and her musical talents.
The singer who released the album Afreaka back in April 2020 went on a Twitter rant on Tuesday, January 12, sharing several tweets as she tried to get her point across. “Kenyans will never cease to amaze me in every possible way,” she started off.
Adding, “What part of ‘support your own’ don’t you (curse word) get? Gatttdammm (sic),” Then in conclusion she said, “F** it, I’m from Ghana now… From the Ashanti region.”
Victoria has explained in previous interviews that she grew up in the Western part of the continent and that being the reason why her musical influence is from Nigeria and Ghana.
In a late 2019 interview with the Recording Academy, the songwriter revealed that her family left the US when she was 14 and went to live in Nigeria where she was introduced to African music.
She also revealed the reason why she relates more as a West African is because they are English speaking countries there and being that she cannot speak Swahili, most of her songs have to be in English.
Now that we have gotten her history out of the way, let’s look at the substance of her latest message. Is she right that Kenyans don’t support her music? Yes…But is she right to get upset with this fact? No.
Let me explain. Victoria’s complaint about Kenyan’s not supporting their own is a time-known issue among many in the industry, so her notion isn’t something I am shocked about.
In fact, many of the Kenyan musicians who complain about it can and do sing in Kiswahili, something she can’t, so they can be legitimately upset that their own compatriots don’t support them-No excuse about singing in English for them.
Another thing, if Victoria’s music really has that West African flavour then she should be doing excellently in Kenya. Don’t forget that we Kenyans support foreign African music compared to our own, that’s why Burna Boy, Davido and Wizkid compete with our Kenyan musicians for airplay.
Another thing-Failure in a competitive market cannot always be blamed on the buyers. It means that your music isn’t jelling with the audience and that means she should take a long, hard look at herself and see what Kenyans want and consume. Not blame them every time they reject her music.
Victoria, no one in this life owes you anything and stop always playing the victim, you’re better than that.
But what do I know?