King Kaka one of the few cats in the industry whose hustlers intuition keeps leaping beyond. Besides running his label Kaka Empire, being on TV shows and chasing endorsement deals, he keeps the streets happy with new materials.
We are just from enjoying ‘Yap Yap’ and ‘Life na Adabu’ and he is back with another one. Second time collaborating with the talented voice ace, Pascal Tokodi. They just released the visuals to ‘Forget’. The jam samples the worldwide smash hit ‘Unforgettable‘ by French Montana and Sway Lee. We caught up with King Kaka to discuss the new jam plus his interesting way of marketing it to get more sales.
KV: The new jam is a sample, why unforgettable? Did you feel it’s a big song that needed a 254 version or what’s the agenda?
King Kaka: It’s one of my favourite jams as well as Pascal’s, but we were just vibing in studio and we ended up doing a cover of Uunforgettable. We recorded the song last week, we had not planned to release it – we had fun while at it. Since the director was present, we shot the video – I came up with the concept and we executed.
KV: Pascal did an incredible sign-out on this project, do you think he is the next big thing, considering you are pushing him this much.
King Kaka: Pascal is one of the next big things in Kenya, that’s my gut feeling. People do music but Pascal can really sing. All jokes aside. He has some projects about to come out and he sounds dope, guys are not ready.
KV: We know you push your own music and now you are personally calling guys to buy. Do you feel there is a gap in digital sales of music in the 254? Are the existing platforms sleeping on the job?
King Kaka: Yes, there is a huge gap in digital sales. Personally, I have to call people now on my phonebook and tell them to purchase my song at Ksh 25, if I manage 1000 people I will have Ksh 25,000 which I did not have. Also, the digital platforms are not doing enough for musicians. If we look at America (we should not compare our industries though) when an artist has a number 1 song on iTunes, that translates to huge money and you have not touched the stage yet. Even the Youtube money for Kenya, a million hits does not translate into much money. For me, I’m trying to build a culture of buying music and changing mentality.
KV: Besides Performance money and other revenue sources, do you think digital sales should be the biggest source of income for 254 artists? And are we on the right track?
King Kaka: Artists right now are fighting for performance money, and I came to realize it’s not such a huge chunk of money that we should really be fighting for. If we can double up with digital sales, endorsements then we can have a 360 round up for the artist, that should really improve. Also, the fans should embrace the art of buying not waiting for the song to be on platforms that are not paying.
KV: Previous jam Yap Yap, who are you firing shots at?
King Kaka: Yap Yap was just a song to remind people that I’ve got my lyrical prowess that I can unleash anytime. But right now I’m just handling business. I’m not firing at anyone, I don’t have that time.
KV: What is King Kaka up to, any major moves we should expect this 2end half of the year?
King Kaka: I am about to surprise you guys next month. I’ve just released 3 videos in the last 2 months. A lot more to come along the way, I’m about to launch some new products, I’m very excited about that. My studio has just been completed, Kaka Empire Studios, so a lot is in store for the year.
The New jam Forget is available for purchase via Paybill number 830418 using the account kin479. This platform enables the artist to have more control of his sales and helps them in stepping further ahead.
