• Sauti Sol said it’s an exciting experience for them to finally share a stage with their idols who many may have failed to notice inspired them to be singers.
• “I don’t if you guys are aware but we were started off we were discovered singing Boyz II Men covers,” Bien Aime said.
All roads are on Saturday heading to Uhuru Gardens for what has been touted as the biggest concert in Kenya this year where fans will be serenaded with soulful music by two great boy bands.
Radio Africa Group in partnership with Stanbic Bank have pulled all stops to ensure the Stanbic Yetu Festival is nothing short of a lifetime event full of incredible experiences.
The organisers have put together America’s Boyz II Men and Kenya’s Sauti Sol on the same stage in what Radio Africa Chief Executive Officer Patrick Quarcoo said will be nothing short of an ecstatic performance.
“To have the greatest boy band of our generation stand on stage is exciting. But I think to have perhaps the greatest RnB boy band on stage with Africa’s greatest boy band is incredible,” Quarcoo said.
He spoke during a press conference at Sankara Hotel on Thursday which was also attended by Stanbic Bank CEO Joshua Oigara.
Quarcoo said Stanbic’s partnership in organising the concert was borne from the bank’s believe in Radio Africa’s dream of bringing unimaginable incredible experience to Africa.
“The bank powers our dreams. This is the first of many concerts that we shall have. Anything we imagine we can do,” he said.
“So, I’m just excited and I’m looking forward to tomorrow and I’m calling on Kenyans to really dress for the time because this is a once in a lifetime thing.”
Oigara said the bank came on board to enable possibilities on the realization that not enough investment has been put into the creative industry in the continent despite of the unlimited talent Africa boosts.
“What excites me a lot is to see more people, younger people especially, more connected, more excited and more ambitious to build the capacity on themselves to scale, so what we are doing here today is more imagination,” he said.
Sauti Sol said it’s an exciting experience for them to finally share a stage with their idols who many may have failed to notice inspired them into singing.
“I don’t know if you guys are aware but when we were starting off, we were discovered singing Boyz II Men covers,” Bien Aime said.
Quarcoo said he signed Sauti Sol on the deal despite them being away on tour in the US enroute to the UK because of the incredible experience they would bring to the event.
"I called the boys and said I don’t care what you do, you are going to break the trip, you are going to show up and you are going to do what you really amazingly do so well.
“So, I’m just excited and I’m looking forward to tomorrow and I’m calling on Kenyans to really dress for the time because this is a once in a lifetime thing,” Quarcoo said.
On their part, the American boy band said it feels nice to be in Kenya for their first ever performance in Africa despite the long distance they had to travel to get here.
“We travelled a pretty long distance but it’s always nice to be here. We truly appreciate it, we are happy we are excited to be here. We hope you guys are just as excited,” the group’s spokesperson said.
“We want everybody to just enjoy your time at the festival. All the act is here, it’s going to be a festive evening and we just want to remind everybody just enjoy yourselves.”
The team is comprised of John Fitzgerald Johnson, Reginald Salvatore Johnson, Fabiana Bizzarro, William Michael Shirley, Terry Wesley II, Clifford Vinson, Damon S Harris, John Brooks Eline, John Lopez, and William Charles Fegley.
Lead singers are Nathan Morris, Wanyá Morris and Shawn Stockman. They arrived in Kenya on Thursday.