 Thank you so much for coming, thank you so much for coming, this is power talk, a very good morning to you, thank you so much for being part of today's morning conversation. My name is Ram Maguko and I warm welcome to you as you've seen today I have a fantastic program lined up for you in on this particular segment. Remember we are coming to you live from the broadcasting house here in Nairobi, Kenya. We are also live on our website that is at www.kbc.co.ke4 slash Y254. Clock the band is in the building, in the building. Now I should have to put in music to keep it going. Fantastic guests that I have lined up for you. I'm sure that you tell us what you think about this particular music. It's all about music and lifestyle. We shall talk about different things, different aspects in regards to their music, their journey, these challenges that they have faced right here on power talk to keep you motivated and inspired and informed and what not. And it's unique and in today you don't want to miss today's morning conversation. All right, so ensure that you engage with us. The hashtag is Power Talk, the hashtag is Power Talk show on Twitter at Ram Maguko and at Y254 channel. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for coming. Let me start with you. So next to me, of course, I shall introduce each and every one of them. So here we have Habil next to me. He is the group CEO. He's a group, he's from Empire Gig, the founder and CTO of Empire Habil. Thank you for having me. All right. And next to him, I am with Rick. He's the guitarist playing the chords right there. Rick, thanks so much for coming. And next to Rick, I am with Clark, Clark King, a musician. And next to Clark, I'm also with Zawadi, powerful name. The only lady in the group, the only one, seems like you're the engine of the group. And to my extreme right, I'm with Ivan Thomas, Karbassana. What do we say, Ivan? Mali, it's fine. All right, so Habil, let me start with you. This team, how did you guys start? Fantastic, fantastic. I think I will be very brusque and tell you in front of you today, these guys are fantastic. They are creatives. And what you've just seen is the tip of an iceberg of what they can really do. So in the story of origins, I introduce I am Habil from Empire Gig. And Empire Gig is a platform that has brought together creatives alike, likes of Clark the band, Mali Zawadi, Clark and Rico, all creative Empire Gig, which you can book, you can have what you just witnessed on the studio in your living room through Empire Gig. In your living room? In your living room. You do like in-house events also. Yes, we do. Wow. You can have smallest events, the biggest of concerts. Are you saying? It's like sitting in the shower. So how did you guys meet up? How did you meet? Okay, that is a good question. So I think it was pretty much good. We do an event called Good. So we sat down. We knew each other before the event. It started this year. But what happened was we were working more as individuals and as groups. I was working with her. Occasionally we'd work with him. Occasionally we'd work together. And then we decided, okay, there's this one event coming up. It's called Good. We actually have it next Saturday. And we decided, let's try this event out. So we went out. So if I'm singing there behind me, if she's singing, we're behind her and so on and so forth. And then we met Rick. And then we're like, you know what? We can do this. We can do this in the next time. So you guys met Rick at this event? This event, yeah. Fantastic music here. I love how he plays then in it. I thought it was an acoustic guitar and then I'm hearing some different sound. I'm like, wow. So it's custom made. Custom made. Wow. So Ivan, how is it working with this team? This team, it is to be brief fluid, which as an artist is, it can be hard to come back. But it has upcoming artists. You're trying. You have all of these different images in your head, these different sounds. You're like, I want to execute it in this way, to this caliber. It needs to be magical. It needs to carry them on their feet. I want them to cry. I want them to laugh. But when you are unable to get to that, it can be very off-putting. You're doing it through it, but you're like, I just know I could have done it differently. So in all my years doing music, finding all of these lovely people, it has been fluid. Fluid. Life is just fluid. It's our free flow. It's flow. I've got a stress. Tell me about Empagic. What is it all about? So Empagic in itself is a global platform that puts together all creatives of all genres. We do, like the people in front of you, musicians, painting artists, tattoo and makeup artists, voice-over artists, all the creatives that need an opportunity for work. We call them gigs, where I'm from. And gigs are short-term engagement where you come in, you express your art, and you get paid for it. Long story short, I'm from a gig, and I'm from an Empire gig. You can call me a gig. That's the word. That's the word. Hashtag gig. It's a platform that gives opportunities, legally and financially qualified opportunities to creatives, professional creatives like the ones you see before you. So you can just go in and that's what I meant by, if you like what you see here, the same demonstration of music they've done, and you have a small event, your wedding, a concert, it could be something bigger. Just go to Empire Gig, book all of them, and they will deliver. How can people find you? They can find us at Empire Gig everywhere and of course, EmpireGig.com. EmpireGig.com. You have your own website, man. Man, this crew, this crew. Why did I find you a long time ago? You found us now. I want us to touch a bit about your music, and I want you to give me a number, but as we prepare for that particular song, I want you to