South African Amapiano DJ says she is stranded in Kenya after a promoter duped her

Deejay Chiedza Mangena.

Fast-rising South African-based Amapiano deejay Chiedza Mangena, alias DJ Chichi, is stranded in Nairobi, alleging she has been duped by a Kenyan promoter.

DJ Chichi — who specialises in playing South Africa’s Amapiano music that is gaining popularity across the world — arrived in Kenya almost two weeks ago for what she says was to be a series of performances and a media tour organised by a promoter, who goes by the name Chris Black.

This would have been the first time the two were meeting in-person having met on social media site Instagram, when  Chris, who is said to have Ugandan roots, sent her direct messages and proposed that they work together.

“He slid into my DM sometime in June and asked if I would like to join the tour by Guchi (a Nigerian musician) when she performed here (Nairobi) in July. I was supposed to come at the same time, but I couldn’t make it because of unavoidable circumstances,” DJ Chichi told the Sunday Nation.

A month later, Chris is said to have contacted her again. “This time, he told me we could now do the tour from any date between September 8 to 27. I told my manager who is based in Dubai, who then spoke to Chris (Black) and both settled on September 27 as the date I would travel to Kenya,” she says.

DJ Chichi adds that before packing her bags for Kenya, being her maiden performance tour outside South Africa, she and her manager had kept asking the promoter to provide them with the details of an “artiste rider” — a set of specified demands to facilitate the performance — that they had supposedly agreed on.

“My manager and I persistently asked Chris to furnish us with details that included the accommodation and means of transport I would use during my stay,” she says, adding that the promoter was evasive.

Nonetheless, the DJ said she bought her ticket to Kenya as agreed, hoping the promoter would keep his side of the bargain.

“I honestly don’t know what they agreed with my manager but he advised me to just come for this tour with a view it would help grow my brand,” DJ Chichi says.

However, despite the constant communication with the promoter, there was no written agreement.

Ideally, and as is a standard procedure for talent bookings, a promoter and the artiste typically enter into a legal written agreement which is signed by both parties having agreed on the terms of engagement.

 Once that is done, the promoter or an event organiser then takes full charge of facilitating the artiste — from paying for return tickets, performance fees, meals, accommodation and transport during the duration of the artiste stay in the foreign country.

DJ Chichi travelled to Kenya alone, without her manager, but alleges Chris continued with the assurances that he had lined up a number of performances.

Once in Kenya, DJ Chichi was picked up by Chris  at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. She claims that she was initially taken to an apartment that was “small, creepy, stuffy and smelt of wet paint’’.

“After I complained, he moved me to another that was overcrowded with people I didn’t know, the majority being men. When I asked, he would tell me some are sponsors, others are video crew and all manner of answers. I had no privacy and, it didn’t feel safe for me,” she says.

Of the many gigs promised, DJ Chichi says she only played at the X/S Millionaires night club on Nairobi’s Baricho Road but she alleges she was not paid “even a cent” by the promoter. An official of the club, in a telephone conversation, said all payments for the performance were paid to the promoter.

Things got worse after she was thrown out of the apartment. At this point, the deejay says she had already established a few Kenyan contacts that have been helping her move around and offer accommodation as she awaits her manager to buy her a return ticket.

While in Kenya, DJ Chichi was invited to Uganda by a different promoter but she alleges Chris once again came into the picture and she did not get the money due to her.

However, Chris refuted the allegations and told the Sunday Nation that he did everything they agreed with the deejay.

“When I approached her, I told her that I was a promoter and I would help grow her brand. The main purpose of this tour was for marketing and promotions purposes and should we find gigs (events to perform in), we would then do them. I also informed her because she isn’t well-known yet, she will have to facilitate herself, all these agreements were verbal,” Chris says.

The promoter says DJ Chichi never mentioned to him that she had a manager until one week before the trip.

Addressing the X/S Millionaire saga, Chris confirmed he received the money but said he had used it to facilitate DJ Chichi’s stay in Kenya.

“Besides the promotions programme, I managed to secure a few gigs for her but when she arrived in Kenya, most of the sponsors pulled out saying they didn’t think she was going to bring any major impact,” he says, adding that he agreed with the manager that they would split the money made from any performances since there were no sponsors.

He accuses the deejay of changing the story to make it look like he had duped her.

 In July, Chris was at the centre of another controversy when reports emerged that Nigerian musician Guchi had been stranded in Nairobi over unpaid food and drinks bills.

“That’s not true, those were just people who were trying to malign my name. Guchi even denied the reports, she vindicated me,” he says.