After wrapping up his two-week Break the Chains media tour in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Bebe Cool has shared some hard truths about the state of East African music — and he’s not sugarcoating anything.
In a reflective post, Bebe praised the warm welcome from fans and media in both countries but pointed out that East Africa has lost its cultural dominance in Africa’s music scene.
“Back then, East Africa was the center of it all. Now, we’ve just let the spotlight shift to Lagos and Johannesburg,” he said.
He reminisced about the glory days of cross-border collaborations: AY, Mr. Nice, Nameless, Necessary Noize, and of course the East African Bashment Crew (remember them?). Bebe says we’ve lost that unity, and it’s costing the region dearly.
“We stopped working together after success came. That’s how we weakened ourselves,” he added.
He believes that reviving regional collab culture and embracing streaming platforms is the way forward. With over 300 million people in East Africa, Bebe says if even 50 million consistently streamed music, global attention would naturally follow.
The Cheque singer was also full of praise for Kenyan and Tanzanian media, calling them professional, informed, and digitally savvy — especially when it comes to platforms like YouTube.
He even gave props to Diamond Platnumz and Ali Kiba for owning media houses (Wasafi Media and Crown FM), urging other artists to invest in industries that support the music business.
As a final note, Bebe Cool encouraged fellow artists to tour and promote their work across the region at least once a year, saying East Africa can rise again — but only if they move together.
