Month: June 2012

Radio stations have been on the rise ever since the liberalisation of the media after the Moi era. Also, radio licenses have been getting cheaper and cheaper as time goes by, which has reduced the barrier to entry for the radio market.

In 1999 there were less than 10 local radio stations in Kenya. Now there are 116. Here is the complete list:

1. Radio Citizen – 106.7
2. Mbaitu FM – 92.5
3. KBC Kiswahili – 92.9
4. Nam Lolwe FM – 97.3
5. Milele FM – 99.7
6. Muuga FM – 88.9
7. Q FM – 94.4
8. Lake Victoria FM – 92.1
9. Jambo FM – 97.5
10. Radio Star – 105.9
11. Inooro FM – 98.9
12. Bahari FM – 94.2
13. KISS FM – 100.3
14. Kaya FM – 95.9
15. Kameme FM – 101.1
16. Kisima – 89.7
17. Ghetto Radio – 89.5
18. Risala – 96.7
19. Coro FM – 95.7
20. Capital FM – 98.4
21. Ramogi FM -107.1
22. Classic FM – 105.2
23. West FM – 94.9
24. Musyi FM – 102.2
25. Kass FM – 89.1
26. Easy FM – 96.3
27. Chamgei FM – 90.4
28. KBC English – 95.6
29. BBC – 93.9
30. Radio Maisha – 102.7
31. Sayare Radio – 102.9
32. Egesa FM – 103.4
33. Mulembe FM – 97.9
34. KBC North Eastern – 87.7
35. Bibilia Husema – 90.7
36. Radio One – 97.1
37. Syokimau FM – 88.7
38. Injili FM – 103.7
39. Minto – 101.7
40. Pwani FM – 104.7
41. Baraka FM – 95.5
42. Wimwaro
43. Metro FM – 101.9
44. Imani FM – 88.8
45. Kitwek – 98.0
46. Sauti ya Mwananchi – 100.9
47. Hope FM – 93.3
48. Sahara FM – 106.4
49. Jesus Is Lord – 105.3
50. Mambo FM – 91.7
51. Anguo
52. Ghetto FM – 89.9
53. Radio Waumini – 88.3
54. Frontier FM
55. Radio Salaam
56. Radio Djibouti
57. Sheki FM
58. Uptown – 91.1
59. Radio Rahma
60. Radio Ethiopia
61. Family
62. Hot 96 – 96.0
63. Homeboyz Radio – 103.5
64. Mururi 107.3
65. Mata FM
66. Hosana
67. MMUST FM
68. Sifa FM
69. KBC Eastern
70. East Africa FM
71. Radio Maria
72. Radio Mwiriama
73. X FM Rock – 105.5
74. Iqra FM – 95.1
75. Mulembee Bukusu
76. Radio Simba
77. Voice of America
78. Fish FM
79. Mwanendu FM
80. KBC Western
81. Amani FM
82. Kill FM
83. Kangema FM
84. Radio Free Africa(RFA)
85. Rehema
86. Light & Life
87. RFI – 89.9
88. Radio Mang’elete
89. Radio Umoja
90. Best FM
91. Cloud FM
92. Bahasha
93. Radio Star
94. ECN
95. Maendeleo
96. RTD Tanzania
97. Rock Mambo
98. Sema Radio
99. Deutchse-Welle
100. Step FM
101. Mwanganza
102. Sound Asia FM
103. East FM
104. Radio China
105. Turkana FM
106. Radio Pamoja
107. KBC Central
108. TBC TZ
109. Mandeq
110. Touch FM
111. Koch FM
112. Triple-A
113. Irib
114. CRI
115. Lokichogio FM
116. Neema FM

Here is an undated photo of model, designer and singer, Avril, compared with one found on the Uhidaya blog.

Octopizzo was one of the headlining performances at the recent Sawa Sawa Festival that was held last Sunday at the Carnivore grounds, alongside Anto Neosoul and Juliani just to mention a few.

His performance had to be off the hook, as he was almost as anxious and excited as the fans were. Reason for this being that this was his first concert to perform with a live band on stage.

According to the crowd’s reaction during Octo’s performance, he killed it. Staying original to the core. If you missed the whole show, no course for alarm. Octopizzo took the liberty to shoot a documentary about the whole show, from the rehearsals to the actual concert. This documentary will be released soon and will be available on Ghafla!

