By Abu Bakarr Turay- The Kabaka
Congratulations to our Salone brother Idris Elba. For just a moment, imagine Ghanaians telling him not to open a film studio in Ghana because foreigners will be coming to act in the studio. Not thinking of the revenue stream and jobs it will create. Imagine for one second Denzel Washington doing a movie in that studio and Van Vicker is also on set and then imagine Ghanaians saying Van Vicker should be paid like Denzel Washington. Denzel might end up getting $1M for a role and Van Vicker might not end up getting even $100,000. Realities of life. What we all see is Ghana celebrating such a huge step in promoting the movie industry in Ghana, especially, because Idris’s mother is also Ghanaian. He’s considered half Ghanaian. ‘Kontri wae de think straight na how dem de assess progress’. They see opportunities. Nothing more.
Now imagine a certain country that we all know. Who will tell one of theirs not to bring “foreigners” to do any entertainment event in his home country because it won’t help the artistes in the country to develop. Such unfathomable “big fool”.
They are saying this about someone who has nurtured local talents over the years. Taken those local talents at his expense to foreign nations. In 2018, Nine (9) local artistes were flown to Ghana to witness an event that only accommodated Ghanaian and Nigerian superstars. For the first time in June 2018, Sierra Leonean Musicians were also a part of that event (Ghana Meets Naija). They were performing on the same stage as Wiz Kid, Tiwa Savage, Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale. Six of the nine musicians were part of KME Record Label and three weren’t. The three who weren’t part of KME but made the trip to get the experience were, Drizilik, Collabo and I-Tribe. We also had a member from the Bloggers Association, Sana Jay in attendance. Ayouba Sidibay, a known videographer, was also flown to Ghana to witness the event. This happened in Accra over six years ago. Nobody asked us why we were flying Sierra Leonean talents to Ghana. Today some of you ask why we are bringing foreigners to perform at ECOFEST. Even when the name signifies a festival for West African and African nations.
When we started the KME Record Label in 2017, the Producer who was making a lot of hits at that time was Yung Lee. He worked with KME to produce the first two hit songs such as Kam Ya and Omojuba which easily became like anthems in SL. Like many others, he also was limited. He told me that his production was below internationally recognized standards because he couldn’t mix and master songs properly. At my expense, Yung Lee flew for the first time to Lagos, Nigeria where he was taught the art of mixing and mastering by a guy called Ultra Sound. Yung Lee was accompanied by a gentleman called Joshua Akinola. I am naming names because these people are all on social media and they can refute if what I am writing has any iota of untruth in it. Yung Lee returned almost a month later from Lagos as a better producer than he was when he left. KME considered this capacity building for the future. This was over 7 years ago. You didn’t bash us when one of the brightest young videographers then, Muctarr Bah who needed technical training in operating the Red Camera was sent to Ghana for nearly six weeks to further improve his skills. All costs were borne by me.
In April 2019, we flew Fourteen (14) Sierra Leonean musicians again to a “foreign land” in the Gambia to perform at ECOFEST THE GAMBIA. Not a single Gambian resisted. Not one time did we hear them say, don’t bring foreigners to our country. Again, in October 2019, I sponsored a trip to Malawi to expose our Sierra Leonean talents at the Sand Festival. I-Tribe, M.I.C and DJ Jesse of Afri-Radio were in Malawi to represent Sierra Leone. In all these countries, some not even as big as Sierra Leone, they happily welcomed us and not one frowned at us as foreigners. African love and unity were all that they cared about.
In 2018, I held meetings at Chez with the entire executive of Salone DJs Union headed by Pilot CPO at that time. We agreed that that to get the DJs to play Salone songs for the months of October, November and December, I should pay 15M Old Leones per month. I paid the sum agreed. but the DJs never held their own part of the bargain.
The above are a few examples. KME, KABAKA or ECOFEST aren’t brands by accident. We put in the work. Billions of Leones have gone into investing in the entertainment industry. Some of you, though you know the impact, simply feel terrified by progress of your very own. You feel the “Lilliputian” effect of a colossus of a festival brought to life by one of your very own. This is no longer a Sierra Leonean thinking small. ECOFEST has broken the status quo. Mediocrity has no place to hide. Not even in fake Facebook accounts. We have paid our dues. Fully.
Know one secret today, the people who are organizing ECOFEST never started at the national stadium. We started at the Parking Lot at the beach in an event we dubbed KME-bration in December of 2017. Humble beginnings are a must.
Finally, Markmuday, Rozzy, Krack Twist, Samza, I-Tribe, Blesz, M.I.C, Boii and a lot more are all breeds from the KME stable. Amongst them we have had international collaborations with Diamond Platnumz, Kuami Eugene, KiDi, Slim Case, Jose Chameleone and a few others. We were, and I believe till today, the only record label that shared all revenues with artistes on a 50/50 basis with no written contract. I jokingly tell people, the only thing that has ever kept me personally in the entertainment industry is because I am myself a rapper who never allowed the passion for music to die. A lot of people talk about making money in SL entertainment and I understand their lack of basic understanding of expenses and return on investments. Sierra Leoneans pay the lowest to attend international festivals. Where in the world will you see people paying $3 or $8 to watch several international superstars at one festival?
Leave ECOFEST alone. Like Samza said, others are bringing international artistes and you are quiet, but as soon as you hear ECOFEST, it’s like the name comes with a free data subscription for “bad heart”. All other festivals or events in December who think ECOFEST will overshadow them and are now hiding behind blog pages or trying to act like they care about SL artistes, remember this, Freetown has at least 1 million inhabitants, and not even 10% of those can fit in any venue for ECOFEST. There are still 90% you can tap into. After all, the sky is big enough to accommodate all who desire to fly.