Anyone who is friends with their screen—television, handset or otherwise—is well aware of the velocity with which the African music is evolving. And yes, the excitement accompanying this growth is as hair-raising as it is heart-racing. Yet, like the rest of the continent, East African music artistes in the process of this evolution are being overshadowed by the Lagos effect. It is Nigerian music dominating the airwaves.
However, one East African artiste is defying these odds, and daunting as it may be to his bald head, he is bravely hitting it head-on! Ladies and gentlemen, Bien-Aimé Alusa Baraza, famously known as Bien is according to Wikipedia, a Kenyan singer, songwriter, guitarist, music executive and entrepreneur. He is a member of Sauti Sol, a Kenyan Afro-pop music band, and a globally recognised Grammy award-winning songwriter.
Bien’s 2023-2024 Music Collaborations
After the Sauti Sol outfit decided to explore solo projects in 2021, Bien seized the opportunity to turbocharge his skills, shine brighter, and turn heads! Recently, he has been delivering chart-topping hits with collaborations like Wahala with Adekunle Gold (Nigeria) and ShineTTW (Nigeria), Ma Cherie Remix with Fally Ipupa (Congo), My Baby with Ayra Starr (Nigeria), Too Easy with based DJ Edu (UK), Sex and Marijuana with Ms Banks (UK), Iyo Foto with Bruce Melodie (Rwanda), No Body with Darassa (Tanzania), and Joshua Baraka’s Nana Remix featuring Joeboy (Nigeria) and King Promise (Ghana). Bien is also featured on numerous music albums, including Swangz Avenue’s Swangz All-Star Album. All this in just two years!
In one of my previous articles, I emphasized the need for East African artistes to approach music as a strategic business and cultural platform. Bien’s calculated moves align perfectly with this vision.
Bien’s observed strategic approach to collaborations has caught my attention, as well as that of other industry insiders, who believe his formula could be the key to East Africa’s music industry challenging Nigerian dominance on the African music scene. This approach aligns with the ideas I discussed in my earlier article. Today, let’s build on this concept and modify it into something akin to soccer formations, offering a fresh perspective on crafting a winning strategy for East African music.
This ideal formation, purposed for the exportation of East African music through collaborations, can be summarized into a formation code K+U+R+T+ (UK+US), which represents collaborations between artists from Kenya (K), Uganda (U), Rwanda (R), and Tanzania (T), and later with artistes from the United Kingdom and United States.
Essentially, this means East African artistes should:
Expand Beyond Intra-Border Collaborations
East African Artistes must move away from limiting their collaborations to those within their own countries and venture into inter-border collaborations.
Foster Regional Collaborations Across East Africa
Such collaborations should intentionally involve artistes from different East African countries. Examples include Ugandan D-Star’s Hoozambe Remix featuring Kenyan Trio Mio, Harry Craze, Ssaru, and Ambassada; Spice Diana’s Upendo featuring Tanzanian Zuchu; Bruce Melodie’s Nyonga featuring Uganda’s Eddy Kenzo; Rwandese The Ben’s Why featuring Tanzania’s Diamond Platnumz; Kenya’s Khaligraph Jones’s Kwame featuring Tanzania’s Harmonize; and Kenya’s Nadia Mukami’s Kipepeo featuring Rwandese Bruce Melodie. Bien has excelled in this aspect, demonstrating its effectiveness.
Minimize Dependence on Nigerian Collaborations
Nigerian collaborations often come at a high cost and rarely receive optimal promotion outside West Africa. While these partnerships can be fruitful, they are not always strategic for East African artistes aiming to maximize their regional footprint. For instance, Bien, deviating slightly from this approach, has collaborated with Nigeria’s Adekunle Gold on the chart-topping Wahala.
Target US and UK Collaborations After Regional Growth
Once firmly established in East Africa, music artistes should aim for collaborations with artists from, particularly the US and UK, as these markets continue to dominate the global music industry. Nigerian artistes have successfully leveraged such partnerships to position Afrobeats on the global stage. While Bien has yet to fully explore this venture, he appears poised for such opportunities.
This formation code is the winning card with the potential to propel East African artistes to global recognition and surpass their Nigerian counterparts. The code directly beats, among other factors, the advantage of numbers that Nigerian music seems to thrive on, both in the country and diaspora; what with the huge numbers of diaspora-based Nigerian fans that flock to international Nigerian-themed shows—we are talking Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid and Asake auditoria shows filled to the brim!
Bien is embracing the K+U+R+T formation and is on track to become East Africa’s most formidable export. His strategic moves suggest he will soon dominate global music scenes alongside the likes of Nigerian music stars.
