Bien says all his recent hits are old songs
Singer Bien Aime claims that several hit collaborations released recently by various artists in and outside the country, that feature him, are not his latest works.
Bien says after his star began to shine as a solo artist when his band Sauti Sol announced an indefinite hiatus, several artists he had recorded songs with some time ago began releasing these projects.
He claims they did so to ride the wave of his solo career success while accusing others of releasing their collaborations without consulting him.
“Some of the songs (featuring me) that are coming out right now are songs that I did a while ago, some even two years ago. I recorded a lot of songs a long time ago and a lot of the artists I worked with back then, when they realized my star was shining, are now releasing those songs. Some even do it without my approval and then they just end up being hits.” Says Bien.
With a majority of those releases turning out to be hits, some quarters have argued that Bien has been overworking with minimal rest, especially in 2024.
“I’ve been resting, I haven’t been busy working as it seems. In fact, none of the songs you are listening to now is music that I have done recently, these are all songs that I have done two years or a year and a half ago and are being released now”. Bien adds.
Despite this, Bien, who is the only Kenyan artist nominated for the Trace Music Awards 2025 to be held in Zanzibar at the end of the month, says the releases have been beneficial to his career.
“It’s just to say that it’s compound interest, it’s me putting in a lot of work overtime and I’m starting to see the fruits. All these releases are building towards a bigger me.”
In 2024, Bien was named the most streamed Kenyan artist on global music streamer Spotify, dethroning popular rap trio Wakadinali, who were the most streamed in 2023.