Kenyan voice:sex sells

As a feminist every time I watch a music video I get enraged thinking ,

“But why does she have to be so sexualised”

And every time I’m thinking to myself “what if one day I see my younger sister there”

Bending over in so short a short that all her bum is out?

That it’s her they are sexualising!

This trend has always been there and will always (mybe) be there ,as producers and artists also need to make money and dare I say “there is a reason why the porn industry makes millions and millions of money”

But how I hope That someday women will not be sexualised in music videos just to promote lust and immorality .

How I long for the day that most if not all music videos will show case women for who they are and how I long for the day that that type of content will be preferred .

For a time when women in music videos will dress modestly and the videos will still garner a lot of views ,that women will stop being portrayed as objects of sexual pleasure in music videos.

For a time when watching music videos with parents especially African parents is a pleasant experience and not a worrisome one.

For a time when watching music videos with little siblings is an okay thing that will not leave me worrying about the imprint the video left in my siblings mind.

I talked to remy a music producer and graphic designer in Kenya about this topic .

According to remy,

“Sexual content, however inappropriate to most, it’s also a message of it’s kind. And it’s also delivered to consumers due to the demand it has proven to have among people.it also depends on the motives of the artists when they decide to pursue music. Every artist has their own reason for pursuing music but it is also a business. In a business, one needs to satisfy their consumers’ demands in order to get good returns. In this case, sexual content is the demand artists need to satisfy to get back that revenue‘cheddar’ from the fans.”

This is particularly very true in regards to the genge tone wave the Kenyan music scene has been on,I do not dislike genge tone and the prevalence it has at the moment in the Kenyan music scene,however It does have very explicit content.

Remys’ thoughts on genge tone music and I quote

“Personally, I’m not a big fan of gengetone music and Kenyan music at large. But I do listen to a few Kenyan artists with great music. Gengetone being a popular genre by now, I don’t think there’s much discussion to go about the explicit video or lyrical content. I’ve heard the conversations where people despise some of the gengetone artists for having ‘dirty’ and senseless content but these are the same people who consume a lot ofexplicit Hip Hop content. I think as Kenyans, we need to accept the fast evolving digital world and pop out of the “tradition bubble” we’re curled up in. We listen to explicit content from the Western culture but aren’t ready to accept the same content from our local artists.

We do all this under false pretences of having a moral compass.”

This made a lot of sense to me,it is true that western music is very explicit and we listen to it now that Kenyan music is leaning towards that we suddenly have a lot to say,

Honestly though,according to me,I feel like with good packaging even the most ugly of things could look presentable,this goes for the lyrics in most of our music.

Remys’ type of music is very different from what most Kenyan tend to lean towards.

“What drives my choice to do the type of music I do is my love of electronic music and the flexibility that comes with it. I’ve had a few people tell me to ditch my genre and get into beats production for gengetone artists because it is a “popular” genre. However, I don’t plan on doing that. I like to think of my music as something that a few years from now people halfway across the world can listen and relate to.”

However even this type of music comes with its difficulties for him it was marketing however he found his way onto Instagram and YouTube,

“Depending on the type of content, one has to find the platforms that work best for you and where your content consumers hangout a lot. This aids in selective marketing which is more effective than spitting content all over the digital platforms. For me, Instagram is the site I mostly use to market my music. I prefer the site due to it’s demographic. Probability is high that a person on Instagram is in to digital content such as music and YouTube videos.”

Remy looks up to artists not only in his type of music but also in other types such as:

“In the electronic music scene, I look up to producers such as Avicii, Kygo, Tom Ferry and Marshmello. In the hip hop and trap scene, I look up to artists such as DJ Khaledand Fetty Wap. And in the local scene I’m inspired by artists such as Sauti Sol, H_Art the Band and Naiboi. We don’t share genres with some of these artists but I love listening to their work and being a music producer, it’s good to steal ideas from a wide variety of artists.”

“In the overall, if I’d choose an artist to work with or be mentored by, Avicii would have been my first choice. It’s sad that will remain to be just but a dream.”

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You can find Remy on his socials https://instagram.com/remyelan?igshid=r8rvnc4yjf2q

On YouTube :remyelan

Email me at: ndutaenice97@gmail.com