Living the 'Pulse' dream, 13 years later

 For a record thirteen years, the Pulse Magazine has been here discovering and nurturing creative talent.

Thirteen years ago, the Pulse Magazine, the first weekly showbiz magazine that purely dwelt on local showbiz was born. Naysayers criticised the move with scores writing it off as a project that was bound to flop.

Back then, entertainment in Kenya was being run by a cartel that used to operate in River Road. Any outsider who did not subscribe to the River Road ideology was treated with punitive consequences.

Persistently, they called the Pulse desk, trashing us for highlighting what they termed as ‘wanna-be” artiste trying to ape the Western culture. And ranting they did.

They were getting sick of seeing articles about the likes of CMB Prezzo strutting around with five kilogrammes of jewellery, bad boy of showbiz Shaffie sagging his jeans to the knees and Kalamashaka rapping like they did not belong in Eastlands.

What they did not realise is that a new generation was being born and a new showbiz culture was in the making; the Pulse generation of showbiz...the unlimited and borderless tribe.

For a record thirteen years, the Pulse Magazine has been here discovering and nurturing creative talent. From the humble beginnings when artistes could only get performance fees payment in terms of a plate of chips and Sh20 for fare home from Carnivore Simba Saloon to a windfall season when the likes of Sauti Sol among other artistes are ruling Africa and getting handsome pay from their art.

We are living in an age when music is making so much money that everyone now wants a stake in the industry. We are celebrating an industry that is raking in millions in taxes, that has proven to be a leading employment source for thousands... that has kept an entire nation united even as we celebrate our diversity.

In our zeal to keep the showbiz beat going, the Pulse Music Video Awards (PMVAs) were born last year. This was yet another frontier through which Pulse would award creative excellence, foster unity in the entertainment industry and also throw in the challenge to musicians through a competitive process through which winners would be awarded during the PMVAs grand ceremony.

It is now official that these awards are a permanent fixture in the regional entertainment calendar, an annual prestigious red-carpet live broadcasted ceremony that has become the benchmark of the gains made in the industry over the year. PMVA is therefore another first. It can only get better.

This is not the end of our journey. In fact, we are only getting started as we open new frontiers in an ever evolving and diverse showbiz industry. As trend setters in the industry, our sister online platform sde.co.ke has now been voted the best entertainment platform in Africa.

The Pulse talent mentorship programme is in the making and Pulse TV is almost here. This is a revolution. The future is now. Pulse, feel the beat....