Month: June 2012

This week’s Ghafla! Top 7 doesn’t have as many movers and shakers as the previous week, but there are definitely some new entrants, including rapper DNA who has made a spectacular comeback to the industry.

Daddy Owen’s ‘Mbona’ loses out on the top spot to a steady riser thats been on the chart for just over a month now as Camp Mulla hold steady on the list, though how long they will last on here depends on you.

We’re listing the most popular LOCAL music in Kenya, based on radio airplay, tweets/comments and requests, lyrical searches right here on Ghafla! Lyrics as well as through weekly polls which we will feature soon.

Here are the current TOP 7 tunes ruling the airwaves and request lines in Kenya for the third week of June 2012. Remember, you can also vote for your favourite songs simply by looking up the lyrics to the songs on our website, commenting on our Facebook page Ghafla! Kenya, tweeting us your favourites to @ghaflakenya with the tag #ghaflatop7, or voting for them in the comments section below.

Here’s this weeks Top 7 chart:

1. Make You Dance – Keko feat. Madtraxx

{youtube}EZXoBML7PXg{/youtube}

2. Mbona – Daddy Owen

{youtube}nMvqSjdSJJw{/youtube}

3. Vile Inafaa – Muthoni the Drummer Queen feat. Octopizzo

{youtube}RBCBngSIAw0{/youtube}

4. Girls Night Out – Habida

{youtube}IoxA9KtXsKY{/youtube}

5. Maswali Ya Polisi – DNA

{youtube}suSBqy6EiuU{/youtube}

6. Mwambie – M.O.G

{youtube}Kpuv6g1qHWA{/youtube}

7. Hold It Down – Camp Mulla

{youtube}VGz2wQh73Bk{/youtube}

The non-mainstream artiste we would like you to have a listen to this week is Jemedari.

Check out the video below:

No Competition – Jemedari

{youtube}2Fjq_RFggh8{/youtube}

Undoubtedly one of the fastest and most lyrical rappers in Kenya, Kayvo has done multiple singles and collaborations with some of the best Kenyan artistes including Kaligraph Jones and Octopizzo.

Kayvo who is originally from the hiphop group K-Force, is now in the process of putting the finishing touches to his latest track’s video, titled ‘Rollin’ which is set to be among Kenya’s hottest tracks.

The video will be released in about two weeks according to Kayvo. Chilling with upcoming hiphop group ‘Hype Pack’, he gives some of the song’s details at the ‘behind the scenes’ shoot.

Check it out.

It’s been quite a while since I heard a Kenyan rapper try to go crunk ever since Chiwawa and Abbas nailed it with ‘chapaa’.

New, rapper known as S.P.D has just made his debut in the genre with the crunk track ‘The best ever (I got Barz)‘ which was released this month.

With a medium tempo for both beats and flow, this rapper sure has a a lot to say. Check out the music and tell us what you think.

Jemedari has now gone hard on hip hope as we are all used to seeing him on Spoken word events. Something about him reminds me of the rapper Mwafrika. They have too much in common.

Anyway, Jemedari’s new track titled ‘no competition’ is as simple as the video with lyrics and punchlines to die for. Dressed simply in T-shirt and pants, with dark shades, he raps back to back with no chorus at all.

It’s all about wordplay on this one and for sure you just gotta love it, especially how he delivers it in a well composed manner.

Check it out.

Siso Calif’s musical journey began in primary school where he was a bit skeptical about his chances of making it in the music industry. His first real shot in music manifested itself in secondary school on 10^th April 2006 when he saw an advert in the local dailies about a promotion that was on going at Calif Records studios. His parents were somehow against this new direction he was about to take but that was to change in the future.

On 5^th May 2006, his after much pleading and cajoling his parents finally accompanied him to Calif Records where he recorded his first single under the stage name “k-spex”. His confidence took a beating when the song flopped in the musical charts and worse still his parents backed off the music project terming it a waste of time and resources. This quickly became a trying time for him since he was now unable to raise money for recordings and video shoots. Stress was to multiple since he was still in high school and the national examinations were in the horizon.

Not to give up easily he embarked on a journey from Machakos to Nairobi on a mission to find Calif Records CEO Clement Rapudo a.k.a Clemo who was quite hard to get to. The first day ended without him meeting Clemo armed with only KES200 in his pocket with nowhere to sleep and no relatives to seek help from. He had to turn the roof of the four storey Calif Records building into a lodging. After numerous disappointments he only got to meet Clemo on the 5^th day who after listening to his plight offered him a place to stay and free recording at his studio.

