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Kenyan boy band Sauti Sol threatens to sue ex-PM Raila Odinga over copyright infringement

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Kenyan boy band, Sauti Sol, has threatened to drag former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, and his presidential campaign team, ‘Azimio La Umoja One Kenya’, for alleged musical copyright infringement by using one of their songs, “Extravaganza,” as a soundtrack during the unveiling of NARC Party leader, Martha Karua, as the coalition’s running mate.

In a statement issued by the popular band’s management team on Monday, the group claimed that the action taken by Odinga’s Azimio’s campaign team infringed on their right to property as is “guaranteed in Article 4 of the Constitution of Kenya.”

“It has come to our attention that the Azimio la Umoja campaign through its flagbearer and presidential candidate, the Right Hon. Former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga’s social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) have without license nor authority used one of our more popular original compositions, “Extravaganza,” as a soundtrack to the announcement post of the running mate,” part of the statement read.

The music group added that the action of the former Prime Minister who is running for President in August presidential election, has infringed on their fundamental rights to property and freedom of association.

“We are disappointed by the Azimio La Umoja Campaign’s blatant disregard of our right to control the use of our copyright. We shall be seeking legal remedy for this clear violation of our copyright,” the band management maintained.

However, Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), in a
statement released on Tuesday, stated that its decision to use one of Sauti Sol’s popular songs during the naming of its running mate was an appreciation of the group’s success.

“We would like to assure our celebrated musical team, Sauti Sol, that we love them & appreciate their music so much. The group has carried our country’s flag so high in international fora and every Kenyan appreciates this. Playing their song was a show of love for their work,” ODM stated.

The Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) has also faulted the Odinga campaign team, saying it erred in using Souti Sol’s song during the unveiling of Karua as the presidential running mate.

In a statement on Tuesday, KECOBO noted that “Azimio only obtained a Public Performance License that allows them to play both local and international music at its rallies and events which is issued by the Collective Management Organisation, but the use of sound recording with a soundtrack with visual images in a film, video, television show, commercial, or other audio-visual production was not part of the license that was obtained by the Raila Odinga-led faction.”

The song, “Extravaganza” was released in 2019 where the group featured a number of artists including Nviiri, Bensoul, Crystal Asige, and Kaskazini and shot them to international limelight as we as placing the group among the most sought after musical acts from Africa.

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Culture

Burna Boy emerges Africa’s top earning artiste in the US from tours, concerts

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Nigerian Afrobeats sensation,
Burna Boy, has emerged as the first African artiste to stage the highest-grossing arena concerts and tours in the United States of America.

International rating platform, Touring Data, which provides a PDF and spreadsheet with ticket count information for tours in the US and Canada, in a post on X, said the “Common Man” crooner beat his record set in 2022 after he generated $1.593 million, (over N2 billion), at his TD Garden in Boston on March 2.

‘‘Burna Boy earns the highest-grossing arena concert by an African artist in US history with $1.593 million at TD Garden in Boston on March 2, 2024, surpassing his numbers at Madison Square Garden in 2022,” Touring Data stated.

The platform also noted that one of Burna Boy’s “I Told Them” tour sold out by large margins in Scotiabank Arena, Montreal and Toronto in Canada, Boston in the US, and Cologne in Germany.

Touring Data also stated that over 124,706 tickets valued at $93.50 on average were sold at the “I Told Them” tour.

“Revenue-wise, $11,659,531, or about N16 billion, was realised via the ticket sales,” the data platform said.

“Shortly after dropping the highly anticipated video for “City Boys”, Burna Boy announced his I Told Them… Tour.

“Produced by Live Nation, the 16-city tour kicked off on 3 November at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

“It marked Burna Boy’s first-ever performance in a Los Angeles stadium. He toured other American cities, including Houston, Chicago, Toronto, and more, before wrapping up in Atlanta at State Farm Arena on March 9th.

“Nine months earlier, the “African Giant” had a sold-out show at Citi Field, New York, making him the first Nigerian artiste to headline a stadium in America.

“BMO Stadium’s website said the singer commanded a crowd of more than 40,000 fans, including celebrities like Busta Rhymes, SZA, NBA star Mo Bamba, NFL Star Larry Ogunjobi, and British rapper Dave, who joined him on stage for a performance of his (Burna Boy’s) hit song “Location.”

“This history-making performance followed his landmark London Stadium performance, where Burna Boy made history as the first African to headline a stadium in the U.K.

“With his Madison Square Garden performance, the singer again made history as the first Nigerian musician to sell out The World’s Most Famous Arena.

“The global giant once again made history with his recently released album “I TOLD THEM…” after it debuted at #1 on the official U.K. Albums chart, making him the first international African artiste to earn the title,” it stated.

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Meet the Ugandan tribe where bride’s aunt must ‘test’ groom’s manhood before marriage

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The Bayankole tribe in the western parts of Uganda are a unique people with a strange tradition where a would-be groom is mandated to “test” his manhood and virility with an aunt of his bride-to-be before a marriage is conducted.

For the ethnic group who are found in the Bushenyi District, Buhweju District, Mitooma District, Rubirizi District, Sheema District, Ntungamo District, Mbarara District, Kiruhura District, Ibanda District, and Isingiro District of the eastern African country, marriage is of great importance as parents derive joy and pride from their children’s marriage and as such, the ability of the husband to stay “strong” is as important as the marriage itself.

Virginity in also held in high esteem so the girls must abstain from premarital sex.

According to the tradition, when a girl gets to the age of eight or nine, it is the duty of her aunt to groom her for family life.

Also known as the Ankole, the tribe considers the slim physique unattractive because to them, being fat is sexy, so when girls get to the ages of eight and nine, they are required to go through a fattening process which is usually done to speed up the weight gain of the girls so they can attract a husband.

The Banyakole marriage involves several ceremonies including a “giveaway period” know as “Kuhingira” where the relatives and friends of the bride present her with gifts such as cows and other food items to take to her matrimonial home.

On the wedding day, a feast is organized at the bride’s home where the father slaughters a bull while at the groom’s home, there is also a feast to consummate the marriage.

But first, there has to be one last ceremony, that involves tests that must be done by the bride’s aunt.

It involves the bride’s aunt testing the sexual ability of the groom by having sex with him to make sure he is potent.

During the act, the aunt learns the man’s sex techniques as well as favorite styles so she can gift her niece with pointers on what the groom likes sexually.

After confirmation is done, the bride is then taught by her aunt and allowed to consummate the marriage by being sent by her aunt to the husband with her blessings.

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