Piece by: DENNIS MILIMO

21 October 2022

• Otile Brown: We can't compete with Nigerians because of language barrier

• The statement has sparked an interesting conversation online with a section agreeing with him and others in total rejection.

Kenyan singer Otile Brown has elicited a heated debate after saying the biggest challenge for the Kenyan music industry is the language barrier

Speaking after landing from the US, Otile alleged that Kenyan musicians can’t compete with Nigerians on an international scale because of language.

“People know the truth but they don’t want to talk about it. Ukweli ni kamba ni Lugha. That’s the truth. The difference between our industry and the Nigerian Industry is the Language and we can’t compete with Nigerians on that,” Otile stated.

He went on to question the number of Kenyan videos that have gone international.

"How many songs from East Africa have gone international? Or you can perform for a different crowd

“So what is limiting us as Kenyan artistes is the language, if we want to be successful internationally we must compromise a bit on language, There is no other thing, You can’t say like you people are not working hard,”.

He added;

“In all generations in the Kenyan music Industry, there is no generation that has been successful like this one. So you can’t bash people like that.

“People like Khaligraph are building houses, Bahati pale…the other could not do that, so you can’t just castigate people like that, it not good. And we have to love our own because we are sending a very bad image out there.

The statement has sparked an interesting conversation online with a section agreeing with him and others in total rejection.

Reactions from Kenyans;

vinconthebeat Objection my Lord 👑. That's not the Truth. It could be one of the truths tho. Wacha niongee kwa page yangu

2mbili Hakuna kitu kama hiyo, Diamond and his team are invading the world MUSIC INDUSTRY na ndo Wana kiswahili mbaya kabisa... Let's look for another excuse!! Mbona hata kwetu nyumbani Bado hatutambii ?? 😂... Excuses ziishe na tupige kazi , VAIDA IS A HIT NA Iliimbwa na Kiluhya !

vinconthebeat Objection my Lord 👑. That's not the Truth. It could be one of the truths tho. Wacha niongee kwa page yangu.

kenzomatata True I agree to some extent, but if I may ask, lingala/rhumba music is sang in what language?.. My opinion sports and music are the only two universal languages we have.

achola.j Asake sings in Yoruba and we all love his music, nini inawastop from going global? Cause its not Swahili, Diamond has done it already!

eddyroy_ Yoruba and Igbo are in major charts, Tanzania with Swahili are doing so well, Zulu is taking over, french, Latin, Arabic languages are doing well too...make good music the world will accept it.

steve_wanduka Diamond uses same swahili and he's allover competing with all Nigerian artists, master on how to market your art.

kenyan_g_niccure The guy speaking facts because the global language is English 📌📍.

clara2ck I don’t think so Tanzania pia wanaimba na Kiswahili.

troy_willy_jr Tanzanians use Kiswahili to propel their music to international level🔥....sema tu ni hizi sheng za gengetone labda😂😂😂🚮.

okite_linus Umesema Diamond aliimba Kifaransa ndio akaenda global.

sune_the_tuth_jr Nonesense, we yell An igbo and shayo as if we understand pugin English.