Yellow Card

A handful of African super stars reap huge rewards abroad while in East Africa many musicians struggle to survive in the domestic market.

As far as Western record companies are concerned, Africa is a continent of missed music opportunities. The only country in which they are operating is South Africa that is considered a First World nation. But this should not be taken to mean that Africa has no music. After all popular music like R&B, soul, and gospel originated from Africa.

Without advertisement in the media, promotional videos or continental promotional concert tours, there is little African artistes can do to get into the arena of world music. A neglected beggar who cannot afford to be a chooser, pundits say, African musicians are left with no alternative but to use any available route to get noticed so they may land contracts in the West.

There is no denying that the US$1.6 million Zimbabwean-made Yellow Card film is perhaps one of the biggest and best African films to be made for young people. The sound track is also great although one feels it has ignored East African music. The closest one comes to hearing something familiar to East Africans is Congo-Kinshasa's Gerant of Peppe Kalle. Does East Africa--Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda--not matter to filmmakers Louis and John Ribber of Zimbabwe or are they only using this region merely as a market for their product? The executive producer of the film, Elizabeth Lule of Pathfinder International, says the inclusion of Ethiopian music takes care of East Africa.

But why, for instance, would they use music from Mali and Senegal which are secondary markets of their film and not Uganda and Tanzania where the film is being shown?

The other countries with music on the 11-song soundtrack are Zimbabwe and South Africa

If the music that was being looked for is youthful, then why are the likes of Gidi Gidi-Maji Maji, Kalamashaka, K-South Flavour, or Majizee, not featured?

Experts on Kenyan music blame the producers, promoters, musicians and the government for being inward-looking and not opening their eyes to the wider world market where real benefits lie. They could be doing themselves and Kenya a favour if they switched to promoting individual artistes' international career to generate foreign exchange, employment and national pride for their country. Yellow Card producer and director Ribber says the non-inclusion of East African music was not deliberate but that it was difficult finding published East African music. Where published music existed, he says, it was difficult to locate the copyright owners from whom to secure rights.

This provides food for thought for the East Africans. By the time Yellow Card came out in 2000, Kenyans had been hearing of Mercy Myra and Jeniffer Moncherri who preferred to perform other people's R&B without recording their own. How did they hope to be included on international projects? As many of this musicians have either copied the singing style or whole tracks for their music, any one wishing to use their music cannot take it as he or she-if they respect the law-- fears to get into legal complications.

For example who would dare use Hardstone (Harrison Ngunjiri)'s Uhiki which is built on Marvin Gaye's Sexual healing track? Were this song to be included on a film like Yellow Card, with whom would Ribber deal--Hardstone or the late Gaye?

Western record companies have pulled out of every African country except South Africa because of unacceptably high level of piracy. This means African music has little chance of being promoted except through ventures like Yellow Card.

When Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a South African vocal group, appeared in a baked beans commercial on British television, it went on to sell 500000 units of its Heinz baked album. The group had entered the world market through Paul Simon and had gone on to sell over 100000 copies of their first US album in 1990. Papa Wemba and Youssou N'Dour benefited from their link with English pop star Peter Gabriel.

Island Records of Chris Blackwell is the one which drove Angelique Kidjo, Salif Keita and Baaba Maal to the stardom of 'world music'. Investing in an artiste is costly. For instance, launching an artiste internationally costs at least US$500000.To raise such a colossal sum of money, one should be committed to the industry. Does East Africa have such selfless producers and promoters?

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