Akothee: I tried being scandalous to sell music, but it’s not my thing
Celebrated musician-cum-entrepreneur Esther Akoth aka Akothee has recounted being advised to have be scandalous so as to sell my music.
Recalling how she ventured into the Kenyan music industry, Akothee admits calling a radio producer to slot her for an interview.
“We only interview artistes with scandals,” is the response she got from the producer.
She says upon enquiry she was informed that scandals meant being controversial.
The singer admits that she fell for it and looked for ways to spark controversies.
“But you see that’s the wrong perception. It is not appealing to my targeted market,” she says.
Akothee further says the move saw her receiving numerous calls from her mother seeking explanations and convincing that it was just a ‘game’ proved to be an uphill task.
“Which game? You are an old woman, an elderly mature one, you should put your things under the rug,” she recalls her mother reprimanding her.
“But mom I will not sell. People need to talk for me to be able to sell,” she would respond.
But Akothee reckons that artistes who depend on scandals find it hard to sustain the lies they give, since they end up feeling pressurized for no reason.
“We start buying big cars in our dreams to show off but off camera you want to call someone to send you Sh2000 but you cannot because you posted you bought a V8 on socials yesterday,” she says.
At the same time, Akothee, who recently signed up as a member of the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), has called on the body to help package artistes, since many of them have good content.