Meanwhile, check out these photos of his performance at the Sawa Sawa Festival.

Octopizzo on stage with Anto Neosoul

BET has set up a short biographical page on Camp Mulla.

That means that if you ever had even a shadow of a doubt, it is now official.

BET’s move is a blessing depending on how it is used seeing as it has cast the global spotlight on the awesome hiphop group’s effervescent rise to the top and their brand. It can potentially land them a collabo with the likes of Rick Ross just like P-Squared did.

Now though, all that’s left for us as Kenyans to do is galvanize as a people and wrap the 4 youngsters in support because even if they don’t get the top prize, they’ll have done Kenyans proud. And here is a link to the page.

check out the nominated group’s latest track here:

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Cartel Katenga has finally revealed where the Raila Dance came from. In an exclusive interview with Ghafla!, Cartel confirmed that contrary to popular opinion, the song is not political. But it’s not totally a work of fiction either.

Cartel says he got inspiration for the song during D’Banj’s Kenya concert last year at the Carnivore. He observed the Prime Minister, who was also in attendance, and after noticing that he had no bodily coordination whatsoever, he decided to convert his lackluster skills into a dance style.

He had planned on doing a social media campaign for dancers to come up with moves for the video but eventually settled for the Sarakasi Dancers. Below is a behind-the-scenes video of the making of Raila Dance. Keep it Ghafla! for details of the video’s release.
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Just got me mitts on some kray new gospel music…

And it’s a ragga influenced track that is just off the hook! It has “club-banger” written all over it and trust me when i say that it will be huge.

The track is has an up tempo about it and it gets the feet moving of their own accord. Just last night i talked about the secret X-factor that has made gospel as a music ministry bigger than secular music and it seems to me as though the gospel artists are eager to prove me right.

What is it they say about ragga tracks these days? “A big tune!”. Check it out right here!

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More and more artists are currently investing in the gospel industry but for the right reasons. It would be really silly and inconsiderate if we would expect the gospel artistes to continue producing high profile music and videos and later tarnish their names for wanting to make a little something from it. Like Jimmy gait once said to us, everybody gotta eat, right?

This young female gospel artistes is getting ready to do just that, and by the looks of the music budget, she’s going to have a huge meal. A feast in-fact. From Cartel’s KATENGA ENTERTAINMENT comes a young and ambitious artiste, who’s name has been withheld, on the parent’s request.

“The parents are not yet ready to reveal the identity of their daughter for personal reasons, until the songs and videos are all completed and launched,” Cartel told Ghafla! in an exclusive interview.

The artist has recorded the six track album at the Katenga Studios and to our shock, Cartel said that the studio was on lock down during the whole recording session of the album. No other artistes were allowed in the studios until the album was done. Apparently, the parents invested Sh. 10 Million on this six track album. Special treatment now understood.

“We will be flying to Dubai in July for four days video shoot and afterwads head to South Africa for another four days to finish off the rest of the videos. When we finally launch the album, you will find it to be more than worth the money,” Cartel confirmed to us.

The album launch is set for mid August and I just can’t wait to find out who this artiste is.

The multi-talented DJ Kaytrixx celebrates his birthday today, and all we can tell you is this maestro is still under 25 but has all the talent in the world.

Kaytrixx regularly mixes on the ones and twos during Uptown Saturdays at Changes Club in Westlands as well as on the massively popular KTN urban magazine show Str8 Up Live.

Ghafla! wishes DJ Kaytrixx a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

A recent survey shows that Radio Citizen has the highest share of all radio stations in the city. The Royal Media Services owned station has about 1/6 of the entire Nairobi market. This is likely due its extensive reach.

It is followed by Radio Africa Group’s Classic FM, which has about a 1/10 of the share. The same group’s Kiss FM comes in third with just a little less than a 1/10 of the share. It is said that highly rated Capital FM only barely made it to the top 20, with, reportedly, only about one percent of the share of Nairobi listeners.

Ghetto Radio’s randomness seems to be paying off as it has risen in the last year to gain 1/25 of the Nairobi audience, four times more than Capital Group’s Capital FM. Sports radio station, Radio Jambo holds 1/20 of the share. With 1/12 share, the vernacular radio station with the highest share in the city is Inooro FM. The relatively new One FM also managed to make it in the top 20.

