By: Joan Wangari
Posted on Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Singer Ben Cyco revealed that Kenyan Celebrities are clout chasers. He made the revelation on his podcast in an episode dubbed Lessons from our 20’s. He featured his Insta-famous girlfriend Wanjiru Njiru and their best friend Nyawira Gachugi, an emcee. In the episode they share their experiences while in their 20’s and the lessons they learnt.Ben Kariuki who is also a content creator amd voice actor ,revealed that he onces contacted his twitter influencer friends to promote his brand using fake news.
He said that his biggest pain in social media was not realizing that everything that his peers and colleagues posted was planned. He constantly compared himself to other artists.Kariuki now confesses that he is tired of faking his reality. When he started out in the music industry, he remembers how he and his friends including Moji Short Baba tried the scandal strategy. Back in 2012 the digital space was greatly felt and artists tried very hard to be on the tabloids. In order to get the attention of the masses they were willing to do anything to be on the blogs unlike today.
“…There was one time I was in matatu going to town. Then it crushed at Guru Nanak. Like it hit the pavement, overturned and skidded for like 100 metres.Do you like,Saa yenye wasee wana scream wanatoka kwa hiyo mathree, the first thing I did after stepping down, I called Dambiz.Like Dambiz manze,nimeget involved in an accident I think unaneed kucall ghafla uwasho BenCyco has been involved iin a road accident. Nobody cared(laughed). And I remember when Ringtone was involved in just a small accident we guys called “Are you okay?” The songwriter said.
For him the fake news strategy did not work for him and he finally stopped. He is thankful that being real has helped him build a long lasting brand. Some of his friends who built a brand based on fake news have lost their brands.
”…and now the disadvantage that I’m seeing with some of my friends that went don that route is that fakeness always catches up with you. Like, you can’t fake forever. You can fake for five years, six, seven just not forever. The reality eventually catches up with you. You now have to show who you really are. You cannot entertain them…”