Khaligraph Jones has opened up about his stand on the importance of curtain-raising for other artistes who are scheduled to perform in the same show he has been booked on, hypothetically of course.
The Kibera-born rapper was responding to a question posed by paparazzi who wanted to know where he stands in regard to what Eric Omondi has been fighting for in the past few days.
Eric Omondi is convinced that established Kenyan artistes should be the ones to close the show when an international artiste flies in Kenya for a show and not let the international artiste perform last.
The comedian has caused such a pandemonium with his sentiments of how the Kenyan music industry and Kenyan musicians have been so comfortable with how promoters use them the way they want when other international artistes coming to Kenya are treated like Kings and Queens.
Among the many things that Eric Omondi has vowed to change in the Kenyan music industry is the importance of having a Kenyan musician close a show or be a headliner in a show where an international artiste has been booked to perform in Kenya.
Omondi was actually really happy after Nyashinski closed the recently concluded inaugural Destination Africa Festival concert that brought Adenkule Gold to headline the show at Ngong Racecourse.
Eric Omondi was happy that for the first time ever in the Kenyan entertainment scene, a Kenyan musician (Nyashinski) finally got to headline a major concert in Kenya which he believes is an achievement, to say the least.
Khaligraph Jones on the other hand is of the contrary opinion that doesn’t align with that of Eric Omondi.
Khaliraph Jones says that he actually doesn’t mind how he get to perform at an event/concert even a gig that he’s been booked to perform so long as the promoters pay him his performance’s worth.
He went further to note that he doesn’t see how people are so focused on the curtain-raising bit of performance because is not as important as Eric Omondi would want it to be adding that it’s very much okay for him to perform as the first act of a show so that he can perform for his fans, pick his check and go back home and/or in the studio to create new music for his fans.
“I don’t understand what curtain-raising mean, me as long as you pay me my money and you allocate time for me to perform. It doesn’t matter if you want to put me first or you want to put me last. What matters is that my money is intact…,” Khaligraph Jones said in one clip.
Khaligraph Jones also had a thing to say during the unveiling of his partnership deal with Galactic Kenya on November 14th, 2021.
“For instance if I was called yesterday to perform, mimi ningewaambia waniweke wa kwanza nimalize niende nyumbani, nyinyi wengine wabaki wakivurugana huko. Mimi sijawahi understand hiyo context ya ati mtu ana curtain-raise, ni mtu anapanda alipwe pesa take.
The event organizer is the one who will allocate time for you when you’re going to perform, si mambo ya curtain raise, hiyo pia ni kitu ingine. Bora umelipwa, show ikiwa inaanza saa hii na uniweke saa moja mi niimbe na umenilipa, mi nitapiga show na nitaende mtaa,” Khaligraph Jones said during the unveiling of his partnership deal with Galactic Kenya yesterday during a presser.
Eric Omondi reaction to Khaligraph Jones’ take on curtain raising
Eric Omondi, clearly irked wasn’t amused by Khaligraph Jones’s take on curtain-raising still maintains that Kenyan artistes should curtain raise for any foreign artiste coming in Kenya until they sort the situation has been dealt with.
“For the past couple of YEARS there has been a PERCEPTION that any Visiting MUSICIAN no matter how Small is AUTOMATICALLY Bigger than all of our Musicians,” Eric Omondi shared on social media in part.
Eric Omondi has almost every other musician saying something about the state of the Kenyan music industry today, everybody, every other artiste is involved in this and he’s still planning to storm the Parliament tomorrow with the artistes that will show up to help his campaign of “fixing” the Kenyan music industry.
“Let me EXPLAIN to you like you are a 3-year-Old. Music is a BUSINESS and in BUSINESS PERCEPTION is Everything!!! For the past couple of YEARS there has been a PERCEPTION that any Visiting MUSICIAN no matter how Small is AUTOMATICALLY Bigger than all of our Musicians.
This has slowly but surely created a lot of DISRESPECT not only for ARTISTS but for the ENTIRE Music INDUSTRY. Artist ni Upcoming Nigeria lakini aki land hapa ana treatiwa better kushinda Willy Paul anapewa backstage yake na Security na V8 nane na Msani wakenya hana backstage na bado anasmishwa Kwa Gate na Security na anaperfom.
WE ARE NOT CURTAIN RAISING FOR ANY FOREIGNER UNTIL THIS SHIT IS SORTED!!! PERIODT!!! Hata wewe siezi kubali u Curtain Raise. Ukijaribu TUNAKUPIGA, CHIETH!!!,” Eric Omondi wrote on Instagram as a direct response of Khaligraph Jones.
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