tell me how it was bringing them all together in one room, because I'm seeing different characters here. Different types of energy, all summed up fluidly. We have a great understanding. How was it with you? I mean, like he said, it was an opportunity. I was happening at the Blues in Nairobi, and I met him first. I met him in Mali, Ivan Mali. He was doing a live gig at the time, and a friend of ours, the owner of Blues, is called Matias, and I hosted him for the day. And I just sat in and listened, and I felt the music that they were playing really spoke to me as an individual, and I wanted to see more of that. I wanted more people to experience what I had that day. And he told me, you can. And there's another band he works with that would really love an opportunity to express themselves more. So I said, yeah, jump at the opportunity. I would love to see you guys play live again. And he said, come to the next one. So I did. You told him, come. And I saw. I got to meet Clark next and Zawadi after. And since then, we've been working with them in a series of gigs at different local locations. And we've been experiencing the same magic, and we want to share it with you and everyone at home. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. And thanks for honoring me to come here, man. Thank you. It's a pleasure. Let's get to the music. Sure, no problem. So, Clark, what are you going to perform for us today? What am I going to sing? This song is a song I released last week on Friday. Last week. Last week on Friday. So it's on YouTube. It's on Spotify and Apple Music. If you want to put it on Instagram or Snapchat, on Twitter, on TikTok. Everywhere. It is everywhere. Let's make it trend. Let's make it trend. The song is called Heaven. Hashtag Heaven. Heaven. It's called Heaven. It's called Heaven. Is it a gospel song or something? I guess we'll find out. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, Clark, the band. Let's get started. The stars up in heaven are falling. The rivers of warm wood are forming. Rain from the clouds are pouring. And children are waiting to nourish. Farmers are waiting to harvest. And businessmen waiting to profit. Has arrived here to tarnish. See now I don't know where you came from. Heaven is mine. There it is. There it is. Man, these guys are giving me goosebumps, man. Appreciate you. How would you classify your kind of music? My kind of music. That's a difficult question. Honestly, it's a difficult question. I've tried classifying my music. The best answer I would give you is, I sing what sounds good to me. That's honestly it. If I were to play you six of my songs, they're different. It's not like purely this or purely that. It's just, it sounds good to me. I'm going to sing it to everyone. And they're going to like it. I love this song. I don't know if I watched too much movies. But I was in my picture. When you were singing Heaven is mine. I'm looking at this scene in this movie. Maybe it's an action movie. And the guy is walking in slow motion. And then he's jumping and shooting everybody. Yeah. You can always exit. And then the main character is being shot. And then you think he's going to die. But actually, flips it. Flips it. He had the Bible. So he stopped the bullet. I had the Bible. I had a Bible. He had the Bible. He didn't even fall down. That's when you have a shot of the hand falling on the ground. Heaven is mine. We should petition this for a movie. If you filmed the producer yesterday, this is a soundtrack right there. This is a soundtrack to you. You guys are just giving her the script now, just putting it in. It's about time. That's all that remains, that's all that remains. So you compose the song? I compose the song, yes. It was a beautiful thing. I was watching a movie, I don't know the key, but not the same kind. So for the movie, you know how this happens a lot of us. You watch a movie and you get so drawn and soaked into the movie, you kind of forget that it's not real. It affects you personally, the anxiety, the drama just gets to you. So I watched this one episode, I was like, what is the point of life? So I went to my room, I sat there, I was this close to crying. So it's a movie that moved you? It moved me terribly. I don't really remember the movie, this was two years ago. But I remember how I felt. I felt terrible, I was like, this cannot be it, this is terrible. How can this happen to anyone, even if it's not really happened to anyone. So I went and sat down, I took my piano, started playing around and then I wrote this. And then as time went by, I wrote the chance around it and then I recorded it, produced it. Then I put it out there, so it shouldn't find its way to a movie, that would be... We all love different things that can move us to create right songs. That is true. And sometimes it can be that movie you watched and then it reminds you of something. And then you just begin to write down those lyrics. Then you come up with Heaven is Mine. Completely, completely. These guys are creative. Ivan, there's a name you called him. What was that name? Mali. Mali? Yeah, called Mali. You did tell me Mali, you told me Aiba. Why are you running away from Mali? I'm not running away from Mali, I'm never running away from Mali. How much I care about myself in the third person? We are still individual artists, all of us, as much as we collaborate with each other often. Mali is my last name and it is what I refer to myself as on stage. So you still perform individually? Yes. Even though you come together occasionally, you still do individual performances. Mali, coming to you, I'm looking at your part in the song. You're doing that, how do I call it, chant? Chant, yeah. Chant, you're doing that chant. And if you were able to get him, you could see those facial expressions, especially from