 Hi guys all right I'm very delighted to speak to a gentleman who is going to be introducing himself right now and just tell us who he is and what he does. Hi. Hi how are you? Fine thank you please introduce yourself. My name is Dennis. I'm a Kenyan artist. I have six albums and five mixtapes. My name is Dennis Njanga. I am the managing director Kaka Empire. Mostly what I do I just manage talent so all the talent you see from the label I'm the man behind them. You see Kaka Empire is a very big you know brand and it's been doing good for quite a long time yeah how do you do do it you know. So what people don't know is we started this thing in in when 207 so it's about if my math is right 11 12 years old now and what we've been doing all those years is we've been creating and building culture structures business structures to ensure that we have a sustainable brand for us to push uh within the structures we've been doing a lot to learn about the Kenyan industry and how the Kenyan industry structures so that we can also more or less earn revenue from it because as you know we're in business yeah so it has to make sense both both ways uh number two we also been doing a lot of networking with corporates a lot of networking with partners so that each and everything that we do we're supported by this other other functions of the industry so something that has been there for a very long time it's something that we've really done a lot of work to build and that's why you're seeing the fruits today yeah you know there's a time I had a chat just away from the cameras with King Kaka and it told me you guys went to the same school yeah we met when we were about 13 years old in school yeah so we've been to high school together uh we're basically brothers so our families knows each other lived with him for a while he's lived with my place for a while so we've known each other for the longest time and I was also an artist before I decided to just venture into business yeah but uh you just stick to be a Shara so this is where I am now yeah you know of course we know King Kaka right now but I would really like to know how is King Kaka in high school he's the same guy uh down to earth uh always willing to help actually I was not very good in maths in high school so he used to give me private classes private lessons after classes for for maths uh he was also still an artist used to draw very well um he's to have a scooter he's to come with a scooter in school and also his entrepreneurship skills also is to sell mandazis to us in high school yeah so he's the same King Kaka only now he's doing big business yeah and at what point you know you decided now I'm done with music and then I'm working with King Kaka as his manager at what point so uh I think it was just from the beginning once we we have we had the vision and we knew where we're going yeah we had to choose who's the artist and who's the manager and after high school and of course college and campus we went into other ventures in in terms of our career and I got a lot of background experience from banking insurance and the tech industry so that is what I now copied rather than experience I borrowed and now I built the business for King Kaka empire yes so it's from the experience that I built is what I build now the business from yes how is King Kaka as a person because now you know him as a friend we know him as an artist how is he as a person he's a very very good guy very down to earth um always willing to help as I said um we are more than we are when it comes to business we do business so when it comes to business it's strictly business but more or less your brother he's a family man as you know is you know his wife you know his kids uh yeah uh is someone who I think who's very talented and willing to give out and share his talent with everyone yes yes two things I would like to know one thing the most impressive thing about King Kaka that you admire quality from him and the second thing something that really annoys you like King where we're in the village of Keangu and you know we have to work together those two things uh I think he's he's generous generosity he's very generous and he gives out what he has yeah and he's a very he's a very good listener no no he's not a good listener sometimes is so the other thing sometimes he can be hardheaded that's why he did his creation yes yes some doesn't pick calls you're supposed to deliver something doesn't deliver but anyway as you said it's creative um but his generosity is good I think is God given and that's why God has really blessed his his career and is able to do us so many things at once yeah and uh also number two what I don't like about him that's how business builds yes yes okay guys now you've heard you know what the manager is saying right now now um back to when King was unwell yeah how was it for you because he's your friend he's someone that you're managing and you're like looking at this kind of like God my job could even be gone at any minute how was it for you uh I think it was one of the hardest uh point of our careers uh or rather the the the whole journey that we've taken because um we've never seen him down he's always even if he's sick he's always on the run and the other thing we don't know about kinkake is very secretive so everything that is going through he's he really talks about it and when he talks about it maybe it's a point where now he can't handle it himself so before we knew that it is just a point where it is so bad it took a lot of convincing and we could see now this is now too much and we need to now just go to hospital um looking at him in bed not able to walk looking at the procedures that the doctors are doing the tests some were very physical you are drilling his his bones and all that just get samples so it was really hard for us as I said he's not he's more than just a business partner but he's a brother so it was more like my brother going through a hard time and a family member so it