Kaysha: Web 2.0 Savvy African Bohemian
It’s no secret that Black music celebrities and the Internet have a tenuous relationship. Whether it’s being the butt of a celebrity blogger’s joke or the subject of adoration on a fansite or message board, Black music celebrities end up taking one of two positions when it concerns the ‘Net: milquetoast admirer or bloodthirsty opponent.
The Congolese-French musician Kaysha is definitely an exception.
Dubbed as “the future of Afro-Caribbean music”, Kaysha’s energetic, frenetic music style samples influences from R&B, hip-hop, calypso, rhumba, zouk, kizomba and zouglou. Kaysha has four solo albums under his belt, runs his own music label Sushiraw Entertainment, his own T-shirt line called Sushiraw Clothing and has performed for thousands of fans all over Europe and Africa.
Fans, no doubt, came to follow Kaysha through his far-reaching range on the Web. He has taken advantage of several Web 2.0 services available to help craft his online image, including over 100 videos of his performances and behind the scenes moments on Viddler, over 11,000 photos on his Flickr account, and personal, up-to-the-minute accounts of his life on the road through his Twitter account. And like any music artist these days, Kaysha also has a MySpace page to showcase his music and list upcoming events. Because of these multimedia offerings, Kaysha’s fans can really get a personal connection to the artist from seeing his videos, reading his blog posts (of course, he has a blog) and listening to his music. Web 2.0 technology lets the fans really experience his life (without resorting to a tacky reality show on VH1 or BET).
More Black artists could follow Kaysha’s example and craft their own online presence.
When it comes to Web 2.0 technology and most Black artists, there’s not much of an intersection. It’s an odd observation considering the penchant for mobile and vehicular gadgetry flocked by most and celebrated in shows like MTV’s “Cribs”. But when you really think about Black music artists and the Internet, you have to ask yourself if they really leverage what the Web has to offer for their own purposes, or do they relegate themselves to the contempt and sarcasm of celebrity gossip bloggers?
August 16th, 2008 at 5:09 am
[...] “Fans, no doubt, came to follow Kaysha through his far-reaching range on the Web. He has taken advantage of several Web 2.0 services available to help craft his online image, including over 100 videos of his performances and behind the scenes moments on Viddler, over 11,000 photos on his Flickr account, and personal, up-to-the-minute accounts of his life on the road through his Twitter account. And like any music artist these days, Kaysha also has a MySpace page to showcase his music and list upcoming events. Because of these multimedia offerings, Kaysha’s fans can really get a personal connection to the artist from seeing his videos, reading his blog posts (of course, he has a blog) and listening to his music.[Black Web 2.0] [...]
August 16th, 2008 at 5:16 am
[...] seeing his videos, reading his blog posts (of course, he has a blog) and listening to his music.[Black Web 2.0] Save [...]