Film board bans pro-gay music video made by Kenyan artistes
The Kenya Film and Classification Board on Tuesday slapped a ban on a recently released music video that supports homosexual relationships.
The video, Same Love (Remix), done by a hip-hop duo of Joji Baro and Noti Flow, was uploaded on YouTube on February 15, 2015 and had attracted over 35,000 views by Tuesday afternoon.
The board, in a statement, said it did not issue a license approving the production of scenes in the video produced in Kenya.
“The video, whose main theme is homosexuality has been RESTRICTED,” read the statement in part.
In the video, the two artists get cozy in different scenes with same-sex partners and even act out sexual encounters.
The board has warned that anyone “found distributing the video on any platform shall be held accountable in line with the law.”
The video is a remix of the 2012 hit by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, but with altered lyrics to depict the struggles of gay people in Kenya and Africa.
The video on YouTube is accompanied by a warning that states; “This video contains imagery and a message that may be unnecessarily offensive to some.”
Joji Baro, who raps the altered lyrics, starts by dedicating the song to what he terms as “the new slaves..the new minorities…especially in Africa, everywhere, this goes out to you.”
In the video, he is seen hanging out with his male lover but switches often to his lonely moments where he contemplates suicide.
Eventually as the video ends, the rapper plays dead and a close up of a suicide note is displayed.
