When East Africans see West African artistes like Burna Boy and Wizkid fill up massive stadiums in first-world countries like the UK and US, they often do not notice how big of a deal it is. Tanzanian songbird Zuchu took to Instagram to air her pain after her Texas show flopped badly.
Via Instagram stories, Zuchu wrote, “As an artiste, nobody ever prepares you for moments like this. My show in Houston did not go as planned, but I thank whoever came through for me, I love you all. As I am crying and sobbing right now, this has given me anger to do more. Recently I even lost my energy to work hard. I am only human. I kept asking why I chose this career,” she posted.
She went on to say, “But moments like these give me answers. That a few chosen ones are made as an example so that it becomes easy for others. How do the likes of Simba (Diamond) manage? Yarabbi! Well, there are a lot of failures in their stories, perhaps that is what gets them to where they are. I ACCEPT FAILING AS A PART OF MY SUCCESS!” She added.
The show was organized indoors in what looks like a conference room, and videos surfaced of Zuchu and her dancers performing for empty chairs. The venue also looks way smaller than what is filled by the Nigerian superstars. The Tanzanian is by no means a small name, as she is arguably the biggest female artiste in Tanzania, and among the top five in the country overall including the males.
It raises the question of why she could not fill such a relatively small venue, and why till now, top East African artistes like Diamond Platnumz, Harmonize and Jose Chameleone have not taken on the challenge of organizing bigger shows abroad. As Wizkid and Burna Boy are selling out the Maddison Square Garden and StateFarm Arena respectively in the US, and the O2 Arena in the UK for both; East Africans are still struggling to fill 1000-capacity venues. Venues of up to 20,000 capacities filled by West Africans all the time, still elude East Africans.
That said, it is imperative to know what the West African Afrobeats musicians get right, and use that as a benchmark to grow the East African music industry.
Don’t want to miss out on any story? For updates on all Sqoop stories, follow this link on Telegram: https://t.me/Sqoop
