Born and raised in Chebilet village in Bomet County, Vincent Kiprotich (Kiplish), while still a day secondary school student, mastered the art of earning to cater for his family’s basic needs through making mahamri at a friend’s hotel as his part-time job.
The Struggle
Kiplish would earn KSh 100 daily and dedicate the weekends to the job.
Sometimes he would make up stories and earn the money during weekdays, especially when things were thick. This lasted from 2009 to 2012.
Four years later, he would look for a better job, and that would be working at an Mpesa shop in 2013.
There, he started making friends with local Kalenjin artists, who introduced him to JOSCO production studios in Bomet, leading him to resign.
It took him two months to record his two volumes, currently known as albums, the same year he had got a job and resigned.
“It was easy because all along, since I was a young kid, I had started writing my own songs. In secondary school, I asked the drama teacher and my Principal to support me, but they would have none of it.
Not even my Member of County Assembly (MCA) then came through. Sadly, to date, I have not earned even a dime from it,” he laments.
Through the studios, his friend Nehemiah later connected him with Sheila Mark, a renowned gospel artist.
She is majorly known for her song ‘welel kainengung’.
Sheila wanted to go on a roadshow to market her music and sell her DVDs. She agreed to tag along Kiplish to accompany him. That was his first step out of Bomet.
The roadshow saw them transverse Kericho and Uasin Gishu counties through to Eldoret Town, Kapsabet, and Nandi Hills.
This happened in November and December 2013 and unfortunately had an abrupt stop when the owner of the hired Probox they were using demanded it back. That meant they were to head back to Bomet.
On their way through Eldoret to Bomet, he had picked an advertiser’s number looking for a salesperson in Eldoret.
He called the potential employer and was told to report. The job was challenging as he would be forced to earn through commissions. His disadvantage was his lack of fluency in English and Swahili.
With only KSh 500 with him, he took the cheapest route to his uncle’s home at Eldama Ravine, costing him KSh 350, and had some balance.
He started working as a farm boy at his uncle’s home until a friend called him to join his hotel business back in Bomet for half of 2014.
He would later return to be a farm boy again at Eldama Ravine, this time, in Moringwo, the homestead’s farm boy who had gone for an extended leave.
His duty was to shepherd the cattle in the nearest forest. He used to earn KSh 3000 a month. The opportunity did not last long, as the original farm boy returned in December 2014.
Later on, luckily, a sawmill was opened up nearby in 2015 and he was among the first employees, thanks to his uncle.
Though he earned KSh. 300 per day, the daily routine was heavy and demanding.
In 2016 he won a lottery from Sportpesa.
All this while, he had successfully applied for an opportunity to do journalism from three different academic institutions and all had accepted him.
The lack of fees was the stumbling block.
Fate
Winning KSh 50,000 from a bet, he resigned and decided to enroll in Eldoret Technical Training Institute (ETTI), Bomet branch.
Seven years ago, that amount was a kill.
ETTI offered a two-year journalistic course that would cost ksh 10,000 per semester. He only managed two semesters and then deferred to look for fees, never to return.
During his college days, he met a smart-phone owning guy, grabbed the opportunity to take photos of them, and posted them on their social media. In 2017, the photos were noticed by KEMPIXS Productions in Eldama Ravine.
“KEMPIXS asked me if I knew photography, videography and editing. I told him I did, and that’s how I returned to Ravine. I worked for Tally Productions, where I was trained too.
Over time, I met great friends in the same field; they were generous enough with their skills, which elevated me to be on my own,” he explains.
He specifically thanks Chris, Moses Bett and Kempix, Ken and Tally Productions. “We have grown together,” affirms Kiplish.
His colleagues nicknamed him Avande, and he appreciates Vincent Avande as his journalistic icon and role model.
Kiplish has since become a brand.
Start of Breakthroughs
“I had my first clients agree to pay me KSh 9000 for a photo shoot during their wedding. They only made a down payment of KSh 5000 and neither came for their photos nor paid the balance,” says Kiplish.
“I was still new in Eldama Ravine and never asked for directions to their home, but I still have the soft copy photos,” he says.
As of 2018, Kiplish was operating his music production studio, Kiplish Photolens Production house, currently at Eldama Ravine Town, Opposite Strikers Shopping Centre/Chambai Springs.
Most of his skills are through YouTube tutorials. He also pays tribute to Javotex for his generous training.
He was the first music producer to start printing posters for the local stars from Marigat, Nakuru, Eldoret and the environs, earning well from the weekly shows in every region.
He says he learned from the best and only competitors then, Alpha Solutions in Kericho.
He shoots videos and is famously known for his work with the late local artist Rhino Kaboom.
In 2019 he was the solo producer responsible for producing his two songs ‘Winnie Simple Girl’ and ‘Tilet ne Tile’.
Together with Kaboom, they made a great team that attracted more artists to his business.
He has also produced music for Cool girl Melodies, Tinget Kaptel Boy and the late Ainamoi.
He has also shot videos for several choirs, including AIC Bartolimo and AIC Orinie, amongst many others. He delivers personal and family photoshoots during various ceremonies.
His most significant setback, he says, was getting employed for a year. He says he was forced to cut links with his connections and worked so hard for little.
Some Advice
He feels that being free while doing his business is more rewarding and fulfilling and advises anyone with talent not to be caged.
“There is respect with working for yourself; the worst is tolerating an abusive environment,” he adds.
Kiplish, however, laments the state of local artists in the Kalenjin community.
Though with established associations like the Kalenjin Musicians Association (KAMUA) and Union of Kalenjins Musicians Associations (UKAMA), they have failed to develop tangible ways to develop themselves and not perish in careless ways.
He says being a local artist should be a thoroughly thought talent, done for fun and not as the bread basket for the family, as this has proved disastrous.
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The downfall of Kalenjin musicians, he says, is the lack of sober producers who would guide artists on the messages of the songs.
He advises artists to branch out from the common love messages and craft songs addressing matters affecting social lives, such as the environment, cattle rustling, poverty, and effects of uncontrolled alcoholism, amongst many positive messages.
He advises producers to match the messages and the acting in the videos and to work on coloration and video quality.
In the future, he hopes to have saved enough to establish a whole print production office to avoid sending some of his work to Eldoret or Nairobi due to the lack of machines, some of which cost hundreds of thousands.
He hopes to be a quality go-to producer for videos and photos.
