The new generation of artists in Kenya have lyrical content that can shame the devil. Ethic-or unethical if you will- has been described as“..one of the biggest breakout groups to emerge in Kenya’s music scene in 2018”, the quartet of Reckless, Swat, Zilla and Seska have made it their business to objectify women, campaign for the use of illegal substances through their lyrics and the young (and young at heart) are in love with their music. And, seemingly, the more the no-nonsense Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) CEO Ezekiel Mutua fights them, the more popular they become. Because of the numbers they pull, multinationals like Coca Cola have no qualms associating with brand Ethic. Here is a preview of the controversial all boy group.
Ethic the Group
The four started out as solo artists. Its not until 2018 that they came together and released the club banger “Lamba Lolo”. Zilla was quoted as saying: “Some of us like Seska and Rekles schooled together so we have known each other for a while but decided to start performing and recording together as a group because we are all talented.”
Reckless (Rekless)
He is the main man. Rumors abounded that he was leaving the group to pursue a solo career. These rumors were given credence when Reckless released a collabo ‘Kesi Baadaye’ with Kanari and Shigha Ree-both upstart artistes. Their official DJ, DJ Kasha, rubbished the talks saying the group was intact. He told Pulser at the time:
“Reckless is working on a solo project. But this does not mean that the group has separated…” And true to his word, the group has remained intact and Reckless continues to work with other artistes.
Powerke.com put his date of birth on 24th April.
SWAT
Also known as Mtoto wa Eunice, the artist is another lyricist who thrives on vulgarity and he is loved for that. He was born in April 18th 1997.
Seska
He made headlines when it was rumored that he had passed on. The artist was absent in a video of the group sparking speculation that he had gone to be with the maker. Ethic refuted the claims on their social media platform stating that:
“Seska is… alive. All those rumors spreading around are unfounded” The artist was born on July 10th.
Zilla
His presence is not as big as that of SWAT or Reckless.
Prominent Personalities who have endorsed Ethic Entertainment
Even as their music continues to receive backlash from some quarters, that has not stopped the popular group from receiving endorsement from prominent personalities. Nairobi senator Johnson Sakaja praised the group saying during an interview on Radio Citizen. He said: “These young guys were about to fall into crime if you know their story very well, but today they are earning a living so young people should follow their example.”
Raila Odinga Jr, son of opposition doyen Raila Odinga, had in the past praised Ethic Entertainment until they released Tarimbo. He said at the time before making a turnaround:
“Ethic ni maboys wangu. Kwanza nataka kubond na huyo msee, mtoto wa Eunice, SWAT hunibamba. Kwanza hiyo song yao Instagram. I want to meet those guys and even do for them a show somewhere. So SWAT nitafute, I will do for you guys a show for free…”
Loosely translated: “Ethic are my boys. I want to bond with them, especially with SWAT. Please lets connect I organize a free show for you guys”.
But Junior, like a section of Kenyans, was not pleased with their latest release that is trending at number and he couldn’t hide is disappointment.
In a long post on social media he stated:
“The group’s artist Swat is shown seated in a lounge with a balaclava (which) may or may not (be) seen to construe a burglar in someone’s premises with ladies dancing all around.
“After listening to the song a couple of times myself as a producer, it’s hard to see how the controversial lyrics passed through all the artists and developers working on the project without being checked…”
“In the past, I have praised Ethic for creativity and unique sound that’s original and fresh, however, I feel in trying to outdo themselves while chasing ratings, they may have overstepped the bold line of what is ethically correct. I won’t be dancing to this song nor will I play it and that’s my personal choice.”
Controversy
SWAT was given a dog’s beating by a mob after he was mistaken for a criminal. The artist was chilling with his friends when they spotted police arresting youths in the area. They sort refuge in an apartment, wrong move. A tenant spotted them and called for help mistaking them for criminals. SWAT survived by a whisker after police came to rescue but not before he was given a beating that was captured on video and shared widely.
A song they released was pulled down by google after garnering over a million views. The beats for ‘Figa’ song had been “ripped off from a song titled ‘Cono’ (released on December 9, 2017), sang by Dutch rapper Jhorrmountain in collaboration with Puri and Adje”, Nairobinews reported.
Koroga Festival
The group were involved in an altercation with security personnel during the 26th edition of Koroga festival. Defending their behavior, Ethic Entertainment claimed that its members had been harassed by security personnel at the event prompting to retaliate.
Tarimbo
Has been the subject of controversy with Ezekial Mutua calling for the prosecution of the artists. He has also reached out to google to pull down Tarimbo.
YouTube Views
The group has 160k subscribers by the time of writing this post.
Tarimbo-Trending at number 1. Views so far-380,000
Chapa Chapa-1.1 million views
Pandana-4.4 million views
Ethic-2.3 million views
Position-4.2 million views
Thao-794 views (featuring Boondocks Gang) Next
