Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Victor Kasereka Basua alias Victor B arrived in Kenya for the first time in 2011.
He says he feels he is finally home in
Kenya, only three years after he left for South Africa, where went to
seek greener pastures.
Born
in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Victor Kasereka Basua, alias
Victor B, arrived in Kenya for the first time in 2011, with a mission
to perform and sell R&B, a genre that wasn’t quite popular in his
homeland.
He, however, gave in to his ambitions of recording quality music and videos and moved to South Africa for this.
But
things didn’t go as he had hoped, as his efforts to sell his music in
this part of the world hit a snag, forcing him to come back to the land
that gave him a chance to record his first solo hit.
Victor
B talks about his upcoming album, together with his latest hit “My Only
Girl”, revealing his disappointments as a foreign artiste in South
Africa.
Why
exactly did you decide to come back, considering the fact that the
music sector in South Africa is more advanced compared with here in
Kenya?
There
is no doubt that indeed the music sector in South Africa, especially
when it comes to recording, is miles ahead not only compared with Kenya
but the rest of Africa. But it is also a fact that it is difficult for a
foreign artiste to market his work, especially if you are using a
foreign language.
For
me, things were even more complicated considering the fact that most of
my songs are composed in Swahili, a language that is foreign to them.
There is also the issue of foreign artistes being ignored to a level
that you could have a nice song and even an excellent video, but that
won’t guarantee you airplay in some of the local media.
Then does this mean that you are now settled here in Kenya or is this just a bridge to revive your career?
As
I said earlier, I am finally home, especially (because) I sing using a
language understood here. Also, I can say Kenya is strategically placed
in the middle of the countries that I have interest in.
For
instance, if I want to go home for a visit, I can easily do that. In
case I maybe want to travel to Tanzania for a collaboration, then I
won’t have to struggle, and it will take me a few hours if my mission is
to record a video in South Africa.
How many songs do you have to your name as of now?
Believe
it or not, I have composed over 120 songs, but I have managed to record
and release only a handful, among them “Sunshine”, “Take You Away” and
“My Only Girl”. For now, I am working on my first album, “My Music”,
which consists of 14 songs, with six already recorded but not released
yet. I plan to officially launch it between June and July this year
through a concert.
Do you plan to work with Kenyan artistes?
Already I have plans to collaborate with a certain Ogopa artiste, whom I can’t reveal at the moment.
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