Zawadi. Mali, the experience you're getting from working with a team like this, I'm sure there are those times that you sometimes get into arguments and fights, you know. Often. How is it working with this group? Wonderful. I am fortunate enough to work with a lot of people that are not only wise but educated in what they do. So as much as we can argue, it's a very healthy argument. It's, wait, friend, friend. As much as you are approaching it this way, I just want to reinforce you on your journey. Do you ever argue about the lyrics? How should the words come and play? Where do we put this word? Where do you put that word? At times, yes. At times, yes, because we are singers, we are also songwriters, and one of our key goals is to communicate. So if you say something and I feel, hey, I feel like if you said this, the message would hit home better. It would hit heaven. Heaven is my home. Hashtag heaven is my home. But we do criticize each other's works. We put it through, I almost want to say, what's a cement roller? It's called a cement roller. You put the idea in the cement roller, you let it be beat around, beat around, beat around. If it comes out the other end, okay. It's a solid song. But at the same time, we are individuals and we know, hey, if I know in my heart, hey, this song is good. It's good. It doesn't matter what anybody else might tell you, but we listen to each other often. Sounds more religious in a way? Actually, yeah, it could be. Is it? Yeah. It has a register. Because I'm looking at how someone's saying heaven is mine, heaven is our home. That's what I'm talking about. If it got a funeral, they would say, you know. That would apply, yeah. And even the song in itself, if you look at the lyrics, I am a very religious person. So it's not hard for me to tap into that. Every once in a while, you'll hear a reference to God or a reference to something in the Bible. It's just, it's one of those things that just comes to me without even trying. When, yes, this is one of those things because me, I find comfort in heaven existing. I want you to pick this microphone. Let's hear the voice of these guitarists here. Ah, right. So you've been playing music for them, you know. What are the challenges that do you catch, you know, trying to tune in? Because I know all of them based on what I hear. They have different voices, different vocals. The house is a bit higher. The advance is lower. I could hear some better. I don't know if he has bass or something. Yeah, it was very quiet. Quiet. Quiet. Yeah, I'd say, well, actually it's been lovely because there are professionals that come, and suddenly they know their craft, and they are taking it seriously, which is more than a classical musician. So, in regard to that, it's been fun. It's been fun. Even not just easy. It's fun. It's enjoyable. It's enjoyable. It's enjoyable. And let me get it from you. When it comes to pulling the band together, because at some point there has to be those instruments that you bring on board, you know, do you have an extension of others that you're working with because you bring on board to help to nourish and improve and nurture the talent you're working with? Well, yes, to a certain extent. There are a lot of people. It's very resource-heavy, so you need people, and you need equipment, so you have to make a lot of friends. Either that or you spend a lot of money. So, yeah. In fact, actually the ampere gig solves that. It may connect me to other artists within theirs, within everybody. So, you know, it's well moving in faith. So, you know, we help each other where we can. All right. I want us to go to Zawadi. Zawadi. Now you feel the tension is gone, no? The only lady in the group, do they at some point try to prove themselves with their ego? How can they? They can't allow them to. They cannot. You cannot? No, they don't, but they don't. How does it feel being the only lady in the team? Honestly, it's amazing because they're not only like people I work with. They're also very close friends. So, outside music, there's like a whole family here. So, it's amazing. It's actually an honor working with you people. Never said we'd hear it now. We were crying on national television. I love your vocals. What do you normally do to, you know, train? Oh, a lot. Lip-roof. There's a whole like... Noise. Yeah, noise. All of you do that. This is for vocalists. This is the equivalent of doing push-ups to someone who walks out. So, you just have to be the loudest person in any neighborhood. This is in the middle of the night, just screaming, shouting. It's how you train these guys. For the lovers of music outside, they want to know a few vocal training tips. Let me give the three of you now. Give us a few vocal training tips that those who are interested in music, those who are singers and, of course, they sing in different platforms. What should they do to have a healthy voice? A healthy voice. As I said, it's open for the three of you. Okay. Now, there's exercise, there's your diet. What? Those two. Let's start with those two. So, if we start with your diet, for example, honey is golden. Honey is... Honey is good. Honey is everything. Expensive honey. Don't say that it's too much sugar. No. Actually, no, it's healthy sugar. It's healthy sugar. So, if you're having any kind of sugar, it should be that one. Depending on how deeply into it you want to go, you want to monitor what kind of foods you're eating. You don't want to have too many fried foods or too many nutty foods. Certain days, you don't want to have citrus. Citrus dries the throat, they say. Whereas milk coats it more. It produces a lot of mucus in your throat. So, you want to be very picky with what you have. So, you should avoid milk. On a more general scale? Yeah, on a more general scale. It's very mucosal. And so, having