He then underwent rigorous mentorship under Clemo where he was taught how to write music, rap and even taught a thing or two about acting. In 2008 he was officially signed to Calif Records as a recording artiste and released his first official single “Wacha Stress” in 2010 which received massive airplay and put him in the limelight. On 5^th May 2011 he released his second single “Majuu Kaguu” which was another hit getting him recognition from corporates such as Safaricom, Red Cross and Royal Media Services. This eventually transpired in him performing at the Kenyans 4 Kenya Concert that was aimed at raising funds for starving Kenyans in the North Eastern Province at the time.

Currently Siso is riding high with his latest release “Ngwee” which you can listen to below. Also you can  have a look at his amazing music lyrics here

Jua Cali has just released Kuna Sheng, a song about slang from different estates. The genge rapper has been fairly consistent since his debut in the Kenyan music industry over a decade ago.

He came out at a time when the industry was still in transition and local artistes were style trying to define a ‘Kenyan’ sound. He stuck to his and listening to his older tracks, you can tell that he hasn’t changed much.

Jua Cali’s achievements over the span of his career are nothing to be scoffed at. He won the Boomba Male Award at the Kisima Awards in 2006. He won Best Celebrity and Best Male Artiste at the CHAT Awards the following year. The Standard newspaper named him as one of the most influential Kenyans in 2007. He won Best Male and Best Boomba again at the 2007 Kisima Awards.

Internationally, he has toured the U.S., been nominated for a MOBO Award in the Diaspora category and MTV Europe Music Awards. He won three CHAT Awards in 2008, Best Male Artiste, Best Live Performance and Best Collabo (with Sanaipei) for Kwaheri.

Today, we take a look back at where it all started from. Before the Motorola endorsement, before Orange Mobile came along and before Warner Bros needed him to record a song for a local video game. Here is Jua Cali’s first track and his introduction to the Kenya music industry: Ruka.
{youtube}On1mn1nuppI{/youtube}

In 2010, an ecletic group of musicians drawn from Kenya and Germany were put up in one house by the Goethe Institut to experiment and blend music styles. The result was Welcome To The Madhouse–a funky, sometimes soulful–up-tempo record.

The 18-track album was recorded in Kenya and Germany and included Necessary Noize, Just-A-Band, Abbas, Kimya, Ukoo Flani, Michel Ongaro, Lisa Oduor among others from Kenya. From Germany, Teichmann, Sasha Perrera and Modeselektor represented.

The initiative, dubbed the BLNRB Project, is now online and you can watch it below.

Only 10 days left to the BET Awards where Camp Mulla ‘historically’ got nominated, being the only artistes in the region to gain the honour. We go 18 months back, to a time when none of us would have predicted that they would grow so big so fast and that they’d be where they are in less than two years.

This was an interview they did at the Kiss FM studios in January last year. In the interview they talk about AIDS (yes, really), Shappaman Kass’ heritage, trying to make Kenya proud and why they don’t rap in Swahili. Check out the interview below and see the group when they were still raw.

Something you might not know about Camp Mulla is that one of their members bears legendary musical heritage. Benoit Kanema a.k.a Shappaman Kass is the son of iconic Congolese musician, Kasongo Wa Kanema.

In a past interview with Kiss 100, the group was hosted by radio host, DnG. He brought up the issue of family and how supportive they are to the group members. That’s when Shappaman said that it’s easy for him because his dad is a musician. He then revealed that it’s Kasongo.

If you thought Camp Mulla started early, that’s because you don’t know Kasongo’s story. Kasongo started performing at age 10 and later went on to form Super Mazembe together with Lovi Longomba, Talos, Fataki Lokasa, Songole among others. Most of the original members have died over the years and the group is being ressurected with new members.

At a recent #TuvukePeaceTour in Mombasa, a couple of Kenyan gospel artistes led by Ecko Dydda and Kris Eeh Baba led students of the Shimo La Tewa School in a series of activities to promote peace at this crucial point in the country.

The Students watched photojournalist adn activist Boniface Mwangi’s video of the Post Election Violence “Heal The Nation” and were encouraged to declare: I’m not in the tribal generation, I’m in the tribe-ALL generation. I’m not part of the problem, I’m part of the solution!! Proudly Kenyan #CTA101 (Cleaning the Airwaves)

Since the reintroduction of multiparty political participation in 1991, Kenya has experienced election related violence every five years with devastating consequences to individuals and families. As the country prepares for the next general elections, it is necessary to take appropriate action to increase citizen participation in the electoral process and to contribute in ensuring that the elections are free and fair.

