 We have reached out to Saudi Soul, I think for the past four years now, if I'm not mistaken, I could be wrong, I could be right. We have reached out to Caligraph Jones for a while now, I think we've sent quite a number of songs, I think about three or four songs, but maybe when the time is right, we'll work on those songs. What's up everybody, welcome to Saudi TV, SPM Buzz and of course 3D Kitui in the building and today, as you can see, we have your favorite, Amarula Hitmaker Arobato, all the way from Zambia. And today we have him here, Leonie Story, we want him to tell us the experience right now in Kenya because it's now one day, right? Yes, first of all, how are you? I'm good. You're good? I'm alright. You're looking amazing. Thank you so much, thank you so much. I've had a very interesting day, so yeah. How is Kenya so far? Kenya is great, at least it's not raining, back home in Zambia it's raining, so you know it's good to just hang out and see the place. How do you love about Kenya right now because it's now one night and like half a day, what do you love about Kenya? What I love about Kenya, I would say, is just the hospitality, the warmness and just the way we're received as well, very interesting and amazing way, so yeah, so far so good and I love it here. Yeah, the weather is good by the way, the weather is good. We love Kenya, we really love to relocate from Zambia to Kenya. Given the chance, I would want to have a home here, but you know how it is, home is home right? And it's one thing when you just go and visit but when you have a home where you know like it's your place, your place, I think I would love that as well. Okay, so many people have known you just through the song Amarula and maybe being a musician, being in the music industry and today we want to request you to take us through before maybe fame came. Okay. Just give us your story a little bit of yourself. Well my real names are Robert and I'm the last born in the family. I have been a music lover for a very long time. Both parents were very active in music and I think I picked it up from them, so music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. But other than music, I love to do other things, you know. Everything media related, I would say. I'm a radio presenter as well, film director, film producer. We run our own media institution as well as a record label. So there's a lot that I do besides just being an active musician. But yeah, any other given day, if I'm not in front of a microphone or the cameras, I just love to spend time probably playing soccer, basketball. Don't be fooled by the height. Yeah, basketball. And I just love to just and wine, go on drives. I love game viewing. So anything just to do with nature, just keeping me calm and you know, reflecting on a lot of things. That's me. Yeah. At what point did you realize you can sing? Because we have talents. When they get born like this, they begin to sing. Others, their talent, maybe they realize when they're in high school, others pray for you. At what point did you realize now you can sing or maybe you can be a presenter? Actually, when I was young, I just used to sing to gospel songs, especially when guests come home. My mom would always tell us, you need to entertain the guests. So I was a guy that used to go and dress up, you know, the very smart shed and you come and sing for the guests. But I wasn't really doing it on a serious level. So when I was given an opportunity to try and sing and I failed to sing, that's when I realized I needed to really, really push myself to the next level. So I was a rapper before and then I switched to singing. So it was a very big and difficult transition because I was so used to doing something else that singing had to be one aspect that I had to improve on. So professionally, I would say when I was in the first year of high school, that's when I decided to take singing like serious, serious, serious, serious, because this is when it would go to different places and just go to churches and you'd sing there and that sort of thing. So I would say first grade in high school, that's when I think I decided to say this is what I want to do. Yeah. Are you being a legend in this music industry and because you started singing in the way back, have you ever tried to reach someone, maybe to do a collab with someone, a musician and maybe disappointed you or maybe told you you cannot sing with me or something like that and how do you take it? Look, music is like that. You have different people in different stages. Even for me, there are people that reach out to me to say listen, I want to do a song with you and when I listen to the music and I look at what I'm doing and I tell myself I don't think we're on the same level. You get my point. So at times it can be very difficult to try and say no and someone takes it in a positive manner. Have I been disappointed before? Yes, I have. Actually, before we even released the Amarulla song, we had reached out to a number of artists if they could be on that song and well, they refused. We even had TV stations that turned down the video and they say the video was not good enough. Like it could not play on certain TV stations, but after three months, things changed. Some of those artists, when they saw the success of the song, they came back and say listen, can we be on that song? And certain TV stations then started playing the song. So it's something that I feel at times is