Sauti Sol: How we were conned Sh1m in DR Congo by a bogus promoter – VIDEO
Sauti Sol’s Bien-Aimé Baraza has narrated how the band was once swindled out of more than Sh1 million of their earnings following a show they did in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Speaking on the Janjaruka series, the singer recounted the events that led up to their loss at the hands of an unscrupulous promoter who had promised heaven, only to leave them high and dry.
Bien said the promoter put together a disappointing show in a small venue with a very small audience, to which they still gave their best performance.
“On the day of the show, we went to the venue at like 10 in the night. The venue was a ghost town, there were like 15 people in that place, and the sound was whack,” he narrated.
After the show, they retired back to their hotel room for the night, ahead of the journey back home the following day.
“After the show he (the promoter) was supposed to give us about $10,000 (about Sh1 million) as a way of finishing off the payment,” Bien recalls.
But the following day, they woke up to find their hotel room hadn’t been paid for and the management was demanding for the payment before they leave.
It took some back-and-forth between the hotel manager and their promoter to get the matter settled.
All this time, the promoter was keeping them waiting for the final settlement.
The band were desperate to leave as it was December 24 and they just wanted to be back home for Christmas.
After a very long and anxious wait the group chose to cut their losses and return home without the cash.
“As an artiste, you need to be smart when it comes to these shows. Before you perform anywhere, secure a 90 percent deposit and the 10 percent should be in your account before you get on the stage because once you do, whether or not you get your dues is in God’s hands,” he cautioned.