The singer recently revealed his latest business venture, taking his audience inside the second-hand clothing trade after visiting Nairobi’s Gikomba Market to source clothes in bales.
The move is part of a wider pattern among Kenyan musicians who are building businesses alongside their recording and performing careers.
Guardian Angel said he had already ventured into several businesses, including an agrovet operation and a silver-related venture. He described the current undertaking as roughly his fifth or sixth business.
“Kazi yangu ni kutafuta kazi,” Guardian Angel said while explaining his approach to business.
Beyond the microphone
For musicians, income from performances can change from month to month. Concerts, bookings and releases depend on demand, audiences and the wider entertainment market.
Business ventures offer another route to earning.
Guardian Angel’s approach is not limited to ventures connected directly to entertainment. His investments have included agriculture, retail and other commercial activities.
His Waingo Farm in Machakos has also become part of his public business profile. In August 2026, he showcased an onion harvest reported at about 350 tonnes, with its estimated value put at approximately KSh17 million.
The latest move into second-hand clothing adds another layer to that portfolio.
A wider shift among Kenyan artists
Guardian Angel is not alone in looking beyond music.
Musicians such as King Kaka, Nameless, Wyre and Muthoni Drummer Queen have developed ventures around different parts of the creative and business economy.
King Kaka has expanded into artist management and creative business through Kaka Empire. Muthoni, meanwhile, developed Blankets & Wine from an event that initially attracted about 300 people in 2008. Nameless has combined music with his architectural background and construction-related work.
These examples show that diversification does not always mean abandoning music.
For some artists, the business grows directly from their creative work. Others use income and visibility from music to enter completely different industries.
The numbers behind the creative economy
The trend comes against the backdrop of a sizeable Kenyan creative sector.
A study by Financial Sector Deepening Kenya estimated about 275,375 creative enterprises in the country, with music and sound recording among the three largest components. However, the research found that only about 16 per cent were formally registered.
Access to finance was identified as the biggest challenge for creative enterprises, followed by access to markets and government support.
For musicians, this makes the question of income particularly important.
A successful song can generate attention, but building a business can potentially turn that attention into something that operates beyond a particular release or performance.
From celebrity to entrepreneur
Guardian Angel’s latest venture also changes how celebrity business is presented to the public.
Instead of simply displaying the rewards of success, he has been showing the processes behind some of his investments, including visits to markets and farms.
That approach places the emphasis on work and ownership rather than only on the lifestyle associated with fame.
For Kenya’s musicians, the growing move into business suggests that a music career can increasingly become a starting point for wider entrepreneurship.
The microphone may remain central, but for artists such as Guardian Angel, it is no longer the only source of income.
