Is Chimano falling off? Here’s why we think so

Chimani is one of the members of the biggest group Kenya has ever produced; a gift from East Africa to the world. It would seem that after they signed an international record deal, they ran afoul of the rules of engagement and as such, were unable to produce albums and music.

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A compromise they arrived at was to make solo projects and when they started, there was a lot of gusto to their wind. They really took the internet by storm as well as entertainment scene with each of them releasing certified bangers.

Chimano’s particular foray into solo artistry was the song Friday Feeling which was a rather outstanding submission. It truly did set him head and shoulders above his Sauti Sol peers as it showcased his amazing vocal range and allowed him to create art that he loves.

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He got to do an 80s disco sort of sound which was far removed from what we were accustomed to hearing from Sauti Sol. We loved to watch him do him. However, there seems to have a huge disconnect because, after this song, his subsequent views on YouTube plummeted.

His first single has garnered close to a million views (928K as of the writing of this post). 11 months ago he released Hallelujah which has 145K views. 10 months ago he released Freedom which has 131K views. 8 months ago he released Beautiful Day which has 36K views. Somethings up.

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So what might that be? Well, I am here to make the case that his affiliation with the LGBTQ is the issue. Kenyans are very good at don’t ask, don’t tell being their guiding philosophy. We don’t really care what you do in the confines of your house as long as it sticks there.

Chimano decided to come out of the closet and while that’s his right, it cast a tall shadow on his career. It has gotten to a point where people get mocked for playing his music. You will never hear his music play in most clubs despite those of his bandmates playing because no one will stand to dance to it -at least not straight men (and a lot of their ladies).

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Kenya is not entirely comfortable with the idea of embracing the LGBTQ and right now the banter is at an all-time high. So whenever you’re in the car, get the aux or connect to the Bluetooth to play Chimano’s music, guys will troll you for being “elugibitikiu“.

Believe to or not, for your m, music to do well, it must cut across a wide audience. Sure you can have your niche but you will not have a long and fruitful career unless they are as ardent and committed as Just A Band’s. Chimano needs to now start creating concerts for his fans who can come out as they are and do so every Friday of the month because your average morio hadai kuskiza ngoma za  elugibitikiu. But even then, he has a Herculean task ahead of him as a solo artist and the proof is in the pudding. It isn’t normal for the first single to hit 1 million views and for the next subsequent singles to struggle to get to a quarter of that.

In Kenya, politics and entertainment are about more than just substance, its all about perception and now that he is seen as a homosexual, his fans are automatically tagged as such. So not alot of men want to endure that banter.

It sucks, it truly does because he is such a talented soul but thems the brakes.

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