a lot of mucus for you, it's not the greatest. You have to do this all the time. It's not. But definitely a lot of water. A lot of water. Not the day of the show. Not the day of the show. Your life. Your life. You wake up. You're minding your own business, water. Then, pretty much, just eat healthy. So, technically, eating healthy has an effect on your voice? It really does. In terms of exercise? Physical exercise or just vocal exercise? Physical exercise is like running, for example. It helps with your breathing. And breathing as an artist is everything. It's everything. It's pretty much everything. You don't want to run out of air mid-phrase. So, I'm going, heaven is my home. You don't want to run out of air mid-phrase. I saw someone sing. Let me pick that one. Heaven is my home. How does it go? Heaven is my home. Sasa, let me sing. My home. Send it. Okay. There's this guy. There's this guy who sang it like this. Nili Cheka. I loved it. I had to sit down. My home. Oh. That's it. Breath. Maybe an accumulation of saliva. Mucas. Oh, my home. Oh, that is it. Now, that one. That one. You have to spit. Listen, as a vocalist, sometimes you throw your pride away. Spit. No, no, listen. Listen, me, I'm telling you. I'm telling you. There's this musical called Hamilton. This one guy, he starts singing. And he's really in character. He's playing the king. So he's, you be back. And as he's talking, spit is accumulating in his mouth. But it's a musical. So he really has to, like, announce it. His mouth has to be open. So he had a choice. Swallow this saliva and compromise on the quality of how you open your mouth. Or just stop caring. If you watch that thing, he just spat. He was like, listen, you choose. You choose. I will keep my dignity. It's going to rain. I mean, you bought a VIP. You get to taste some of me. No, no, no, no, no. No fun proceeds. It's called VIP ticket. VIP. VVIP. The whole experience. This is the problem with someone who sings, who has a problem with singing like that. They can't sustain. They can't, you know, hit those high pitches. Yes. That is exactly it. Depending on the day, there's a countless number of reasons as to why your voice is the way it is that day. You might have woken up at the right time, eaten the right things. Maybe you're a bit sick. Or maybe you try to have just a little bit of this thinking that, OK, three hours to the show, I'll have digested, blah, blah, blah, it'll be fine. But for whatever reason that day, it's just not there. And you? Your advice? Well, I think we should just practice more because the more you get used to your voice, the more easy it is for you to use it. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Before we went on air, I heard you and saw you do something, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. Oh, OK. That just helps to open your voice. So things like, blah, blah, lip chills. It helps like that, for example, helps with where the sound comes out in your mouth. So we should do, blah, blah, blah, a lot, loudly. Without falsetto? Yes. From down there all the way up there. So from your subharmonics up to your falsettos and your flagellis, all the way up there. All right. I want to talk to Abil now. And then, as you prepare a song, you'll give us the next song. Now, I'm looking at their training. How is it that they do the training for a team like this? And how do you ensure that there is quality and there is unity? There is that harmony that is there within the team? And because I've seen so many groups, so many teams come together, but at some point they stop doing what they're doing. And the question is, what is it that they were doing before that they're not doing now that is affecting them during training? Yeah. Fantastic. That's a really good question. And I think to open it up a bit more, I will start with one of the things that we saw as a gap in the market way before then. It's a problem that affects us as, let me call ourselves normal people. We are creative in other ways. We can sing, but we are creative in other ways. And then there's the creatives. It's the issue of trust. When Zawadi said it first, they are friends. That was the first thing that brought them together. They were friends before and they are friends on stage. When they are singing, they are working together. So that's work and friendship. There's a proper balance between work and life relationship for them. So the trust that they have in each other as friends allows them the privilege to sit down and like Mali was saying, listen to each other. You have an idea of how this song should go, right? And you're putting it into the mixer. And Clark is your friend, so he understands where you're coming from. That builds that unity and trust. It's like if Mali said it and Zawadi agrees, then probably they are right. I could be wrong. And then when you take up what they've put out and it comes out great, it resonates. And you say, okay, so indeed this is true. So the friendship aspect and the trust aspect is very key to creatives working together. And this is how you see the most successful bands, boy bands, even going out. The ones who are friends and stick by each other are still together to date. The guys who... They have some bond. That's closer than family. So would you advise this team that is watching you today, a band that is watching you today to start building a bond together so that they can, if a problem arises, then they will have already solved it through the bond that they already have. I would, in fact, in the creative gig economy, which is where we all are, I think problems will arise, not if. They will. They will. It's almost guaranteed. So if you have something to fall back on, you have the friendship, the unity, the trust, the creative art. Because everyone on stage today is a professional in their own right. You guys start each other. 