Bamboo has reportedly said that he’s staying put in Kenya.

And the reaction to this has been one of great expectation. Everyone has been suggesting who the Kenyan emcee should do a collabo with and thus far Abbas and Camp Mulla are the most mentioned candidates.
I think he should first release afew solo tracks to let everyone know he’s back and to establish his own kingdom so to speak before he shares the limelight with any other act(s). But if he were to go along the path of collabos, who would you like to see him rap with?
Could it be Sauti Sol, Collo maybe or J’Mani? Who would it be?

 (Photo of Bamboo courtesy of Capital FM)

Gospel has clearly gained mainstream acceptance.

 Think not? Well even gospel was represented at the SAWA SAWA FEST this year with Juliani doing it big for gospel fraternity.

What was shocking wasn’t the fact that he is a good performer but rather the reception he recieved. His set was slotted after Yunasi; an unenviable slot given how energetic they are and how popular they still are. When he was announced as the next act, i remember wondering whether he’ll pick up from where Yunasi left off and get the crowd even more frenzied. He did.
And the crowd kept singing along, word for word. All this had me wondering what it was about gospel that had changed over the years enough for it to be accepted by the Kenyan mainstream. First generation gospel was Joy Bringers.  Then Five Alive did their thing and got the urban youth interested in doing gospel in a funky way but they weren’t well recieved by the mainstream.

Now we have Daddy Owen, Jimmy Gait, Holy Dave and Juliani doing their thing and spreading that Holy funk to spots and venues outside the church and they are ripping it up. The recent unprecedented success of gospel has me wondering what they secret is. What are they doing that secular artists aren’t? How come the music they are producing is much better recieved than that done by their secular counterparts?

Whatever the secret, gospel acts are currently miles ahead of the rest of the industry. And they don’t seem to be slowing down for anyone. Not for nay sayers and certainly not for their secular counterparts.

Sarakasi Trust, nestled in Ngara is a beacon of hope for fledgling talent.

The Trust which was established in 2001 aims at not just nurturing talent but empowering the artists and performers. The Trust had an opportunity to showcase some of the talent in their stable and they didn’t disappoint.

The SAWA SAWA FEST featured some dancers from the Trust and they were gyrating and dancing as though bones are a mere suggestion to their anatomies. The dancers came on stage with Nyota Ndogo and they did not disappoint. At some point, they were even the focus of the performance!
And the back up band that performed? Would you expect anything less of musical perfection? Especially when they backed up Yunasi. The energy from the group (Yunasi) and the rhythms from the band were a killer combination!
So if you’re an artist, a dancer, an instrumentalist, head up to Ngara and check out how the good folk at Sarakasi can teach you your trade to the point of refinement.

Kenyan gospel music greats DJ Mo and Alemba seem to be having a successful pre-awards tour in the United States if the pictures we’ve got our hands on are anything to go by.

Click here to find out about DJ Mo’s tour dates and venues

The tour is part of a drum up to the 2012 Talanta Awards which are scheduled to take place sometime in August of this year. Here are a couple of the pictures taken during a presentation the two had at Blossom Hill Menonite Church in Lancaster Pennsylvania. Next, they visit the American capital, Washington DC for the 5th anniversary gala of the Awards.

So, who knew that man Njoro could also do rap battles? I just heard about it but I had to see for myself to believe.

Turns out that these two very creative artists actually battled it out on the streets of Nairobi, just outside the Goethe Institute at night.

On lookers got a free show full of funny yet hot lyrics from the two artists. If you had missed this street entertainment, here is your chance to check it out.

The London Sevens was one of the biggest Rugby Tournaments and had a massive attendance from fans all over the world around the 13Th and 14Th of May.

If you think that was big, wait till you see how the after party was. Madtraxx, DJ Stylez and DJ Sparks almost brought the club down by their electrifying performance, giving everybody the time of their lives at the ‘London Rugby 7s After Party’.

There is something about Madtraxx that just gets crowds crazy and out of control in all his shows. Check out this after party instance.

The 2009 Channel O Award nominee and Kenyan rapper Cannibal is giving us a taste of his brand new single ‘Legend’ which is set to be another fantastic hit.