normal. Every artist has been through that. I think every artist has been denied a certain feature with certain artists and most artists, they always want to work with an artist either of the same standard or one that is you feel is of a higher standard in a different country or different region. So if I want to work with an artist, say Chris Brown, right, and if he feels my music is not good enough, he's got the right to say no and I can't go on social media and start saying bad things about him because maybe he feels we don't connect, but you might find in the near future he hears the very same song in a different scenario because it's now trending. She wants to jump on the song. So it does happen. So every artist that is out there, I think you should never look back and say it's a bad thing. Take it in a positive way. Okay. Which is the highest amount you've been paid performing a song Amarula? You know, that Amarula is a hate song. You'll never deny that the fact remains it's a hate song. Which is the highest amount? My friend told me to ask that question you've received from Amarula. It was definitely more than 50,000 US dollars. I will not mention the actual amount but it was more than 50,000 US dollars. Definitely more than 50,000 dollars. I remember I was once paid quite a lot of money for just performing two songs. My performance didn't last more than 15 minutes. I was flown to this country and I went to perform there and yeah, we didn't spend 15 minutes singing. I just did two songs and that was it was done. Only two songs. Okay, first I'll say I'm very grateful I've met you for the second time. I'm so proud of you. You used to sing your song when I was growing up. I'm still looking up to you every single day. First question is that let me take you back. You mentioned you had to switch from being a rapper to a musician. Maybe you can tell us maybe what made you because as an artist you're very creative. It's a way you can want to converse. It's a way you want to become more creative maybe for you to make it out of there. Wow. So the story is there was a song that was being worked on for AIDS campaign and there were a number of artists that were being selected to be on that song. So they wanted two singers and two rappers. So I didn't make the cut as a rapper. So the only other opportunity that was there was for me to be a singer. So I tried it out and I sucked big time. I didn't sound good. So that hurt me. Like it was a big no. It was a life-changing no because I told myself I'm going to prove that I can do this. And that's how I just started singing every single day just practicing rehearsing trying to perfect my art and just become a different artist altogether. And that's how it happened. So I still do that a lot because listen this industry is different. You think you're the best today. Two days later a new artist pops up and they are trending and they're doing way more than what you are doing. So you can't just sit back and think I'm the most happening artist. You need to remember that the other artists who are looking up to you looking at your mistakes and they're improving their craft because they're seeing what you're doing. So you always have to keep evolving and growing. It's still relevant up to now because at the time you release a Marula hit song. There are no, the sub-medias are not there. There's not that big medias or bloggers can call them to push your song. Maybe the likes of Spotify, Altitude, Audemars, all those sub-median platforms are not in there. But still you remain relevant up to today. Your song was trending, still trending. What is the secret? The secret behind the Marula song. I would say it was just a feel-good song also because it was easy for people to lend the lyrics or lend it. I was talking about things that happen with anybody that either experiences something because they're experiencing it personally or they know somebody and they've seen what happened. What am I saying? If you don't drink, you know someone who drinks, right? And you know the story of a hangover. You've heard about it, right? You either have fallen in love or you know someone who's in love. And there's always that one word at times that will always ring a bell. And that's what I wanted. I wanted a song that when you hear it the first 30 seconds and someone cuts the song, what is that one word that's going to keep ringing in your head? And that's what I wanted. So I made the song very easy on the ear. I made it easy for anyone to dance to it. The instruments, they don't have so much going on. You can literally hear almost everything that is playing. But at the same time, there's a story to it with words that are easy for you to understand and remember. So blah, blah, blah. I'm Marula. I'm Marula. So even a small kid, after three, four times, you remember those words. So it was a fun song. We stand into a hit song, a big song for my career, a song that opened more doors for me, and it's still opening doors for me. Let's take a look at your journey now. Amarula being a household name in many countries, because I understand before Amarula became big in Zambia, it was big outside Zambia. So the reception, your friends are calling you, telling you the song is big in South Africa, it's big in Botswana, it's big in Kenya. What is the feeling? How did you plan now for your own people to understand and appreciate you? Because most of the people didn't know you come from Zambia, because it