 Hi everyone, my name is Brenda Samba, I'm an artist and today I'd like to talk about the challenges that we female artists, you know, go through in this industry that is predominantly male. So the first issue is sexual harassment. See, for instance, I've released a new video and I'd like to push it. I have to reach out to DJs, I have to reach out to radio presenters, TV presenters, most of them are male. So when you reach out to them, most of them are like, okay, now you have to do something for me in order for me to play your music or in order for me to do this for you. You have to do for me something in return, which is very frustrating and that's why most female artists end up quitting because we're not taken seriously. The men look down upon you, you're not taken seriously at all. Like for instance, I was at Citizen just last weekend. I was called for the interview but when I went there, they switched the interview. I was supposed to go with the artist that I featured in my song. What they did is that they switched the interview, the interview became his and then now he introduced me. It was very, very, very frustrating for me and then most of the time when you're going to perform live music or when you're about to do a show, we are patronized as women. People are like, are you sure the mic is loud enough? Are you sure you're okay? Are you not nervous? We're not taken seriously. Also, the government is not helping at all. For instance, the government is stuck in the traditional mindset that artistry is just a way of expressing yourself and that's it. They don't take it as a serious business. Let's take for instance the Music Corporate Society of Kenya. They don't do anything to help the artist. The Music Corporate Society of Kenya is the body that oversees the royalties from airplay for the artist. What they do is that they collect this money. They don't hand it over to the artists. So basically, the Kenyan artist is really suffering. And then you're left at the Matthew of the producers. So a lot really needs to be done, especially the government, because I think the government is the only solution here, to be honest.