DJ Pinye responds to being called a snob

For a person who is media shy and dedicates his life to being behind the scenes, DJ Pinye has apparently picked up many enemies along the years. A producer of one of Kenya’s longest running music TV shows, he has been accused of turning down some videos “for not being good enough”. He has also come under scrutiny for that very prerogative of deciding what to play on his show or set.

In project Strictly Kenyan, the DJ seeks to work on a 22-song album, 11 done by upcoming artistes and 11 by popular artistes.

“Kenyan talent is indisputable, but untapped. We must change that. I am calling Kenyan artistes and producers to create tracks and work on an album with me,” a communique from the project reads.

With DJs coming under heavy fire from local artistes for shunning local content for pre-dominantly West African music, his action, ordinarily, ought to be lauded.

Instead, it was a fellow veteran insider, the celebrated Tedd Josiah, who fired the first salvo.

“The horrible things that have happened to artistes because of doors being shut firmly in their faces by this man (DJ Pinye) are so many!” Tedd wrote on Facebook. “I am not talking about artistes who can’t sing. I am talking about really talented singers and rappers,” he added.

One of these artistes is DNA, whose hit Banjuka was reportedly deemed “inferior” by Pinye and it wasn’t played on his show even as it took the country by storm. It is now an all-time favourite hit, charting with the likes of Unbwogable, E-Sir’s cache of hits and the likes of Ninanoki. If there was a vault containing the best 40 songs from Kenya, Banjuka would make the list.

This year, it was revealed that Pinye had in fact declined to play Papa Dennis’s Injili, saying the Sh3 million video was of “low quality”.

To be fair to the man, Pinye has not abandoned the industry as portrayed. He has been the man behind one of the most influential rappers on the scene, Octopizzo. The DJ was instrumental in charting the way forward for Kibera’s Number Nane. But other artistes have suffered in silence. “As an individual, Pinye has never played any of my songs since I hit the scene,” reveals gospel artiste DK Kwenye Beat.

“Many artistes, especially upcoming, have lamented his lack of willingness to play them. He called me to iron out the issue and from what he explained, it seems he has realised his mistake,” adds DK

But apart from Pinye, are local DJs bowing to pressure from hardworking artistes who challenge them with good music? “DJs have realised they can no longer ignore local content,” says Provoke, adding that the quality has never been as good as it currently is. “The deejays kept saying the quality was not up to standard but that’s a joke. I have had Nigerian producers commend Kenya on the quality of music,” adds Provoke.

On working with Pinye on the new project, Provoke explains that he has never had an issue with DJs, because only they can push the content that is produced locally.

“We have the platform to push local content and so long as DJs want our input, we step up. I am not working with Pinye alone, but two or three other deejays have approached me for a similar project,” added Provoke, who is engaged in the project with Wangechi. “Pinye is one of the few who has issues with our music. Other DJs will play your song so long as it’s of good quality and would call to explain why they won’t play it if it has issues.

Even with his (Pinye) project, it’s a wait and see but we are hopeful he has seen the light,” adds DK on a lighter note.

In April, Genge king Jua Kali prophesied the future, telling Pulse.

“People should relax. Lingala came and went, reggaeton came and went, even the Nigerian sound will go and local music will step up”.

Our attempts to get the veteran decksmaster to comment were futile as his phone went unanswered.