was this in South Africa, or it's someone from America, UK. I actually have a lot of people who still believe I am not Zambian at all. Others say, oh, he's from Nigeria, he's from Ghana, he's from East Africa. But maybe that's the goodness of the song. People relate to it, that it feels like it's one of theirs. And I love that about that song, because everywhere you go, wherever it is played, people are still questioning and doubting. It simply means someone will still go on YouTube, look for it and say, we want to know where this person is from, or where this song is from. And for me to have had this experience where a song starts hitting in other countries was amazing, because just when we released the song, one week later, our president died. So we had one month of national mourning. We could not play circular music, clubs were closed, and then boom, once everything was open, we just heard, oh, this song is big this side, this song is big this side, it's number one this side, it's number one this side, and come February it was just like a global hit. And I don't think there's an artist out there who would complain if something like that happened. Yes, it does happen where a song can start trending elsewhere or years later. If you've noticed on TikTok now, some of the songs that are trending are songs that were released either three years ago or five years ago, and it's no more in the music industry. And I don't take success for granted. I don't take my music for granted. Every time I record a song, I want to make sure years later, it's still going to make sense to somebody. During your tour, Amarulla tour, do you regret maybe making a mistake? Maybe a big artist among I can say it was an upcoming artist which I'll tell you maybe for a remix, some for a collaboration, maybe you were overbooked, you were busy, turned out a request, now the artist is bigger. I don't know if you have any regrets. Maybe Mr. Amarulla will seal the name Amarulla, maybe to be the brand ambassador for Amarulla. Maybe Mr. Mediums, we don't know. You speak like someone who knows what's been going on. Did we miss opportunities? Yes, we did. A lot of them actually. So I'll tell you of one artist that I was introduced to. So I wanted to work on a song with a group from South Africa called Mikasa. So I sent some music to them and they said, listen, at the moment, we cannot work on the song maybe later. So the lady that we were talking to said, listen, there's a female artist that is coming up. I think she's going to be big and she's willing to jump on the song. We didn't know her. We had never heard of her. And then she sent an email herself and said, can I sing on the song? But then because our focus was on one particular group, we just said, no, no, no. Surprise, surprise. Years later, she's one of the biggest artists in South Africa. Her name is Moon Child. So yeah. Yes, Moon Child. So for me, it was like, wow, went back to the emails and we found she used to send these emails like, can I please get on the song? Can I please get on the song? But I know how reality is. By the time that you go back, that person feels you denied me that opportunity. You get my point, right? And I'm really just looking forward to a day when I can meet with her one day and say, hey, I remember you sent me an email. Congratulations on your career. And if at all you feel we can still work on something, hey, I'm still open. But those are certain things that I think as artists at times we overlook because you're in the moment and you don't see potential in somebody. And it's a mistake that, for example, we made and it's happened with Amarula. We did have several meetings regarding brand ambassadorship and signing a contract for them to use the song for marketing purposes and so many other things. When we were reaching advanced levels of the discussions regarding the use of the song Amarula, in one of the meetings someone came up and said, we just have one problem with this song, one problem. The part that says, gives me hangover. And they felt it was working against the brand because then they did not want people to look at it from that angle. So they asked us, are you able to change the lyrics in that part? And I went back into studio and I changed it because the amount of money that they were offering was life-changing. Like I literally saw myself being an instant millionaire like in that moment. So we changed the lyrics. We sent it back to them and they said, okay, listen, you need to pull down the song everywhere and redistribute this version. But that was a really tough task, very difficult for us to do. I'm an independent artist. I don't work with the major record label that can call different radio stations and say, can you please put down the song in ABCD and it was on YouTube. The numbers were going up. It was everywhere. It was quite a big challenge for us to do that and to reach out to all the stations worldwide and say, can you please put down the song and use this one, was a big task for us. So we kind of like ended off there. The conversations kind of like started dying down. We were still interested in working with them. And I think along the way, they probably saw potential in the song. Would I be interested in reviving those talks? Definitely. I think the song to some extent also helped sell the Amarula brand for people that did not know what it was. They still went instead of looking for it. And business is business. You know