Douglas Ogutu (Kenya)

My name is Douglas Ogutu, an Artist and entrepreneur from Nakuru City, Kenya who is passionate about social positive change and sound Leadership in Africa. After my undergraduate studies, I opted to start a career in Music and the Arts. This was rather a risky path to choose for many reasons. I had not formally studied music at any school program, neither did I have the money to enroll for any. Even so, most programs purely focus on the classical Music which I love, but I wanted to be a professional in music with an African touch, if not, be good with pop Music. Thankfully, I got a few scholarships to do short courses in Music Production and Piano at Berklee College of Music.

In 2016, after resigning from my lecturing job, I decided to focus on building two brands: Dowe Music &Arts- an academy and Music Production studio as well as Douglas Ogutu, the performing artist. Being an artist in Africa, especially in my community is considered as a waste of time. One must have a ‘serious job’ besides just singing or playing the guitar. In fact, every day I meet new people, they can’t resist the question: “What do you do apart from Music?” It took resilience, focus and vision to stay put and get me where I am today.

The change is gradual, but it is surely happening. There are small steps being taken by the government to encourage artists to professionalize their works. During Covid, registration of copyrights was free, and even when the fee was reintroduced last year, it is much less than how it was before. Due to my workshops and concerts dubbed Art4Leadership, the impact on more than 100 artists has been significant as they now value their work better. Unlike before, they register their works before running to the studio for recording and release, they are knowledgeable on steps to take on monetizing their products, have a price tag and they are keen on community empowerment through.

I am a voice for change in Africa.
Around the time when I was choosing art, I wrote a short story which was later selected in an anthology and taken by the ministry of Education as a set-book for 2022-2026 High-school years. My story is a highlight of the root causes of corruption and seeks to challenge the community to denounce the vice, fighting it from a family level rather than just waiting to heckle politicians.
My first ever song when I started professional Music works is known as No To Poor Leadership. These and many others have become tunes that young leaders use in their forums to inspire sound leadership. I am an alumni of various Leadership Programs, one of them being Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI), The programs have a mass following of young people who are inspired by my music as it speaks to the change we want to see. Currently, the song VEMA is rising in fame as I perform at various functions within and without Kenya. It is about inspiring people to be mindful of others, treat each other well especially in romantic relationships as a way to combat Gender based violence. I hope to use my two brands to elevate the state of art and artists in Kenya and beyond since I believe, the two are sleeping giants that can help Africa rise from poverty.