From choir boy to big time music producer, Kenya’s Vic West says he owes his success to his guru: Kanye West., whose real name is Victor Amani, says he is a “shy genius”, even though he publicly confessed in a podcast last year that he has a massive ego., he explains that this was not meant to chide anybody, but “I know I’m good at what I do”.
One might be excused for thinking that Vic West wasn’t already a force to reckon with before the ‘Kuna Kuna’ wave. But he had been around the block for a while, producing songs for other musicians who were releasing relatively big hits. The only difference was that ‘Kuna Kuna’ was his own project; he conceptualised and wrote the chorus, before inviting in other artists.
Black Market Records is arguably the biggest record label in Kenya at the moment; they mostly sign up young musicians with new genres. It is the muscle behind Gengetone artistes and as well as those that Vic West is churning into superstars with his signature Reggaeton sound.Vic West doesn’t consider ‘Kuna Kuna’ to be his first musical success.
In 2023, he produced ‘Kaskie Vibaya’ by Fathermoh and Ssaru, which drew the ire of Music Copyright Society of Kenya boss Ezekiel Mutua, who said it was eroding the morality of the society. But the song still became a crowd favourite.and his latest ‘Big Bigger Biggest’, which mostly features TikTok stars, who have propelled it to the top of the charts.