Most wanted: Pacho Entertainment

From Timmy T Dat’s break-out song Wele Wele, to Tunakubali (featuring Kansoul), King Kaka’s Leta and Lini with Rich Mavoko, Baadaye with Amos and Josh, to Dandia, Zingua, Shigidi and, currently, one of biggest songs in Kenya, Gudi Gudi, Pacho Entertainment have been on the up and up.

It is no wonder then that other A-list stars like Avril, Nyashinski, Khaligraph, Wyre and Kristoff have had some of their songs produced there as well. The CEO of the label, Michael Kennedy Claver, also known as Rapdamu or Naiboi of the Gudi Gudi hit fame, says their secret is diversity.

“We don’t focus on one sound because when you do that, people who do reggae or rock won’t come to you. We also don’t focus on any particular genre; whatever an artiste comes with is what we use to make it work,” he says.

To prove his point, Claver says Pacho has four in-house producers led by Cedo (Cedric Kadenyi), each with his own unique skill that is fast transforming the music industry. One thing that Pacho values greatly is “discipline and service to artistes”, who are almost always guaranteed that their music, once out of the studio, will receive airplay on television and radio.

“There’s something called mixing and mastering; there are people who have an ear for this sort of thing and they will tell you that what comes from Pacho is pure in terms of quality and professionalism. That’s what attracts people to us,” he adds.

Naiboi founded the outfit in 2010, though he had taken a plunge into music production seven years earlier in 2003.

360-DEGREE DEALS

Sticking to the business, he says, was the best decision he ever made, because he has never imagined reporting to an office for a nine-to-five job. But there are many times he recalls he wanted to quit but the music kept calling him back.

Through the years, he has learnt that patience means having to work harder than everyone else and giving “120 per cent” of his effort. When he did his first song, Naiboi was too broke to afford Sh6,000 studio fee. So he paid Sh3,000 and asked the producer to teach him how to use production software.

“It was Roba from Scratch Records. He opened the software, clicked on the help button, showed me all the options and told me ‘na usinisumbue tena,’ (Don’t bug me any more)”, he says amid laughter.

Pacho was among the first to create a music animation video for the Wele Wele remix, something Naiboi says “was far ahead of its time and not many understood it.”

Currently, four artistes are fully signed to Pacho — Vanso da Gama, Everlast, Rankada and Shally. But signing does not happen overnight. Some of the artistes worked with the label for over two years before getting signed. It takes this long because the label has to understand and know the artistes, their work ethic, discipline, if they can stand the pressure, and if they are really hungry to advance their careers or they just want to be famous.

They have 360-degree deals which they offer their signees. They also do deals per project for those who only need their audios produced.

Pacho Entertainment have not limited themselves to the mainstream music industry. They have done dozens of jingles, radio adverts, commercials like the Trust Condoms Kuwa True and others for Airtel and Safaricom.

KENYAN FLAVOUR

The record label also featured in this year’s music reality programme Coke Studio, where they produced one of the mash-ups. Not bad for a show that pays a cool Sh1 million a week.

While songs from Pacho are getting massive airplay in clubs, radio and television, its founder has a theory on why the careers of some musicians never take off.

“The Kenyan market does not allow you to be you,” he says, pausing briefly before launching into an explanation. “There’s a type of music that Kenyans consume. If you come with your own flavour, you will end up taking very long to convince them. But if you give them a sound they are used to, it will be easier to penetrate the market,” he says. “We are fed with so much Tanzanian music that we know that’s how love songs are supposed to sound, while anything flashy is believed to be Nigerian.”

For most people, the song Gudi Gudi by Everlast featuring Kristoff and Naiboi, has a Ugandan or Nigerian feel. On the first week of its release, the song was on a Nigerian countdown, perhaps owing to its overall feel and West African flavour.

The studio sessions do not come cheap at Pacho. An artiste pays Sh20,000 for one song — half the amount as down payment and the rest after the song is mastered.