Sauti Sol attending a music award. [Photo/ghafla.com]
The local music scene has over time witnessed the rise and fall of promising music awards. Looking back to the early 90s when awards such as the much-publicized Kisima Music Awards was established, a host of many other awards genuinely set up to recognize and fete talented artists have come and gone.
Even as much as artists have been partially faulted as an added catalyst to the demise of the likes of Bingwa Music Awards, Kisima and Chaguo La Teeniez, the lack of oneness, snubbing of such galas and inciting their fans not to vote and a lack of funding from corporates has contributed to the death of some of the most promising awards.
Since time immemorial, stakeholders, especially event organizers, have tried to come up with ways of supporting the industry by linking local talents with international promoters for tours, offering recording sessions, scoring endorsement deals and setting up award ceremonies to fete talent.
In a past interview, the former CEO of the defunct awards academy, Victor Mayieya, said that sponsors shied away when a storm started brewing. “We had tied up a sponsorship deal with Motorola who pulled out of Kenya.
The other sponsor was Zain who decided to pull out because of the negative publicity.They basically lost confidence in local promoters,” he stated. And just like that, a once prominent awards series died.
A decade later, came Chaguo La Teeniez (CHAT). The awards show became the talk of the town after the King of Bling, Prezzo, decided to grace the event by landing in a chopper at the Carnivore Grounds; something that was unheard of at the time.
The prestigious gospel Groove Awards has also been plagued with scandals highlighting unfairness and lack of prize money. Unlike those which came in the past died, Groove has survived and grown with each edition.