what I mean? So we're still open to talks, deliberations and see how best we can work on it because years later that song is still a hit in so many countries. So I think this way is in which we can still work out something. Do you regret that? Do I regret missing out on that opportunity? Definitely. Because I had plans to really take my music career to different levels. The amount of money that they were offering was going to allow me to collaborate with artists that I'd only imagined I could work with. It was going to take me to places that maybe other people only dream of. But for me, it was a dream to make a dream come true. You understand? Because sometimes it takes one opportunity to change everything. Like I said earlier on, it took one song to take me across the world. But how many albums did I have before I released Amarulla? So many songs and so many albums, right? But it was that one song that just shot things in the air and all these things started happening. So for me, that was a life-changing moment. I wanted that deal to go through because I know what it was going to do for my career. So yeah, we regret it. So far so good. What are some of the challenges, achievements you've got from the song Amarulla? Because you know, some of the viewers who are watching, they'll get inspired after you share what you've achieved from the song Amarulla. Wow. I have built houses. I have helped families. I have helped other friends. I've been able to change other people's lives. We have donated to the needy all from one song. You know? And for me, that is something that I treasure. I still embrace as if it's my only baby. Because when you realize that with one song, you can do so much. Even when people keep saying, no, but you only have one song. No, no, no. I don't have one song. I have plenty other songs, but you're just not taking time to know the other songs. You understand? So it's important for me to market myself using that one potential tool that will help other songs be recognized. It's like football. Brazil is known for football. Do people know any other thing other than football in Brazil? Maybe some don't, right? But if you dig deeper, you find that there are certain things that happen in Brazil that you might like. So it's the same thing. And I use my songs to market other songs. Yeah. Just to understand, you've mentioned that you are all independent artists. What made you not be signed on the level? Because I understand during that time, in your peak time, so many levels were looking for maybe artists to sign. I believe you had offers on table for everybody to be under a certain level. Well, we didn't really get offers to be on certain levels. What we did was we had asked for distribution deals and we did get quite a number of offers. We did settle with one, but I feel it was more of what can they get out of it? You know, when you sign a deal with somebody, everybody needs to win. It has to be a win-win situation for everybody, but it was more of a win situation for the company that we signed with because then they were now dictating what happens when it comes to money flow. So we are pushing, we're promoting, but you're not doing anything, but you're still collecting revenue, collecting money. And so we looked at, we weighed the situation and to be honest with you, it was more of a win for them than it was for us. So a year later, we decided to just terminate the contract because the works that we were doing is works that they should have been doing and maybe even more, you get it. So there are labels out there that they just jump on a trend because they want to siphon money from you and that sort of thing. So we realized, you know, it wasn't really working for us. So before, after Marula, you released other songs and maybe they are not well known the way Marula is known. Has it affected you in any way? But you said that why is that these songs are not maybe being listed or maybe people are really concentrating on Marula. Has it affected you in any way? Well, sometimes it would affect you because music is emotionally driven, right? When you sit down and you're writing a song, it's coming from somewhere, right? It's either a story of something that you've been through or a friend of yours has been through and it's emotion. And for me, when I write songs, I want the songs to relate to that person and you should feel my pain or you should feel my happiness. So when you see the success of a particular song, your aim is to do better than the other song. But what I realized along the way is that I cannot make another song that sounds like Marula. Imagine if I have 10 songs and they all sound the same like Marula. The way they start, now you'll be like, this is boring now. You know what I mean? So even in your home, you don't eat the same meal every day. Breakfast is different, lunch is different, supper is different. And it's the same thing with music. You always have to give people something different. The reason why on the chart you've got a song that's at number one and another one at number 10 is because all these songs are different, but they're equally good. You get my point. So that's the thing for me. When someone listens to my music, they should be like, wow, this is a Marula song with a hit. Have you heard this other song? It's also a hit. Maybe you just haven't heard it. So that's what I want to do. I want to have songs that will compete among each other, but they have relevance