Can Crime Boost Kenya’s Creative Economy?
Frank Lucas
The Harlem Heroine kingpin was a lowkey individual, but in 1970, during the Mohammed Ali -Joe Frazier “Fight of the Century" he donned a $100,000 Mink Chinchilla fur coat with a matching $25,000 hat. Just for perspective, in our 2024 Nabii economy, this is ksh19.85 million, on a coat and a hat, A HAT!! The reason for dressing like that was hogwash, he said he hated it when during previous fights, drug dealers who made way less money dressed better than him.
The coat, caught the attention of FBI agents who were present at the fight, but that is not what made them investigate him. It was the fact that Frank Lucas, a black man who “nobody” knew, had better seats than Frank Sinatra, who was inarguably the biggest singer at the time. That is similar to some bloke getting better seats than Embarambamba in a Keroka fight, it’s unfathomable.
This story is common knowledge but my reason for telling it was to drive my point near home, Frank Lucas (a drug dealer), Frank Sinatra (a popular singer), Mohammed Ali (Legendary boxer) and the FBI were at the same venue to ensure the success of an event that would define New York’s creative economy for years. Frank Sinatra is in my top 5 favorite entertainers of all time, his songs “A day in the life of a fool“ and “Something Stupid“ are songs I can’t go more than 48 hours without dancing to, unless of course I am in jail like Frank Lucas was, or if I were dead, like you know, Frank Lucas.
The Kenyan creative scene has been dead for a very long time, I mean it’s active, but it’s really not. In comparison to our neighbours Tanzania, Uganda, and even far in the west Nigeria, our Industry is dead. There are many factors that have led to that: government policy, talent deprivation, lack of hardwork from our artists but most important of all has been funding, we are broke as hell. In Kenya only mainstream artists have money, and the means of getting paid as an artist are so minimal, the main being brand endorsements, and you still have to know people. The sad part is even our mainstream artists have a clouded vision, they don’t know that they are the poorest entertainers in our continent, I mean the money is not bad, but if mainstreamers get so little, then the underground kings will never be appreciated enough.
The lacking ingredient in our broth of the Kenyan creative Industry is organised crime, real crime, not these forex conmen; mulot boys, card scammers and only fans wash wash mamas who stand in pretence as criminals pretending to have money. I want to be clear that these are my independent views and they do not in any measure represent any stand from Keja Ya Capo collectively.
You see, Crime is bad, crime is evil, crime is against societal norms and our natural moral code, but crime will always be there, criminals will always exist. The sole purpose of the police and the judicial system is the hope of criminals existing, if crime ceases to exist, lawyers, judges, court clerks, police dogs and even watchmen will be jobless. That is half the world population unemployed, leaving the other half, their dependants, also very jobless leading to more criminals. Hate it or Love it, this symbiotic relationship is one of the pillars of society.
My point is, since time imemorial, the world is anchored on crime, if people stop committing crimes, everthing else freezes. Since we have established that there is crime, why shouldn’t our creatives benefit as they do in other countries? why are kenyan criminals watching our artists go broke, a swift arrangement would be cconvinient for everyone. When I say crime I mean “Organized crime“ ,politicians for example are organized criminals, drug dealers, money launderers, people who evade taxes by making the government more money than they would have in taxes. Criminals above the normal criminal.
Artur Margaryan & Artur Sargasyan
The last time the Kenyan Industry was blessed with Organized Criminals was back in 2005, when the mysterious Armenian brothers, Artur Margaryan and Artur Sargasyan were allegedly hired by the government as mercenaries.
They were so organised in their crime, that they were appointed as Deputy police commissioners, can you Imagine that? The two brothers threw lavish parties for media personalities, their exists a video of Ciku Muiruri in a compromising situation with the brothers. In her own words she explained (Read more here)
standing next to me and cut out of the shot, I’m sure on purpose was Eve D’Souza and Sheila Mwanyigha. Also at the bash was the then Buzz (Sunday Nation) Editor, Adhiambo Odera. Pinky Ghelani was also there and numerous others. Atur lifted me onto a counter to make space for all of us to take a picture
“Ciku Muiruri”
That is an example of how organized crime can permeate the creative industry. Creativity works, criminals get in bed with journalists/media who are the conveyers of our artistry, satisfy them (no pun intended) resulting in a spill over in opportunities, resources and funds for the artists.There were rumours that the brothers were allegedly involved in the narco trade, something I can neither confirm nor deny.
