Kenyan music groups have always proved to be a hard area to venture in for any artist as shown by what has been happening on the Kodong Klan Tour. The group has been facing some backlash on how they have been performing and as Bloga Flani writes, it has been difficult to give fans what they paid for.
For those who have never heard of Kodong Klan, it is a Kenyan music collective featuring artists such as Okello Max, Coster Ojwang, Bensoul, Charisma, Modecai Dex, and Watendawili. They fuse Luo language and rhythms with contemporary sounds, aiming to celebrate Kenyan culture. Notable releases are “Disko” EP dropped on December 12, 2024, and quickly became a trending release across Kenya.
Now speaking of Disko, this is one hit song that went viral all over social media and mainstream media late last year. The song was played everywhere and it is part of the reasons the group is on tour. The group has so far done two tours, the first one in Eldoret and now Kisumu.
The complaints in Eldoret started with the performance where fans felt like they did not get enough of Kodong Klan but instead got individual performances. This was the same case last weekend during their show in Kisumu. The group only touched on a few of their tracks from their joint EP and went off into individual performances.
The dynamics in such a group of artists can be a little tricky to navigate because they have not come up together. Kodong Klan is more of a gathering than a music group. These are individuals who sat together and decided to team up and come up with something that covered their shared interests.
The Kenyan music scene has a history of being brutal to groups hence the recent struggles that Kodong Klan might be facing. Kenyans do not appreciate the dynamics in music groups. There’s always a comparison between the members which end up breaking them apart. We have seen this with Sautisol, arguably Kenya’s best music group. Kleptomaniax went down the drain. Kalamashaka have tried but it’s still hard. Tatuu. Black Duo. Kaskazini before Watendawili. It’s been difficult.
Kodong Klan might be going through an identity crisis at the moment and it is allowed as a new group but at the end of the day the fans have to get what they paid for.
