Ethic’s new song ‘Tarimbo’ sparked public uproar and attracted the wrath of moral police Ezekiel Mutua who called on police to arrest the group’s members.
Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) CEO also said that he had written to Google asking them to take down the controversial song from Youtube.
The controversial group dropped their new song on Friday November 1st, the video contains scenes of semi-nude women twerking and dancing in explicit styles. The song’s verse also irked many people as it promotes rape culture.
Raila Odinga Jr, who is Ethic’s godfather, took to social media to pen a lengthy reply to Kenyans grumbling about the group’s new song.
He admitted that Ethic overstepped ethical standards with their new song, Raila Jr however blamed music producers saying that they needed to take up responsibility for the bad content being released by musicians.
“Hey so #ethic have dropped a new song on 1st November 19 on their youtube channel the song called #tarimbo is at the very least controversial, with suggestive lyrics and visuals that may whether purposely or coincidentally be construed to show an intruder in a domicile has drawn sharp criticism online for what of a better word may be not “ethically correct”
“In the song the most controversial lyrics are those off the hook sang by reckless “me humwaga Bila ata persmission” suggestive of ejaculating inside a female without consent has a heavy connotation of rape, this also paired with the groups artist SWAT being shown seated in a lounge with a balaclava may or may not also been seen to construe a burglar in someone’s premises with ladies dancing all around.
“After listening to the song a couple of times myself as a producer, its hard to see how the controversial lyrics passed through all the artists and developers working on the project without being checked.
“For those unaware in the past I have praised Ethic for their creativity and unique sound that’s original and fresh, however I feel in trying to outdo themselves while chasing ratings they may have overstepped the bold line of what is ethically correct, I wont be dancing to this song nor will I play it and that’s my personal choice.
“Having personally known the band and their manager I shall be reaching out to them on a personal level to help guide and counsel the impressionable young men. I will seek to guide rather than condemn them as I feel they hold the key to reaching what may be an already marginalized and isolated part of society of young urban inner city youth
“Being new to the limelight they need to be made aware of their spear of influence on impressionable young Kenyans. On the other hand, the huge social media chatter shows as Kenyans we have broken the social stigma of what was previously a taboo subject of consent boundaries and ethical subjects, it is important that we keep sharing and engaging because only through discussing such difficult subjects do we heal as a society,” wrote Raila Jr.
