With the COVID-19 pandemic already in Kenya and the country now in curfew, it can get boring staying indoors so now Kenyan DJs are going live on Instagram to keep us entertained.
Entertainment joints have been closed and public gatherings have been suspended making DJs adapt to broadcasting on Instagram Live as they feel the impact of social distancing on live music and nightlife entertainment.
https://twitter.com/crissles/status/1241547186938228737
The DJs are getting behind their turntables in their homes and spinning their mixes to people who’ve joined their Instagram live sessions.
These legends doing DJ sets on Instagram Live reminds me of the radio my parents used to listen to when I was growing up it’s so sick
— dom mclennon (@DomMcLennon) March 23, 2020
This trend isn’t just here in Kenya – other DJs worldwide are going live on Instagram and other platforms like YouTube to bring entertainment and reduce the anxiety and tension during this global pandemic where most people are in lockdown practising social distancing as a measure to fight the spread of the viral outbreak.
Somebody needs to nominate @DJ_DNICE for a Nobel Peace Prize when this pandemic ends. He is doing the Lord’s work on Instagram Live right now.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) March 22, 2020
DJs such as DJ Verah, DJ Redbone, DJ Bee 254, DJ Iv_ey, Robertta Bobbie, DJ Joe Mfalme, GMoney, DJ Kalonje, DJ Shinski, DJ Bash, DJ CodeRED Stylez, DJ Aslan and DJ Hypnotic have played their sets live this week and are also planning to go live next week.
They’ve been playing all types of music genres from genegtone, Kenyan, Reggaeton, RnB, Hip Hop, Riddim and Reggae to uplift the spirits of both their Kenyan and international audiences and at least fill up the hollow days and nights as everyone tries to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
The live sessions are scheduled for different times starting in the evening so you should get your post notification turned on to know when they’ll be going live.
Nani ako live leo?
— Brian Mbunde ™ (@Brianmbunde) March 24, 2020
In these times of self-isolation, virtual events like virtual happy hours and virtual game nights are being leaned on as we don’t know how long this pandemic could last and platforms like Instagram are becoming makeshift performance spaces for these Kenyan DJs and their audiences.
For those who want to stream these live sessions on their desktop/laptops instead of listening through your phone’s speakers, you can download this Chrome extension(IG Stories for Instagram) that lets you watch Instagram live videos on Chrome.
In other news, these Instagram Live sets by DJs have made people on TikTok and Facebook start a trend of pretending to DJ using cleaning supplies and other assorted stuff.
https://www.facebook.com/1214683580/videos/10222655977767500/
Let us know when your favourite DJs go live to keep this post updated by hitting up our Twitter account.