across the world. I just want to understand in terms of now, how much did you make from Marula in terms of millions? Because now that we have realities, we have, you know, your song is still trending, your song is still on Spotify. You still be making millions for the rest of your life. I'm still making money off of Marula in Kenya. That much, I will tell you. The last check I got from Kenya was a month ago, actually. And it's a good song. People still love it. And if people still love it, it simply means they are connected to that song. And there are other people out there who always say, I'm going to support the song, or I'm going to support this artist because I like the song. Does it make me feel like I should never concentrate on other songs? No. But Marula has changed a lot of things for me because there are people who are passionate about knowing more about what I'm doing or what I've done, that after they listen to Marula, they're like, you know, we like the song. What other song does this guy have? And in return, they're showing support to my other songs. So I'm passionate about the support that I get. I'm thankful for the support I get. I can never take it for granted. I'm so thankful to everybody that is here in Kenya, in East Africa, that still listen to my music and say, this song I always vibe to. You get it. So, yeah, it's a great feeling. It's a great feeling. We have this case whereby when an artist reaches a point whereby they have issues, they don't have money, they are living life that even doesn't match their like their brand. Yeah, and maybe according to you, what do you think these artists should be doing or should do to avoid such cases? They come in the social media, you know, begging for money, and maybe they used to do well, maybe done these and these to avoid such cases. According to what do you think they should be doing? They need to be real with themselves because you can't pretend to be one person and then, you know, at home you don't even have money to buy maize mill for you to cook your own O'Galley. The truth is money can mislead us. Most men, they're misled by women, alcohol, drugs, and we always think, you know, there's more where that money came from. I'm going to do this even tomorrow. But the truth is money does not last forever, especially if you are a reckless person, because today you have an opportunity to do something great for yourself. Tomorrow that opportunity might not come your way. And unfortunately, as artists, we don't get people that come to cancel us and say, listen, if you're going to make 200,000 Kenyan shillings, do you know you can actually just spend X amount of money for this and that? And then the rest you can invest it because, like I said, there are new artists coming up every day, every single day, every month, they're new artists. And one day you might not be a hit artist at all. People will still love and respect you, but your songs might not be on the charts. You get it, right? So what do you do then? This is where now you probably might find yourself, you need to invest in other projects that will help sustain your career. So if you have not saved at all in anything, then it's a big problem for you. But such words and such advice, sometimes they fall on deaf ears, especially when you are pompous and you feel you can't tell me anything. So it's something that I think is very sensitive for a lot of people out there. But yeah, we need to talk about it time and time again. I'm about to just understand, you mentioned money. Are you financially disciplined? Did you regret maybe not investing back to your art? Am I investing making investments? I actually invest more, and I think the past three years I've invested more in property than glamour and that sort of thing. At some point I was buying cars like I don't know. I was buying cars, shoes, because I felt the need to just do it. But along the way I realized I need to invest in different things. And I decided to invest in property. And for me it's a great thing because then those are permanent assets that I will always look back at and say, okay cool, I'm getting money from this. I'm getting money from that. I invested in different businesses. We started our own video production company. So now we shoot TV commercials. We record adverts for other different companies. So we have different money coming in from different sources. So for me glamour, like lifestyle, isn't one that I really try to stay away from because I know the reality of it. Today I might be privileged to walk and talk. What if I'm in an accident the following day and I don't have anything? Who's gonna look out for me? So there are all these things that you need to consider. And I don't have to go around flashing money or looking like, okay I've got X amount of money. If I'm getting this amount I'm investing it in something. What do you love about Kenyan artists, Kenyan musicians? The hustle, the hustle, the hunger. The hunger to just be the best. I think Kenya is I would say the hub for music in East Africa. When you look at just how much of a global impact artist or the community from Kenya has had. I went to Australia and a lot of people that came out there are people from Kenya. So it's amazing how you have this country that is embracing other people. You love other people. And for me that is very important. You cannot rule it out and say okay listen I'm only going to come to you when I'm in need of business and