TRACE EAST AFRICA ISSUES APOLOGY OVER GENGETONE VS AMAPIANO POST 

Trace East Africa has issued an apology after sharing a poster of a Twitter space discussion that was against popular Kenyan genre gengetone. “Exit Gengetone enter Amapiano, Two genres rose from the streets in different countries. As one soars to international levels, the other rests on its death bed. What can we learn from the rise of Amapiano?” read the Twitter post.

The post sparked negative reactions from Kenyans under hashtag Gengetone forcing musicians Blinky Bill and Eric Wainaina who were among the key speakers to cede their positions in the discussion. “As a gengetone fan, I believe that platforms about the genre should prioritise gengetone artists. I share the concern about the framing of Trace East Africa’s discussion. I’ve ceded my spot. And remain available for constructive conversations that could benefit Kenyan music,” wrote Wainaina. 

On his part, Blinky offered to give his spot to a gengetone musician noting that they worked on the genre from scratch. “Just spoke to the peeps Trace East Africa. I wanna give my mic to someone from the Gengetone world to speak in tonight’s space, they have built something from the ground up and that’s really valuable. I’ll still join as a producer,” he wrote. 

The debate forced Trace to issue a statement apologising for the discussion in question adding that they are all about empowering all music genres. “You have heard and read about our twitter space dubbed exit gengetone, enter amapiano. We would like to apologise for the communication on the above subject. As a platform, we are all about empowerment and we support and love gengetone and all music genres in all their forms,” the statement read in part. 

Trace clarified that their intention was to bring together artistes in a healthy discussion on how to elevate local music to the international space. “Our objective was to bring together artists, key industry players and music lovers in a healthy discussion around ways to elevate and support our local sub-genres to break into the international space. We acknowledge our mistake and we are reaching out to the relevant parties who are knowledgeable in each genre to give us adequate knowledge on the above.”