The Kenya Film Classification Board is incurring the fury of online fans after it made the decision to ban a viral song, Taka Taka by Alvindo.
"The song produced by FastCash Music Group is restricted due to its obscene and degrading lyrics that advocate for violence against women by equating them to trash."
This move will see Alvindo losing out on royalties, revenue streams from concert performances, music streaming apps and club appearance fees.
The Board banned the song saying that it should not be performed live or broadcast anywhere within the Republic of Kenya.
No DJ should play the song either on broadcast station or in entertainment joints.
They point out that lyrics such as: "Unakataa kuwa demu wangu. . Nakuroga unakufa.... Roho chafu kama ya shetant. Nakuja ka mazishi yako kukula na kukunpva nikucheke ukizikwa... arc primitive and abuse our sensibilities as a people and cannot be condoned."
KFCB went ahead to trash the song claiming it is "characterized by crude language that objectifies women and glorifies hurting them as a normal reaction to rejection."
Adding that in line with the Board's Classification Guidelines which forms the basis of approving or denying approval of film content, the named song has obvious elements of incitement to violence against women by using repetitious emotional phrases and misrepresented facts.
The press release went on to say that the aggressive and sadistic attitude exhibited by the singer seeks to not only incite men who face rejection by suitors, but also justifies hatred and hard feelings that come with possible rejection.
However, entertainment pundits have raised issues with the legality of the ban saying the government body is overreaching it's mandate by banning music.
Here are some reactions by KOT after the news of the ban broke.
Alvin aka alvindo has been made famous by Dr Ezekiel mutua of kfcb. Controversies build personalities and their grit. Takataka song is good....
— Elijah Okemwa (@elijah1334) April 16, 2019
Nikiweka ikue ringtone wata ni kamata ?? #takataka
— Polycap ceedorf (@Ras_Ceedorf) April 16, 2019
Now this Takataka song will be played by everyone. Like the way there's no one who hasn't watched Wolf of Walstreet.
— Denis Githinji 🇰🇪 (@dgithinji) April 16, 2019
@EzekielMutua you are so petty. Banning the song Takataka three months after its release shows that you are only doing it for PR. Did it take you three months to interpret Swahili lyrics? I don't think so.
— Denogrant (@Denogrant_) April 16, 2019
That takataka song was itself takataka.
— Sidney J Otuga (@OtugaJ) April 16, 2019
A parently their're lots of Takataka to be burned from our oudio & visual media platform, our politicians contribute Tonnes of the same.
— Wafula.J (@JWanjalla) April 16, 2019
You can watch the video that was banned below.
It is still up on YouTube, it is not clear if KFCB will ask the video hosting giant to pull it down. The song is also part of the Safaricom Skiza Tunes that fans can subscribe to and download for use.