that. Sometimes it's good to just come out here, interact with different people, interact with artists. Get to know the culture, get to know what people like. And it helps you grow as a person because then you're getting knowledge. So I love a lot of stuff about Kenya, the business side of it. I love the way you people are so resilient pushing. Hey you guys can push. You guys can push. So yeah it's good to be in a place where you feel challenged. When you look at someone doing something like wow okay. So I actually can do this. And that's how I always be when I'm here. I don't know if it's working for you the other way because I have to take you back again. You mentioned an upcoming, that time she was an upcoming singer. I don't know if it's happening for you right now. Maybe reaching out to Kenyan maybe artists, other international artists maybe to work with on a project. I'm not replying to mails and not picking calls. Man you just want me to start talking about certain people. That's what I know. No we're just having a conversation because at the end this information would be useful. No no no. So let me be real with you. Let me be real with you. And I don't think it was from a bad place. I don't think it was in a bad space. I don't think it was, I don't know. But we have reached out to South Israel. I think for the past four years now, if I'm not mistaken. I could be wrong. I could be right. We have reached out to Caligraph Jones for a while now. I think we've sent quite a number of songs. I think about three or four songs. But maybe when the time is right we'll work on those songs. But have we sent some music to some other Kenyan artists? Yes. Have they happened? No. Not yet. I'm sure they will happen eventually. And I think it would be great for the the loads of people that appreciate my music, appreciate their music. I know the love and support that they have in Zambia is just immense. It's it's it's unique. And a song or a collaboration would just mean the world to some other artists. So like I said earlier on sometimes I do understand where as artists you come from. If you're not in a certain space at that particular point, you might not do something. But you find something will trigger a conversation and we'll work on something. So yeah, I'm still hopeful. I'm sure we'll work on something one day. Just to understand on South Israel and Caligraph case, have you used the right way? Have you sent an official mail? Have you sent maybe a bit to share your project? Or have you guys tried to reach out maybe through phone call conversation or a DM? Because I understand you're very active. Yeah, no, no, no. I work with a very diplomatic team. I know how, for example, we receive mail when it comes to collaborations. So we we always want to follow the right channels. So at times you reach out to management and you also just extend almost like a CC to the artists and say this is what we'd like to do. If you like it, let us know. And again, I say this, I don't think if an artist reaches out to another artist, it is mandatory that we need to work together. You get my point, right? It's not mandatory. It's not a must that if I'm going to reach out to Caligraph or to South Israel, they should work with me. No, no, no. When they feel cool, we actually have a good song or this is a good song. And I think we can vibe to it. It's going to happen. So we'll keep sharing music. And I'm sure one day there's something that might really just trigger something and say, This is the one. No, let's work on it. So yeah, there's two brothers that I love. Look up to them, listen to their music and we support them as much as we can. And no bad blood, no hate, nothing whatsoever. Just to understand, and I know the guys who have mentioned that quite we have a management that are professional. Is it that maybe the conversations just went called or in just an open term, maybe why ignored, or maybe they demanded for some compensation or just the conversation didn't get to a point where they would materialize into you collaborating because you've said you've mentioned that they have big support in Zambia and to penetrate that market fully and they definitely need you in some way as much as you're the one reaching out. So how was the conversation like? I don't know, not to get deep inside the conversation, but just let the fans know how did it go. I wouldn't say they need me to penetrate in Zambia. The good thing is that they're producing good music. And that is a plus already for any artist. If you are loved somewhere, it simply means you're doing something right. I think it's a question of perhaps finding the right songs or the right moment to record something. And hence I'm saying, for me, it's not in bad blood. And for me to talk about it, it's not like I'm trying to parade them and say, listen, we'll reach out to you and you deny this a feature. No, no, no, it's a situation where I feel probably still might work on something. Did we get a response? I remember, I think with being you came to Zambia, I was given a number and we chatted for a few minutes. They were in Zambia for a short period of time, so we didn't get a chance to meet. But did we have a conversation? Yes, we did. I have some colleagues that have reached out to calligraph team and I personally have done that just to say hi, what's up, you know, just to support the brother. So it's something that I think with time we'll see what happens. So yeah, we have