In the track we’re introduced to the heavy beats of its producer Provoke, and a sip of the weighty lyrics Cannibal uses to assert his dominance over the industry.

‘Ma-MC walinipa crown nikiwa down… Niko ready for war coz’ I’m a legend’ Cannibal says with abundant confidence. The song gives a sense of empowerment and is the perfect blend of ingenius beats and cleverl pieced rhymes that makes thia another winner for Cannibal (Real name Ralph Masai).

Have a listen to the track for yourself below…

Ever since I saw the shades get knocked off Zainab’s face by the grate DKB, I have been wishing for someone to do a video mix on it, with the annoying lyrics that is Zainab’s words, “slap me now.”

My wish came true and I only discovered it today, and now I just can’t stop clicking on the replay tab.

The song titled ‘Slap me now B*** Song’ has been on YouTube for a week now and it already has 25, 693 view. Enough said. You have to see this ASAP.

Remember the all time favorite song from the late Whitney Houston titled ‘My Love Is Your Love’? Jamaica’s Terry Linen did a re-fix of the song, a Bob Marley version created and now our very own hardcore hiphop rappers have given it a Kenya taste.

You might confuse the hiphop group Washamba Wenza with the legendary group Ukoo Flani Mau Mau due to their similar insane rhyming flows and extremely deep and heavy lyrics. Only hiphop artistes of this kind are confident enough to take on a legendary and worldwide popular song like this.

Washamba Wenza titled this re-fix as ‘Judgement Day’ and as soon as the first beat hits your eardrums, you know for sure that you are in for some urban cultural hiphop flight. Nas has obviously not visited these parts of the world that define hiphop, otherwise he would have never buried his version of hiphop.

Washamba Wenza have really weighed heavily on this one. Have a listen to this hiphop bliss.

Wale might be coming to Kenya. Spark Africa’s Buddha Blaze, in an interview with Tribes Magazine, said that he is working on bringing the 27 year old rapper to Kenya. Blaze is also working on Wale’s South Africa tour. Wale was nominated for BET Hip Hop and Soul Train Awards for Best New Artist in 2010.

In the same interview, Blaze also confirmed that Tumi from the Volume will be performing at Blankets & Wine on the 4th of August. The monthly musical event has had a host of South African Artistes performing including TKZee earlier this month.

Spark Africa is responsible for WAPI (Words & Pictures), which has brought artistes such as Dead Prez to Kenya.

As Kenyan hiphop groups gather to produce cyphers that go viral and raise discussions, while some exposing beef and new allies, a group of artistes from Kenya and Uganda have done what we have been waiting for all this time.

Rappers from Nairobi and Mombasa have collaborated with rappers from Uganda to create a cypher expressing mutual love and flow of hiphop between the two countries.

The title of the cypher considerably represents both nations, ‘254-256 Cypher’ by their area codes. Rappers from Kenya on this cypher include G-Dash, Kalahari Jeshi, both from Nairobi, and Nafsi Huru from Mombasa.

Straight from the Ugandan hiphop family Luga Flow Army, comes Cyno MC and Burney MC. The diversity of flavour and flow of the lyrics and deliverance make this cypher very cool yet hot at the same time.

Check out the video of the ‘254-256 Cypher’ below.

The 5th volume of the album Spotlight On Kenyan Music is set to be released this coming Friday, 15th June 2012 at an event that will see all the featured artistes perform their music.

The CD, which will feature music from not less than 10 Kenyan communities with a general focus on cultures to the Northern section of the country. Artistes to be featured include the Liban Troupe from Isiolo, Lmetili Generation representing the Samburu, the Oromo Group from Moyale, Longori from Loiyangalani, Bonaya Doti Konso representing the Borana and the Dassnach from Ileret.

The launch of the volume, which will take place at the Alliance Francaise in downtown Nairobi, follows an extensive collection of indigenious music that the French institution has undertaken, with financial support from the Embassy of France and Total Kenya.

The previous volumes featured Kenyan music from about all the eight provinces and is under an EU initiative, entitled “Vital Voices and Culture: Increasing People Participation in Good Governance and Development”. The Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs is also actively taking part in the implementation of the project.

