'What the flying F*CK!' Sauti Sol's Bien Aime Baraza Shouts At PR Person

Piece by: Grace Kerongo
Exclusives
Sauti Sol's lead man, Bien Aime Baraza is the talk of the town.

He took to social media to blast a PR/activations personnel of a company that tried to get social media mileage out of him.
He doesn't mind posting "Thank Yous" on his social media, but he minds very much when the gift - in question - is not worth that kind of  attention.
The "Kuliko Jana" star said that he was gifted a Sh150 chocolate and asked to post about it on his social media.
He saw red.

This is what Bien said about the whole issue.
On the morning of Valentines I was snuggled up in bed with the love of my life when my phone rang. A gentleman from a top Kenyan media agency had called to inform me that he had a package for me and Chiki; and asked for my address so he could send a rider over to drop it. I was of course delighted to hand it over. He later called after like 45 minutes because the rider was lost, after which I gave a better explanation of my address. In no time my package was here.

I was excited when I saw the slim envelope. My brain was farting with possibilities and probabilities. I remember debating between a holiday or a dinner for two. I tore it up like a kid opening a Christmas gift. And there it was "A BAR OF CHOCOLATE." My immediate reaction was to call the watchman and ask him if that was all; after which he confirmed "ndio boss, ni hiyo tu." I thought to myself "what's the use of sending a rider over, calling me frantically and me giving out my address only to receive a bar of chocolate?"

Shortly after he called again to confirm receipt. I did and as courtesy calls thanked him for the chocolate. But I could hear in his voice that he expected more. After our very brief conversation he sent me a text message with marketing  and said he would be grateful if I tweeted a thank-you tweet for the chocolate.

Kenyans!!!! What the flying FUCK! How dare you equate an artists tweets to ksh150 worth of a chocolate bar? Since when did artists endorse brands for a bar of chocolate? Whose 'BRILLIANT' idea was that!!! I actually felt insulted more than I was grateful for the damn chocolate which if you ask me I could live without. The trouble they went through to call and deliver it defeats the purpose of the whole exercise.

What is the moral of the story? Art should be paid for. Artists put in years building brands that people associate with. You can't call an accountant and give him chocolate in exchange for accounting services. Put money on the table. I'm disappointed especially with the fact that an agency doesn't know this because their business is heavily dependent on art and content. Forgive me for overestimating their abilities to think better for my industry.PS, Chiki ate the chocolate. I was too pissed to even bring it close to my mouth. Bien-Aime Baraza.