reached out. Okay, here in Kenya, you have huge fans and they really love your music and support your music as well. And are you here for quite some time? Are you planning to have a meet and greet? Maybe you miss them, you have some time with them, talk to them, say hi to them. I would love that, definitely I'd love that. I'm here for a couple of days and that's the whole reason why I'm here. You cannot gain so much popularity somewhere and be hiding away from the very same people that are supporting you. So I would love to do that. My team is working tirelessly. I'm sure you can hear the meetings happening in the background. We're here to manage countries and make a stronger bond. Also just talk about tourism in Zambia, tourism in Kenya. How can we work together and just explore ideas? So not only am I here for collaborations, I'm here to know and understand the culture, what is trending, what is happening. And you can only know that if you engage and interact with different people. If there's somewhere where I'm not doing fine, tell me, give me a point. If you tell me the truth, you're being a good friend and that's how we grow. So I would love to have that meet and greet and just get to share a moment or two with most of the people that love my music. From Kenya, where are you heading to the next country? So from here I am going to the UK next month. We're also supposed to be in Burundi, Uganda later. We're doing a whole US tour as well, touching Jamaica, quite a number of countries. Robert, one thing about the current music industry situation is the emergence of social media, especially, for example, TikTok. How has it impacted you as an artist who was there, maybe free, or at the start of the social media? We are seeing the impact of social media and music, for example, TikTok, music that was, and you mentioned that that was back then, comes to trend right now, or music that had maybe gone down, it picks up again and starts trending. How has that impacted you personally and as social media and especially, for example, TikTok, even opened more doors or opportunities? Social media is driving the music industry. Social media is driving the entertainment industry because you now have TikTokers, people who are great at dancing and they're not seeing us as per se, but they will use your song for something and its trends. So it is such an amazing time and era for us to be living in because we have all these platforms that are helping us as artists. So you find that a song, is that song Jerusalem? So you know it by Master Keiji? You see how it became a global hit of TikTok, just a dance, right? And it was a big song in Asia, in Europe, and it all starts from that. There are people who cannot sing, but they'll use your song in a certain creative way that it becomes a big song. So for me, I would say I love and support the creatives on social media that are there doing all these amazing things. They are helping us. It's like marketing and selling a two-word product and you cannot thank them. We need to say thank you for using our music. When a song comes out, they do these dance challenges, they do this, whatever. There are all sorts of challenges out there that make a song, a big song and they make artists bigger. So yeah, I just have to say thank you to the guys. Very amazing stuff. Okay, just to remind you, Sunday it was Grammy Awards. So we're going on from Mr. Africa, Eddie Kenzo was nominated among the global music performance category with Matt B. I don't think it's a dream. Maybe one day you win a Grammy for Zambians. Every artist out there wants to win a Grammy or even just step foot at the auditorium where the Grammys are taking place. It's like the climax of anybody's career. And I'm so happy to see how African music is developing, how it is growing across the world, for Africa to even have more than two, three artists being nominated for a Grammy. That is big. It's positive. So a huge congrats to the winners that won. I know Zech Spantuini was one of them that won at the Grammys. Congratulations to my brother Eddie Kenzo. He released a song that I've done with him just a few weeks before he traveled to USA for the Grammys. It was a great honor. He's someone that I look up to. I respect so much. Would I love to win a Grammy? Oh my god, yes. Not just one. Many Grammys actually. And I hope it's something that happens in due time. But yeah, we're still working every day. We learn from mistakes and we learn from everything that happens. He also did a song with Pato Ranking. How was it working with him? Wow. Pato Ranking actually reached out to me on Twitter. And you remember I said that there's some people that we had reached out that we wanted to be on the Amarulla song? One of them was WizKid actually. So we said, listen, there's this song and I think it's a good song. And we didn't get any feedback from WizKid. But then when the song was playing in West Africa, Pato Ranking saw it. So he sent me a message on Twitter and says, yo, I love the song. Can we do something together? So he's like, hey, why not? And that's how we actually worked on that remix. So we started talking from there and one song led us to another song that we worked on. So it was really just a magic moment for me to get feedback from such a great artist. And I thrive for moments like that. And I also want to make other people's days like that because the certain artists who may have tried to reach out to us, but then we