Local musicians had to be called by provincial and district cultural officers as the team toured major towns in the country including Embu, Garissa and Machakos. In total, about 44 musicians showcased their work which had to be judged and shortlisted by some of Kenya’s leadin artistes in a panel which included John Katana, Suzanna Owiyo, Iddi Achieng, Tabu Osusa and Achieng Abura.

Kenyan gospel artiste, Juliani, is undoubtedly one of the best artistes in the country right now. Not only for his wordplay and deep lyrics but for his energetic borderline metal rock concert performances as we witnessed at this year’s Sawa Sawa Festival.

After he got saved, he disappeared from the music scene for a while but he came back bigger and better. From the beginning, it was obvious that he was a great rapper. But when his new image seemed to take over his music, he had to work harder to assure fans, media and casual onlookers that it wasn’t just a façade.

He’s been so successful as a gospel artiste, that we might have forgotten that there was a time he wasn’t one. Many artistes have a hard time shedding off their previous images without inviting suspicion. No one in the local music scene seems to have done it better than Juliani. Ghafla! takes a look at the public’s first contact with Juliani, which—I must say—is still a classic.
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The sultry and sassily refreshing Kenyan songstress Liz Ogumbo may not be based in the country as much but the music she churns out continues to transcend borders and soothe souls.

Hot off the release of her 10 track album, the KenSoul experience, Johannesburg-based Liz was at the recently concluded Indian Ocean Music Market (IOMMA) drumming up support for her amazing album and performing at the second edition of IOMMA on the Reunion Island from the 29th to the 31st of May 2012.

Her album KenSoul features some of her hit singles which include the afro-ethnic fusion number ‘Maro Pa More’ which sounds like a concoction of island and continental tunes and the hugely successful ‘Big (Nyash) in Blue Jeans’… sure to be a hit with alternative, jazz and contemporary music lovers.

Here’s the promotional video to her album release

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The album, which is rich in vocal and instrumental display, was released in April last year adn is available in CD and Download through her website. Liz also doubles up as a fashionista, rocking contemporary and vintage but African outfits resulting in stunning photographic displays.

You can check out Liz Ogumbo’s performance at the 2012 Indian Ocean Music Market below…

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The Indian Ocean Music Market is an event that seeks to create a platform where cultural artistes from around the continent can network and share professional advice on how they can export their music to potential markets worldwide. The second edition was held at the Capitainaire Lislet Geoffroy by the Port in Saint Pierre on the Reunion Island.

IOMMA is organized by the European Union and the Regional Council of the Reunion Island, Scenes Australes.

This song has sprout mixed reactions from fans and general viewers of the artist and YouTube in general. Whether it is as bad as the viewers claim on YouTube or not, fact remains that it is quite interesting and entertaining depending on how you look at it.

It gets even more interesting when you can actually sing along to the high notes that Man Wazimu attempts to hit on the chorus. The lyrics have a story to tell and now you can be part of it. .

Meanwhile, in some music stores somewhere in Kenya, I just discovered that there is actually a whole riddim dedicated to this song… ‘EMERGENCY PILLS RIDDIM’. Seriously! Here’s proof.

Who would have known?

The video begins with the words, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”. There and then, I knew this was some deep stuff, and knowing Astar, he obviously had a lot to say.

Oh! No, this isn’t one of those press statement public apologies. ‘Public Apology’ is actually the title of this beautiful track. It’s just fresh out of the studio and the video is just as hot as the song.

Blending fast paced rap and rhythmic chorus was a good idea for this one. Astar goes all out on confession and it is kind of creepy that part of the video is shot at the grave yard but the lyrics make it all worth while.

Every verse has its own story or should I say testimonies which reflect to most life experiences and blunders that we go through, and at the end of the day ask for forgiveness from the Most High and to all those concerned.

You can sing along to the lyrics as you enjoy the song right here.

Some of our celebrities are indeed living it up. No faking swagg and hiring souped up rides for stats. No! This is the real deal.

We caught up with Kenyan based Sudanese rapper, Babyone and his love, Hummer. Separation of the two is futile. I wonder how the girlfriend feels about this out of the ordinary relationship. but who can blame him? The ride is a thing of beauty.

The ‘tabasamu’ singer discribes his hummer as his lifestyle and from the looks of things, it’s a really interesting one. Check out the pics.

Babyone with Jalang’o