The Tuvuke- Initiative for Peaceful and Fair Electoral process in Kenya is a systematic effort aimed at developing collaborative pre-emptive actions and activities to forestall any pre-planned or spontaneous violence before, during and after the elections and to equip Kenyans with knowledge and skills so that individually and collectively they can enhance peace and justice.

Executive Producers of the initiative are – Kijiji Entertainment/ Mavuno Church/ Tuvuke Initiative Video while the Production is conducted by – Tony Mwaura [Washamba Unlimited]

Have a look at a few pictures from Shimo la Tewa

So, Prezzo managed to get a song put out while still in the Big Brother House… that’s just amazing. His devotion to music is simply motivating. I wish he could be that devoted to Goldie (just saying).

You cannot deny that the song he did with Mombasa singer Ally B, ‘Mimi na we’ was seriously awesome. The song is just superb.

Not forgetting Jua Cali’s latest track, ‘Kuna Sheng’ which tries to familiarise everyone with the hood slang. Interesting approach.

The lyrics to both songs are now available. You can now sing along to ‘MIMI NA WE‘ and ‘KUNA SHENG‘ right here.

The 2011 CHAT Awards Best New Artiste nominee Rap Damu has just released the audio to his BRAND NEW single ‘Hola Hola’ featuring Mariante.

The single is basically about how other people treat you or change their attitude once you make it in life and become successful at what you do.

‘They Never used to talk back…siku hizi wana hold back. Siku hizi wana hola hola’ says Rap Damu. Recently RapDamu released the video to ‘Nipe Nafasi’ which was hugely successful.

Check out the new single ‘Hola Hola’ below…

We know them from most videos of various artistes and best of all, from almost all dancing competitions. They have never disappointed us when they step on stage and now they want to try out in the music industry.

The dancing crew comprising of Fredrick Milanya, Ramadhan Nyachio, Justus Mutua, Simon Janja, Moesha Tajiri and Kenedy Mutembei, are all ready to launch their new track, Ashower, according to sources.

The single is actually a refix of Nigerian singer Ashao’s song, is set to be launched soon. The group promises extreme dancing styles to be launched on the video as they are now ready to take over the music scene as they have the dance scene.

Better watch this space.

You can download the conscious hip-hop album, A Dollar A Day, here. The 18-track album featuring various artistes from East, West and Southern Africa was produced by Akili Blaq, a South African-based Kenyan producer. The album features artistes performing in different languages and touches on issues such as AIDS, civil wars, xenophobia, reform and ethnicity.

From Kenya, the artiste featured were the producer, Akili Blaq and Muki Garang, who also oversaw the project. Other artistes include Ngozi Chukura, Relevant Source, Omadada, APU, Fullovit among others. The musicians were drawn from Kenya, South Africa Botswana, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

Registered in 2006, Maisha Yetu is a cultural organization that aims to promote national development by engaging the youth in creative ways to fulfill its objectives.

STL surely is one busy girl! #TheGurlGetsBussyyy Stella Mwangi who is set to release her brand new song ‘Bad As I Wanna Be’ has just revealed a snippet of the upcoming single ‘Bad As I Wanna Be’.

Social networks and the media in Kenya have been abuzz this past week with news that this Norway-based Kenyan bombshell is in the country to shoot a series of music videos, with the first ‘Bad As I Wanna Be’ set for release on June 29th 2012.

Stella has chosen to release a series of singles instead of a full album because she feels some of her creative juices get ‘lost’ in the compilation unless an ardent fan actually purchases the album.

Here’s a first (snippet) listen to STL’s yet-to-be-released song ‘Bad As I Wanna Be’….

Christ Cycoz is an alternative gospel rap trio. The group, consisting of Benard “Ben” Kariuki, Clinton “Dambiz” Andambi and Brian “KaGz” Kagiri, was formed in late 2010 after they graduated from High School. The trio met at Upper Hill High School where they were members of The Christian Union and The School Choir and formed strong friendships during the time they spent there.

The love of music drove Ben, Dambiz and KaGz to form a group as they were “young, fly and saved” and loved music to the core. The group members have extremely diverse tastes in music where they draw their influence and therefore they incorporate these different styles in their music.

The trio has one goal in common, to reach out and minister to the young people in society so that they can lead positive lifestyles by putting God in the driver’s seat and letting him take control.

They are finally releasing Spotless, a track they wrote while still in high school. Spotless is basically a testimony of God’s grace to us Christians for taking away our stain of sin and iniquity. You can listen listen to the track which features Lish and Sue below.

The extremely talented Kenyan rapper Raj under the Music Bank recording stable has just released his brand new bonus track ‘Girl Like You’ off an upcoming project of his dubbed the The Blow Up Ep. This follows the 18-track mixtape Career Student which was released in March 2012.