didn't reach back and you want to surprise them and do something special. So I've been going through Diamond Platinum's comment section every time he released a song and people have been asking if you can do a song with Diamond. Like they've been asking, Diamond, can you do a song with Amarulla Hitmaker? I don't know if you'll consider that or maybe you've ever had that feeling, whether you love working with Diamond because before Diamond even became someone maybe well known, you were the one, we knew you before Diamond. So do you have that plan of maybe working with Diamond? Yes, definitely. I think he's a great artist, fantastic artist. I've had the chance to meet with his manager at the time I was in Tanzania when I was shooting the video with Vanesam Day. We had a brief chat with the manager, we time and time again do reach out to his management. And yeah, we have talked about possible collaboration and I'm looking forward to it. When it happens, I'm sure it's going to be a big song, definitely. Can you tell us maybe, I know this happens a lot in Kenya, it happens a lot in Tanzania. I don't know whether it happens in Zambia. My musicians really like pulling stunts. In Tanzania it's called Kiki Kenya, we call it Kiki as well. For example, just looking for clout, for example you can announce you've lost maybe five million dollars, maybe you've broken up with your wife or girlfriend or maybe just something ridiculous that keeps you trending on social media. Then after that you release a song. What do you think about it as somebody who has been in music before and your music just gained virality through its natural way because it was a good hit, what do you think about that? I know of artists that like doing that. They use social media to create hype and all this fake hype and well someone told me to say look it's just entertainment and the truth is when you hear your neighbors fighting, what's the first thing you do? Do you close your doors or you want to go outside and watch? You want to go and watch, you know what I mean right? Before you stop the fight you first want to watch and see okay let me see who's going to be beaten first. So everybody in this world they love gossip, they love drama, we all love drama and there are people out there who have realized to say listen for me to sell my music I need to do something crazy. In the USA they use sex tapes. You find an artist they're going to say oh my sex tape has been leaked and someone is demanding for 10 million US dollars so people now I think wait a minute there's a sex tape worth 10 million dollars I want to see that sex tape. So you find that news is trending before you realize it boom there's a song or there's an album. So it is used in different ways. I have never used it like that I think it was the time me and J-Rox did something like that but we knew it was just fake hype but yeah there's something that do it almost every single day every week they look for a story just so that they become relevant so for me I've just stopped to go music and just yeah being positive about life. So that's just the last one there's also this issue of I mean I know YouTube is really big in terms of just getting people to know is this hit big is this hit not big in terms of views and sometimes artists feel the pressure and this this this this talk that has been there of buying views or doing promotions more on sponsoring videos even in Asia countries people maybe cannot watch your music just so that you get so much views and you beat your opponents what do you think about that? I was criticized back home when I talked about how a number of artists started buying YouTube views but whenever you talk about something like that people always say you don't like this person or you're a hater but that's just the truth and you are right there are people who are buying views and it's it's it's well known it's a well known fact because numbers play a critical role you know it plays numbers play a critical role for a lot of people that is your that is your bread and butter if I come here and say listen I'll just release a song and we did 10 million views in a week it will be like wow okay so you're trending right but there are people who are buying views and have I ever bought views no I'd rather just stick to what I know and people criticize me and say no but you need to do the same thing this this and that but I don't know I prefer just being organic okay as we went up I can just talk to your fans tell them something I'm missing to your fans thank you so much for loving and supporting Roberto simple guy from Zambia um your guys have embraced me you've made me feel like this is my home people back home say I love East Africa you love Kenya yes it's true I do love Kenya because I know the importance of how we connect and the support that I get from everybody here thank you so much to the media for always coming through and giving me such an opportunity to speak you know I don't take it for granted YouTube time to come here thank you so much um and my god keep blessing you please follow me on social media those of you that on Instagram please go to your phones right now and type Roberto Zambia YouTube Roberto Zambia Twitter Roberto Zambia Facebook Roberto Zambia let's connect I thought you're gonna say can you give us intro of another song hey what's up everybody it's your superstar my name is Roberto and you are checking out espiambas my name is Roberto Amarola