100% yeah. So when you have that, even when you're facing bad times, because the creative experience is a lot of problems, from promoters to food. What do you mean food? I'll tell you more. I'll tell you more. I'll tell you more. I'll tell you more. I'll tell you more. I'll tell you more. You know, all these things put together. Anyone who's ever put up an event in their whole life will tell you there are 1.2 million moving pieces. And you have to make sure that everything goes right. So that the sound gets to the person just right. So that it touches, it motivates you. It paints a picture. Just like you were telling us, you had the song and you had this solution where you pictured a movie in your head and the whole script unraveled. For it to be that level of precision, a lot of things behind the scenes need to align so much so, from the unity to the resources they have, to the rehearsals they do. And that is where Empire Geek has perfectly positioned itself. The battling. Wow. So that whatever we bring into the front is spectacular. So guys, if you have a team at home, these are lessons you can be able to pick from Empire Geek. From this team here, I can clerk up with you. These are tips that you can be able to pick up that will help you to have a strong team, a strong working team that can stand the test of time. Yes. Right? Yes. Do we get another song? You have something else to say? I have a lot of things to say. I would say I am a startup founder, so when I get a platform, I will use it. We still have time. We still have time. I think definitely moving on to another blessed song would be a better approach. And then after that, we will talk about finances, funding. Ooh. We love that song. Like it. We love it. Absolutely. Because that's where people mess up. People get into problems. And that's where people disagree also. That's how people disagree. And that's where people give up. And say, ah, OK, see you later. See you later. See you later. Because of the fluidity. The fluidity goes like this. Friction. Friction. Velocity may change. So, Akla? Ah, no problem. What do you have first now? I am going to do something I arranged together with the help. It's an acapella. It's two different songs. Yes. Let's just do it. All right. So. OK. 3, 2, 1. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You've given up on love. Lost and found. I find myself in a movie. I don't even look to the sky. I don't want to cry when I say it's been lost. Starua, hop on my eyes that I can't channel lies. Giving up on strangers acting like they would die for each other. My oh my. And that is why I given up on. I don't want to cry when I say it's been lost. Starua, hop on my eyes that I can't channel lies. see you I've been thinking about me falling and it's cause of you maybe bright colors would make me feel the smile on my face that will never go blue will never go blue will never go blue smile on my face that will never go blue oh so I don't let go do you know what you've reminded me of? mm-hmm uh what it is called and if I ever fall I love that song you know that song? uh not enough to sing it And if I ever fall again, be sure that the lady is a friend. Yes, that's right, that's right. There is a way it can mix with this one. Yeah, next time we'll do it, and we'll do it and mention you. Same time this week. I think the power of what we've just done, Kapela, is like Zawabi and Mali were playing with their voices the entire time, and then the lyrics fell to one person, and they still blended. Those are three people working with the same goal. So music is this teamwork, put together, and the way they put it and the lyrics work. It's really cool, I mean, cool enough for me to want to book them, right? I know. Help me. Hey. Book us. Please, book us. We're here, we're ready. The creatives are here. Yeah. And you know, it was interesting seeing how they started, and they were like, which note are you hitting? Which note are you hitting? OK, I will hit this, you hit that. I could see those non-verbal communication. So I can't answer, you need to go forward. That happens all the time. It needs to happen, it needs to happen. Have you ever come across a time when you went off-key? Not with this group. Us were pretty good, but yeah, I think it has happened a couple of times, but I think part of being a good vocalist and a good musician in general is being able to hear everybody else and yourself and realizing, ah, this is a mistake, I can fix it. So you make it like a run. So I go, ah, ah, and then I find myself, and then everyone's like, that was beautiful. You don't know that was a mistake. I want to take a short break, and then we'll be back. After we're back, we're going to be touching on a few things that we've not yet touched on, also hearing more of the music and how they have been going so far in terms of finances. What about funding? How are they doing? Relationships. Ah, I love it. So that's the money. That's the money. What is it? That's like it's Power Talk show on Twitter at Ramagodawai254 channel is where you can be able to find us, engage with us, tell us where you're seeing us from, and what you think about Clark and this particular music that we are experiencing on Power Talk. Let's take a break and we'll be back in a bit. This is Power Talk. Y254, imagine. There's a river found in my heart, leading the honey and waiting for love. There's a river found in my heart, rain on me. Every night I pray that you rain on me. Every night I pray, every night I wait for you to flow on me, for you to rain on my future. Rain on me. Rain on me. Rain on me. Rain on my future. The silence. So stay away from the violin. Away from the violin. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. But every night I pray that you rain on me. Every night I pray, every night I wait for you to flow on me, every day for you to rain on my future. Rain on me. Rain on my future. Rain on me. Rain on my future. Rain on my future. Rain on me. Rain on my future. Rain on me. Rain on my future. That is Clark the band. Woman. Rain on me. Woman. Welcome back, thank you so much for being part of today's morning conversation. Right on Power Talk. It is all about music and lifestyle. I'm with Clark and the band today. We are talking about music and lifestyle. Do you like their music? By the way, you sent in your request, Pierre. You also see requests. I mean, yeah. Yeah. It's too much. All right. You can mark something else. I'm sure that you engage with us. That's like it's one in the morning. That's like his power talk show. You know, by a cook, one of the viewers will. Oh. Huh? Unaita moja mingina jinagine. This is... This is... Even on a lunch. This is not one... This is power talk. That's like his power talk show at Ram Magukko and at Y254 channel is where you can be able to find us. Engage with us, tell us where you're watching us from and we shall sample your feedback as you continue with today's morning conversation. And Clark, who was I talking with? Yeah, Habil. Yes. When it comes to funding, how do you get funds? How do you cater for your expenses in terms of what you're getting out there and what you're also getting in? The income, the outcome. How do you balance? Check them balances. Ah, fantastic. That's really an amazing question. And I will, of course, use what I have done and learned from these amazing people in front of me and hopefully portray it in a way that will be okay. So funding is a challenge. That's the underlined. And we'll just start from the facts. It's a challenge, especially for up-and-coming creatives. You'd find to get money, you have to do value. You have to create value. Like, they would sing and that's value. It brings you peace, a feeling of joy. That's value and... That's what you're trying to do. You need to create. That's what you need to create and the reward system is money, funding. You're given, thank you for your time, thank you for your talent. And creatives is empowered because he's done something and he's been paid and he's going home happy and he's empowered to do it again at another time. But you find that has not been the case, especially in the music scene. The creatives put a lot in it. They go to school, they rehearse. They put all of this together and then they bring it on stage to perform. And then you find that the creative has given it their all completely. And still, the funding doesn't come. Excuses follow. This is not coming because of why. This is not coming because of that. And the creative has no option but to understand. But inside he's demoralized because he's put so much into it and it's not showing. Is this one reason why we don't see much... I don't know if it is what is on the ground there. You can tell us why some creatives give up and some now choose to just sing whatever thing that is there because if anything, there is no value for money and whatever they are giving in is not what they are receiving back. So they will be like, let me just do it for the sake of just doing it. For the sake of just ensuring that at least I've released something. So there is no content. There is no quality. And someone says, ah, see, after all, I'm a super tattoo. Exactly. It's like they're doing it for themselves. It's not even for you anymore because that's a very powerful vertical and an answer to that question. Yes, that is one of the main reasons because this person is not empowered. He's not feeling motivated to do it. And that is one of the biggest issues that the creatives have been facing. They will attest to this. But then how do you encourage each other when there is lack of funding and how do you keep going, man? I think I'm going to do a vertical very well into EmpireGig. And this is a problem that we are facing. It's a real time. A lot of creatives, the ones on stage and the ones at home experiencing it. And we don't have a magic bullet that will solve this problem, but we have the first step. And what we've done at EmpireGig is ensure that all the creatives who come in, all the creatives who bring us their talent, they share their copyright with us. All that talent they're going to put out in gigs, in other experiences that they would give us, we put them in a qualified, both legally and financially, qualified opportunity. We'll tell, collect the band of Mali, Aivan and Zawali. Okay, fine. This is what we'd want to give you. This is what we are prepared to give you in form of money or enumeration. Funding, you would call it. And this is what we'd want in exchange for your time. And this contract will, in exchange, help properly protect the interest of the creative and properly protect your interests to make sure that they give quality work like they promised and you also meet your end of the body. So guys watching from home, they need support creatives. They do. 100 percent. But they're not doing as much as they should. I will not put the blame on anyone right now. What I would say is I would rather they support creatives not by shout outs and posting them. That's great. That's really good. We are not saying no to that. Let that continue. But let's look at the bottom line. There are a lot of bills to be paid by the creatives from rehearsals to transports to food. A lot of every small pieces that go into it. So when you pay a creative, you're helping them do what they do best. So let's keep the spirit. Let's share. But also let's not hide in our hearts. Let me hear it from you guys. What is about this is your funding. I think for me, funding is mostly, it's not even a financial problem. I think it's a cultural