was really hard for us but we thank God that now he's fine and as he said this is his second birthday and we're celebrating that he's here now yeah oh my goodness I really I mean I can imagine it must have been very very tough for you guys and um what is that one day that you felt oh my god I'm almost giving up but you guys have to keep a straight face and just show him that he's doing better so you know it when when someone is sick and and you can see that this this person is unwell you don't really tell him on the face that is unwell yeah but the point we saw him at the hospital bed just lying there is when you realize anyway you need to give thanks to life and give thanks to the you know good health you know you can talk you can walk you can eat uh yeah so at that point it was hard but again as I said it is from the hope and the prayers that everyone around him especially the close people because very few people knew what he was going through yeah that we offered him and we kept on praying that God guides him and you know takes him out of the the situation is in that made him just be who he is so we thank God we thank God yeah yeah so it was tough but we're good yeah we are grateful like right now he's you know he's doing much better now of course you're the right person to ask this we saw the issue about you know diamond and harmonize I know the record label issues and contract issues pass it yeah and you know in Kenya we have a long way to go I believe in terms of management talent management and just artists believing that they need management yeah what is it that you'd like to tell an artist we're starting right now and you feel that a management is actually an important aspect in their career so they need to understand the aspect of management and what I tell artists to come to me because I I interact with a lot of artists and a lot of artists approach me is one we need to know what are we managing it's like you're starting a kiosk or business outside on the road so if you don't have products to sell to people who are passing there every day so what are you selling number two you need to understand that you cannot do everything you cannot be your own PR you cannot be your own stylist you cannot be your own AR you can only be your manager so each and everything has their own specific person that is designated to do that the other thing is not everyone is a manager so also management has their own qualities uh you have to be good with books in terms of accounts you have to know how to network you have to know how to run businesses because a manager is is basically a leader who runs businesses and you need to you need a person who's a visionary who can see where you're headed in four to five years from now so it before you approach a manager or before you have a manager you need to ask yourself a man that is to have a product or do I have value that can be managed and turn into a business but i'm not saying that because you are coming now you don't need someone to always you know be with you need that because that's your that is why we started with the king kaka we used to go for gigs when no one knew him and uh we played that bit because a manager plays different roles a manager is a brother manages your dad manages your mom manages that friend who comes to your aid when you're at your lowest point you need help so if you have that one person who believes in your vision and can work with you do that but again keep on asking yourself how can you turn that burden into a business and that's what a manager is therefore yeah great great insights right there from they know now they know of course we've seen a couple of artists have come in on kaka empire some have left some are still remaining there and doing great what do you think is you know would actually people would like to know like what's up where are they some of them have left some have remained what's going on so as i've said we're in business and for every business the agreements and there are contracts in paperwork to be done contracts and paperwork are normally termed based so i can sign you as an artist for a year for two years for six months for one month it will matter with how the negotiations are number two it has to be both ends if you're an artist and i'm the manager or you're among the manager and you're the artist if you feel i am not giving you value as a label and you're not giving me value as an as an artist we have liberty to just cancel the contracts terminate and just move to the next step so all in all we're in business all that happened and people coming in and out it's normal for a label to sign artist and drop artist artists come in and that is now our normal business it's like your normal brand outside there that sells soda or alcoholic drinks they're always bringing in new products and taking out some so it's normal business to bring in artists and bring out and it's all purely contract based term based and all those things yes yes yes all right you know last question what is that one trade that you know is the one that has made you perfect fit for being a manager at kaka empire um i think we need to be selfless as managers because we we go to certain extremes to ensure that the artists are comfortable to ensure that the artists are happy to ensure that the artist projects are moving in the right direction so selfishness is one key thing for anyone who's in management yeah and as a leader you need to be selfless so that the people that you're leading or the people who are behind you are able to see the fruits of the hard work they put in so selfishness is one key important thing and of course you need to be hardworking focused and very professional yeah yeah all right guys you've heard it from denny's right here the manager talent manager at kaka empire he says self you need to be selfless for you to you know manage uh an an artist and for you to get it done in in short thank you so much denu for talking to us thank you for and uh