Tanzania’s Harmonize follows closely, with a series of (K+U+T) + (US+Jamaica) collaborations. However, his main challenge is balancing global aspirations with a strong Tanzanian fan base—a tough task given the rivalling influence of his former mentor, Diamond Platnumz.
Dubbed Tanzania’s “Music godfather,” Diamond’s financial position, strategic adaptability, consistency, and reach often overshadow Harmonize’s efforts. Adding to this rivalry is the rise of local stars like Marioo, Zuchu, Jay Melody, and Mbosso, along with Ali Kiba’s refusal to step away from the spotlight, further complicating Harmonize’s journey.
His collaborations with Jamaica’s Spice, Konshens, and US rapper Bobby Shmurda, while promising, lack the strategic alignment of K+U+R+T + (UK+US), leaving his formation ineffective and his aspirations increasingly difficult to achieve.
Uganda’s Eddy Kenzo has leaned into the U+R+T + (US) formation, sidelining Kenya and the UK in his collaborations. However, this approach remains limited and insufficient to solidify his position as a strong East African export, despite his past global popularity. His recent collaborations with US artists often go unnoticed until he unexpectedly receives an award announcement beyond the Atlantic. This trend suggests his focus may be more on accolades than on asserting an East African presence.
A prime example is the song Gimme Dat featuring US artist Matt B, which remained largely under the radar until it garnered a Grammy nomination. Many fans only learned of the track after the nomination, raising questions among analysts about its sudden recognition.
Moreover, Kenzo’s increasing responsibilities as a husband, leader of the Uganda Musicians Federation, and presidential advisor on creatives have significantly occupied his time. As a result, his global aspirations appear to be slipping further out of reach and focus.
Rwanda’s Bruce Melodie, unlike Kenzo, focuses on Kenya and effectively leverages the K+U+R+T (US) formation, featuring Bien on Iyo Foto and Nadia Mukami on Kipepeo, outperforming Kenzo in the process. He also navigates Uganda and Tanzania impressively. His strengths lie in his language skills and rapid collaborative releases, nearly doubling Kenzo’s output, keeping him a TV and social media favourite in East Africa. His track When She Is Around with Shaggy was a standout success. He ranks third after Harmonize.
Overall, aside from Bien, Kenyan artists like Khaligraph Jones, Otile Brown, Bahati, Savara, Trio Mio, and others affiliated with Black Market Records are relying more on luck and hard work than strategic planning. While their music is popular on airwaves and digital platforms, they are far from the K+U+R+T+ (UK+US) formation and from driving an East African takeover. This shift has turned Kenya into a music marketplace, not the production hub it once was in the late 1990s when Ogopa DJs made it the center of East African music. (Out with the Gen-Zs!)
Azawi, on the other hand, has the talent and potential to make waves akin to Bien’s success, but her quest for global recognition appears hampered more by management challenges and budget limitations than by her abilities.
Diamond Platnumz’s strategy as an industry game planner is complex and lacks a clear direction. Although he may not fully recognize it, this ambiguity has hindered his ability to compete on the same level as global icons like Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, and Asake, despite contributing to his rise in fame. He appears to have adopted Rule 48 from Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power, which emphasizes the importance of being formless and adaptable.
His career thrives on collaborations across Tanzania (T), South Africa (SA), Nigeria (N), and the US, though he avoids East African partnerships, except for DRC. Despite efforts like sampling Afrobeats and Nigerian collaborations, he struggles to crack the Nigerian market, often provoking rather than aligning with it. His 2022 First of All EP reflected this approach, blending Afrobeats with Nigerian producers and artists, yet lacked consistency. A shift to the K+U+R+T (UK+US) formula could streamline his efforts and empower his Wasafi label artists.
Joshua Baraka mirrors Diamond’s early strategy, using U+K+R+N collaborations (Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria). While promising, the Nigerian focus could strain finances without proportional returns.
Meanwhile, Rayvanny pivots to collaborations from Latino countries, diverging significantly from the traditional formation codes that have guided many artists in the region.
In contrast, many prominent Ugandan music artists and figures lack a clear collaborative framework, which limits their ability to fully exploit the advantages of strategic industry partnerships.
Bien is on the right path, with hopes he’ll inspire others to adopt this collaborative formation, guiding East African music toward global recognition and challenging Nigerian dominance. This shift is vital to counter the West’s tendency to label all African music as Afrobeats, overlooking the continent’s rich diversity. West side vs East side—boy, that’s the vision! No Wahala!