Frank Sinatra
A global icon in the 50s through the 60s, hell till today, but his succesfulncareer was as a result of immense support from Joe Fischetti & Rocco Fischetti, members of the Chicago mob affiliated with Al Capone. This is why it was very surprising for the FBI when Frank Lucas, a black man, came in dressed like a long lost Louis Vuitton heir, and got better seats than Frank Sinatra and the Chicago Mobsters. Frank Sinatra is prime example of how organised crime can be used as a tool of development for other areas.
The level of disconnect between the Kenyan creatives, our audience and Investors is so wide that a couple of white elephants would fit. This is weird because the elephant in the room today is white in powder form. We need cocaine pumped into Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret, like the CIA did to the Harlem projects in the 70’s. The results were “Frank Lucas”,“Bumpy Johnson” and some of the dealiest gangsters in the history of the sport. This will leave the drug dealers no other option than to invest highly in the creative scene, a win win for everyone.
In Nigeria, everything is anchored on crime; politics, film and music, they are supported by gangs. There exists a movement in Nigeria known as “The Black Axe” it is the sole propreitor in succession politics and musical success. A title that is revered by Nigerians is “Ashiwaju” a local leader who influences the youth in enforcing politics music and film. Record labels (I won't name them because I can't afford a lawyer) are supported by criminal proceeds. It is not by luck, or hard work (yeah right!) that you see Nigerian artists excessively indulging in high end shopping, having the nicest cars and galavanting across the globe, it's not by coincidence, these are proceeds of crime. The Kenyan entertainment needs to learn and accept the fact that we need organized crime for us to reach the world audience.
This article was not just a random think-up of mine, I saw a video of my Goat “Domani Munga” in a podcast trying to explain how organised crime, (using cocaine as an example) can be used to revive the Kenyan hip-hop scene.
Domani Munga, hinting at organised crime being the catalyst that can propel our entertainment industry to the NEXT level.
It is my opinion that we should embrace crime, it is in our society, the government is already overwhelmed by it trust me, there is little you can do personally to END crime. We have resources in our disposal in the hands of filthy rich men that can change our Kenyan Entertainment scene. The Industry doesn't end at music, the film industry is dead, they rotate the same 17 actors, acting out the same scripts and don’t even get me started on the annoying, ever present trope of the one boy or girl, who grew up in poverty, trying to make it and then ends up turning to crime as the way out, how many times have we watched this movie?
Question, "How Kenyan are you?”
This T-shirt answers a question that's close to our hearts: "How Kenyan are you?" "KAF", says it all. It's not just a statement; it's a declaration of our deep connection to Kenya and its rich heritage.
Abel Mutua and Phil are trying to reignite film, as succesful as they may seem, nobody watches our movies apart from us. Ironically even we as Kenyans don't watch our own movies because the marketing is subpar, not by choice but we are broke as hell. Imagine if Mike Mbuvi Sonko (not a criminal, at all) invested his money in films shot in rural Machakos, just two films would revolutionize our blue screens. There is a lot of mediocre content in our local TV stations, investments in our local TV would spin to production of future film stars that would fly the Kenyan flag up high in the film world.
Mike Mbuvi Sonko
PS: If you know Mike Mbuvi Sonko personally , please tell him this “Sir, I respect your craft highly and I would wish to have a chance to present my ideas to you on how we can save the Kenyan Entertainment scene, please.”
That said, I hope the Bosses of Organised Crime in Kenya get to see my work. To the Kenyan police, I do not condone crime, but it looks like y’all are struggling to deal with it. I hope we can accept our situation as a country and reap the benefits of organized crime in Kenya, we will be so far ahead. The joy is that the benefits of the creative scene, will pour down to other sectors of the economy. I wish the Pablo Escobars and El-Chapo’s of our country would read this article and specifically contact me because I need the money too (just joking, I only do clean money)
As a conclusion, research further on the rise and impact of the Mob on the entertainment industry in the USA. Read how we as a country can make more by the police doing less.
Thank you for reading my (out of the ordinary, but fact based) thoughts.