problem. I think as a culture, we understand we like music, but we don't understand that for music to be as good as it is, it needs funding. For anything pretty much to be as good as it is, it needs funding. So think about equipment. It's very expensive. So those who have a lot of money will buy very expensive equipment and charge you to come use that equipment, money you don't have. Or you'll find radio play, air play, is mostly really good quality stuff. I can't take that away from them, but from first world countries and places where they fund their music. Here on the other hand, nobody wants to pay for something like boom play. Nobody wants to pay for your music. You want to get it for free. Don't pirate it somewhere. Nobody wants to come to your show if it's 500 Bob, because that's apparently too much. No one wants to give you money, but they want you somehow to produce good quality. And then also at the back of their minds, I think all of us can attest to. Being a musician is not an easy job. It's not a fool's job. It's a difficult job that requires you to be actually really good. And the effort it takes to be half as good is not appreciated. Very few people come up to you and you're like, oh, I'm a musician and they take you seriously. They're not doing well in life. They feel like musicians are above you. Yeah, people who've dropped off. They just drop out. And so once they already do like that, asking them to fund you is not something you can do. You can't talk to someone who already looks down on you and tell them, give me money for what. Then how do you fight this kind of stereotype? How do you fight this stereotype? I think for us now, and as people like Harbil who are trying to help the creatives, what we try and do is, we're going to just be in your face about this. We're working as hard as we can to prove that you're wrong. You're wrong. We are great. We're actually really good when we do. You try to prove that. In a way, yes. You wake up every day. You do your exercises. You do your rehearsals. You do everything you can. Almost hoping for a chance to show this person. You just come to the one show. I just need you to come to the one show. When you come to that one show, you'll see for yourself without a shadow of a doubt, like, wait, wow, this has been going on for the whole year. There's been so many times when somebody will approach you and they're like, no, you don't understand. This is Nairobi. This is within Kenya. You're telling me, somebody like you, all of you guys, you're here in Nairobi. You've just been here. Where have you been? I'm like, here. You've been here the whole time. Everything you can. I live in the same neighborhood. They just don't see you. That's another thing. They don't see you. They don't see you. Not in a bad way. Again, we aren't able to support ourselves to the extent that other people we assume are able to support themselves in different countries around the world. Being seen as an artist is huge, which is why a lot of people enjoy, I think, Spotify as a platform, because if you manage to get yourself through the right channels, you will be seen. And once you are seen, the likelihood of you improving yourself, improving your craft, improving things in general all around. What about... I'm trying to compare singing as a group and singing as an individual. Which one works best? Which one sounds better? Which one sells better? Because I've seen many groups say that, hey, you know what, we have been working together for this period of time, and it's time to part ways. And while the others were saying that we have been working separately, can we do something together? Form a band, or some movement that will revolutionize the music industry. And then different individuals come together and then come up with a particular label. Yeah. Yeah. What do you think about that? What do I say about that? I think the art industry as an industry, we need to agree, we need to be united. I can't push the agenda alone. All of us like this, the five of us, the six of us rather, we're not enough to push the agenda. All the collective artists, be they bands or individuals, can work together to make the gig industry and the art industry successful. We are called differently. And so that would mean somebody like Tupac, he began in a group. But clearly, at least from what I've perceived, he was meant more to be alone than to be in the group he was in. However, look at the band Queen. Fred Mercury did better when he was together with the group than when he was alone. Not to say he was less talented. We are called differently. So to say that, you know, for example, have the band is doing well, doesn't mean that every group that is in trees will do... Some people are just meant to be you, Michael Jackson, you yourself, you alone. And some are meant to be let's be two, let's be three. I think it takes more self-awareness to do best because it would be so sad that you're talented and you're working alone and you're supposed to be five. You know what? Would you go solo? Well, I would, but no. I feel like the more we are in this, the more ideas we even have to put on the table. The better my music will be when we're together. And I'm looking at teams that have managed, because yes, what he said is true. There's some people who really perform well when they're individual. But if they do collabos... Kidugo Shida. Kidugo Shida. You guys, you produced a song, Man Solo, and it was so good. But if you do a collab with... Most of your collabos don't actually turn out well. It means they're better off alone. Well, that is what better off singing in teams. Let me hear what Harbilla has to say about this. But before that, and after that, we're going to get a song, prepare something for us as we continue. Together or apart? Well, someone