The song was written by Raj and co-written by Prince with recording, mixing and arrangement carried out at the MusicBank Studios in Nairobi.

Raj says the track was inspired by some real life events and is basically a ‘sad love song’.

Raj , born Rajiv Okemwa Gandhi, is a rapper and producer who is signed and self-managed at MusicBank Studio which started mid last year and is also owned by himself. 

Another interesting thing to note about Raj is that he is also part of Double G’z (Gangster and a Gentleman) which is a duo rap group consisting of Shukid and himslef. Shukid is also part of the group Coolagang.

As Double G’z they have a 14- track mixtape, From Africa With Barz, which was released last year.

He is working on a solo Ep, The Blow Up Ep and is start a Double G’z mixtape called Newschool Classics

Raj is currently negotiating a contract with a leading marketing company in Kenya. Have a first listen to the track Girl Like You below…

Man Wazimu dropped by Ghafla! this week to talk about his history, inspiration, new album and what he thought of Ghafla!

He told us about the struggles he went through in his early days of music, turning down international concerts, performing for Just-A-Band, the artiste he wants to work with and the inspiration behind the hugely popular Emergency Pills.

Besides that, he couldn’t help but show his love for the Ghafla! team. Check out what he had to say below.

{youtube}zj_8136IXLM{/youtube}

Keith is an alternative music artiste who experiments with different sounds. We reviewed his fast-paced debut single here and we now take a look at a slower, more soulful effort. The song was written, produced and performed by Keith himself.

Executed with good taste and right measure, up-coming singer/songwriter KEITH’s new track, ‘Flesh’, laces soulful saxophone melodies over moody piano chords and distant guitar solos. The up-coming Kenyan artist goes deeper still, exploring themes of self-reflection and vulnerability. His track, ‘Flesh’, will be featured in his up-coming EP, Love, Taken To A Mysterious Place, to be launched in August, 2012.

You can find KEITH on Twitter @keithinside and on Facebook here. Listen to the track below.

During a recent interview with Ghafla!, we asked Man Wazimu which Kenyan artiste he would like to collaborate with. In his 15-track debut album, My Say, we noticed that he has only featured two other artistes, Peshi and Eimah Rox.

“Are there any Kenyan artistes who you like enough to go out and look for? Anyone you want to work with?” we asked. “No” he said without blinking, “No one.” He added, “Before I work with you, there are two things I look at. One, is the business side. And two, is the passion. What do you have as an artist?”

Internationally, though, the reggae artiste said he would love to work with Macka Diamond. “I like the way she writes her music,” he prasied the Jamaican reggae star.

Man Wazimu, mostly known for Emergency Pills, is currently promoting his album, My Say, before he releases a series of riddims in September. He is also a presenter at Ghetto FM.

His name is Mykie “CEO” Mutooni. You may have seen him in many Camp Mulla videos, photo shoots and interviews. However, he always stays out of the centre stage. Due to this avoidance of the limelight, many Camp Mulla fans have asked themselves, “what the hell does this boy do?”

In a recent interview, it was revealed that Mykie was actually the one who started Camp Mulla!

But how? He doesn’t even rap.

Well, before Camp Mulla came to be, Taio Tripper and Yung Kass used to rap independently outside nightclubs in Nairobi. Check out one of Yung Kass’ earlier freestyles here:

{youtube}kiFoxBiBTqY{/youtube}

They were hot, but they didn’t know each other yet. Mykie knew them all independently and he’s the one who suggested that Kass and Tripper come together. Later on, he also recruited Miss Karun into the group.

That’s a big contribution.

 In a conversation with Taio Tripper, he revealed to me that Mykie the CEO is nowadays Camp Mulla’s manager. “But I thought the Nigerians at M-Tech managed Camp Mulla?” you ask. Yes, that is true, however while M-Tech manages the externalities, like ensuring they get high-quality videos and endorsements from Safaricom, Mykie ‘the CEO’ manages the internal affairs. He’s the internal affairs manager.

One of the gospel community’s must’attend events, the Mad Love Lounge took place at the Memorial Park in Nairobi on the 22nd of May 2012.

Mad Love Lounge is a monthly event that brings together some of the greatest gospel artistes in the country and this particular edition brought together hundreds of fans and a large number of gospel musicians to releaes the second volume of the Mad Love MixTape.

Artistes such as Holy Dave, Ecko Dydda and Izzo performed and we managed to get performance footage of Kelele Takatifu at the event. This amazing artiste borught the house down with his music. Check it out for yourself below…