The Second Hit Is the Hardest To Make

Every artist hopes to have a hit record at some point in their career. However, the making of a hit is not straightforward. Several factors influence whether a song becomes a hit record. A hit can be a result of a featured artist on a song, the sampling of an already popular song, luck, and these days, TikTok trends. What everyone who has had a hit will tell you is that getting the first hit is easy, but getting the second hit is even harder. Some artists get one hit record and never get another one. These are called one-hit wonders. Other artists are blessed with having multiple hits. Don’t let anyone deceive you, every artist would love to have a hit record as it can open doors.

In 2024, Kenya had three hit songs by different Kenyan artists, which all became hit songs for different reasons. The first hit song of the year was Kudade by artist Johnny Johnny, which featured music industry heavyweights Fathermoh, Ndovu Kuu, Lil Maina, and Harry Craze. The song was first teased on TikTok prior to its release, which prompted fans to demand its release and a remix from Fancy Fingers. Before Kudade, nobody knew Johnny Johnny, but Kudade became a hit record, leaving many asking for another hit, which he has yet to deliver. The second hit of 2024 came from female rapper Dyana Cods, who came into the Kenyan music industry as a signee of Zoza Nation and gained popularity because of a Homeboyz Radio freestyle. In 2024, however, Dyana Cods scored what is her biggest hit today with Set It, which features AJAY from Buruklyn Boyz and has a dancehall sample. ‘Set it’ was different from what the world was used to from Dyana Cods and went on to be the biggest song of 2024. Many argue that Set It became a hit because of the sample and AJAY, but we believe Dyana Cods has what it takes to make another hit in her career. But time will tell. The third Kenyan hit song of 2024 came from little-known group Wadidagliz, who rode in on the Maandamano wave with an anthem that spoke to the situation in the country with Anguka Nayo. The Jury is still out on whether the group will create or recreate another hit in the future.

Kenya’s biggest artist today, Bien Aime Baraza, recently shared something about making hits, which we think is important to share with the world. Bien said, “Hits are so easy to make yet so hard. When you betray yourself, they betray you”. This is, however, easy for Bien as he makes it look so easy to make a hit. Just this year, the mere fact that Bien was featured on a Tanzanian artist song, Nairobi made the song the number one song on Apple Music in Kenya.

We at Radio 254 believe that the first hit is the easiest to make and the second hit the hardest.

Many artists have had one hit record, but few have two or multiple hits. Artists like Mejja and Maandy make it look easy to make a hit, but some artists spend their entire career chasing a hit and never get one. An artist can have a successful career without ever having a commercial hit, but don’t let anyone ever fool you that they don’t want or have never wanted on. At some point, everyone is searching for it, but as your journey continues, you start to figure out who you are as an artist, what your sound is, and what works for you, and hopefully, on that journey, you land a hit. Sometimes, people chase it and get it, and sometimes, people chase a hit and never get one. Beware, though; once you do have a hit record, the hard part is making another one.