said, I can't remember who. United we stand, divided we fall. Iron Man. No, I'm just kidding. What? I watched the movie. It's okay. So I think I'll speak on this in two ways. One, let's say Michael Jackson, for example. Let me use the late Michael Jackson as an example. He was an amazing performer. He inspired a lot of people across the world. And he touched so many lives, right? But alone as Michael Jackson, like if he was just one person, there's not so much he would have achieved. Because behind the scenes, there was a bigger team. A bigger team of publicists, a bigger team of social media managers in last time. A bigger team of people who used to throw ideas at and bring them back to him. So as much as someone might step out on stage alone, I believe any creative is ever truly a yes. That whole creative space helps them, guide them and build them up. But in the performing, in the delivery, some people are just talented. They're called for it, just like Clark said. They're called to deliver it perfectly to you. Most people won't see what goes down behind it. And that is the industry. What is the question in regards to those who get manipulated and misled and cornered in this industry of creatives? I've seen producers lie to upcoming artists that, oh no, we are going to do this. We promise you this. They promise heaven and deliver hell. That's true. And I think the biggest problem, causing that, and this is again, I might be said I'm walking the line. I'm trying to be very politically correct. So I will not put blame on anyone. But what I will say is, the one thing we need to fix that is trust. Because if a creative is being told, come do X and we'll give you Y, right? The promoter, the producer, is also depending on Z and A so that he can be able to meet his obligations. And we've seen a lot of promoters get a very bad rap, and sometimes rightly so, right? Because they were depending on X and Y to be able to meet their obligations. But that doesn't happen. So what should we do? What we should do is we should be very honest in what we can do and when we can do it. If a creative says I would want Y to be able to accomplish this and me as a promoter, I know depth in my heart, I cannot be able to do that. I can be very upfront and honest and say this is what I have on the table. If we could work together on this, I'm sure you'd be able to get your audience and perform and I would also be able to provide this much in support of that. And we can only do this through enhancing trust in the whole industry because it's a whole of, a lot of pieces can be done. It would add something. It wouldn't hurt the artists themselves to learn more about the business behind their craft as well. Fantastic. Because, yes, you should definitely trust somebody, but you should also go into it with an amount of awareness as to what is going to happen to you, what might happen, it might not guarantee anything for you, but you'll know okay. I know at the very least this is how the contract works. Know something. Yeah, know something. Don't be dumb. Yes. Pretty much, pretty much. Great summary. I'm told time is on our side. So we need to wrap it up and I want to ask a final question and of course we can all feel free to have a final word and then we'll sing a last song. But now my final question is how can people get a hold of you? Fantastic. That's the best question we've been waiting for all day. So you can find us at EmpireGig everywhere. That's Facebook. Like and share and subscribe. Instagram we can follow us. Facebook as well. And EmpireGig.com, which is where we'd like to send everyone. Everyone in studio today and everyone at home are watching. If you have an event, if you want to book a creative, if you want to sell creative things, EmpireGig is there for you. And we have all the solutions, all the videos you can watch. And if you want the creatives you've seen here on your own sitting room, on your own platform, you can put them together. You can book them individually depending on who entices you more. And you can do that also on the platform. So it's a global thing and we hope to be moving out and taking these creatives outside the country at some point and bringing more here. So that's it. Thank you so much. Guys, do you remember what we did last summer? Did you write it up? Were you good? Stream my music. Say it again. Stream my music. Clock King. Clock King on Instagram. No, this is about the song. So Spotify, Apple Music everywhere. YouTube, Clock King, Heaven. Alright. Yes. Thank you guys. The song goes out. So you can give us a final song. The last song, alright. Before that, let me just wrap it up and then you're also going to take us through that particular need. Do they sing first or do I wrap it up? Alright, so take us through. Give us a song. Alright. I'm laughing at you. I'm laughing at you. I'm laughing at you. And I've been told that we just wrap it up there and I want to end with that quote. This is what I was waiting for. Music is what tells us that the human race is greater than we realize. Tell us. Do you agree with that? We do. That's a powerful word. That's not one. That's not one. That's a song. That's a song. That's not one. That's not one. That's that's not one. That's the end of our show today. Remember to tune in again tonight. You have a repeat of this show at 10pm. My name is Rome Baguco and this is Power Talk. Thank you so much, Clock King. Alright, give us a song. Let's hear it again. And then you were overwhelmed. Like the legend of the phoenix. Our hands with weakened necks. Yeah, but one keeps the planet spinning Don't force from the beginning Cause we've come so far to give up So let's praise and part In our hearts I'm up all night for good fun Where I fall night to get lucky I'm up all night to the sun I'm up all night for good fun