Month: June 2012

A month ago i wrote up a piece that sought to give aspiring artists some schooling on navigating the industry.

And today i have been inspired to give all you fledgling artists a second installment to that lesson.

And today’s lesson is on how to handle the media. Many a time we have picked up a magazine or newspaper that has quoted a celebrity or prominent personality only for said person to resurface later vehemently denying having said what was reported.

How does this happen? Actually think about that. It happens when an artist or celebrity meets with a journalist and is in an unprepared state of mind. They say things that they shouldn’t then accuse the media of misrepresenting their comments.

Artists need to actually take time -probably even meditate- and get into a mental state that best suits their situation. Take the time to gather and organise your thoughts before you give an interview. This will help you avoid unnecessary bloopers.

And the last thing Kenyan celebrity personalities need to learn to do is to prepare a press package.

It’s all well and good that you have a song but don’t just send me the lyrics, take the time, put in the effort and send me a complete package: lyrics, some background information and pictures. That way, we can work together to increase your profile.

Thus far the artists i have come across who seem to get this are Jimmy Gait, Holy Dave and Coola Gang. The whole point of Ghafla is to synergies with every industry player -the artist and the fans- to build up the Kenyan entertainment industry. If you want to be taken seriously, carry yourself with some level of professionalism.

That is my humble opinion.

 

Good music comes hand in hand with good lyrics and I know that most fans are all excited of the two new hottest tracks right now, Amileena’s ‘Shine’ and M.O.G’s ‘Mwambie’.

The two beautiful songs have gotten quite a reception and has most people talking about them, especially because of the fact that M.O.G have stepped a little bit outside their comfort zone, that is dancehall.

The videos of the two songs are also something to take note of. Well, you can finally sing along to the two songs’ lyrics, courtesy of lyrics.ghafla.co.ke.

Sing along to Mwambie and Shine‘s lyrics right here.

It seems the new Raila dance has taken the Katenga crew to more places than the actual music. The two pioneers of the dance, Cartel and Alfayo, have recently been to various towns, performing their music and displaying the Raila dance.

After a successful show in Webuye, the group later performed in Machakos, at the Club Wizard. Cartel was kind enough to send us some of the photos that were taken during the show and here they are.

After having released two extremely successful albums, Mwanzo (2008) and Sol Filosofia (2011) Kenya’s leading afro-fusion group Sauti Sol are not resting on their laurels as they have a brand EP (Extended Play) of 6 tracks, self titled ‘Sauti Sol’ which will be released on the 5th of July in Amsterdam.

The group enjoys international attention having performed in a variety of places such as West Africa, Europe and the United States as well as having been involved in collaborations with other great musicians such as P-Unit, Dela, Tanzania’s A.Y and more recently South Africa’s Spoek Mathambo.

Sauti Sol return to Amsterdam, which they claim is one of their favourite global destinations, to launch ‘Sauti Sol’ at the MC Theatre . Tickets are going for 10 Euro in advance or 12.50 at the entrance to the theatre.

The girl does indeed get busy! #TheGurlGetsBussyyy Stella Mwangi has announced that she will be dropping her BRAND NEW SINGLE ‘Bad as I Wanna Be’ on the 29th of June 2012.

STL, who is rumoured to have flown into the country earlier this week and is staying at a hotel in the Central Business District of Nairobi, has said that on the track she will be taking it back to where it all started…Hip Hop.

The single is a production by Norwegian Producers Big City, who also worked on her massive hit track ‘Lookie Lookie’.

All this talk about displays of wealth has got this writer thinking…

Which artist invested the most in their videos to give their fans quality videos?
This is part of a series in which we have an indepth look at Kenyan videos starting with the the expense then the artistic angle then on to the cheapest.
Let’s start with number 3:
#3 Votaries ft Rufftone’s MOG
The track was released back in 2008 and it was the most anticipated track from the year. Remember the Beat dropping promotional trailers for a whole month? The track was shot at Wilson airport and these guys had to rent out the whole hangar.
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#2 Prezzo’s PREZZO.
This was the video with all the white lasses. When it was released, it was alleged to have cost half a mill. A cool half a mill! What’s that? About the cost of a Probox!
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#1 Camp Mulla’s ADDICTED and Party Don’ stop
When these guys announced the cost of the video, everyone had something to say about the videos. And by everyone, i mean everyone! I admit also having something to say but i was straight up positive about mine!
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The thing about these big budget vids is that the quality gets you noticed. And none have proved this fact better than camp Mulla!
But with that said, Krtel has announced a 10 MILLION shilling video project! That’s right good folks, TEN MILLION! The project will have him travel to Dubai and South Africa! Ten Million people!

The Kenyan celebrity duo of Madtraxx and DJ Pinye has finally wrapped up their tour around the cities of Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, selecting 12 finalists who will move on to the next round of the Coca-Cola Kenya Olympic Anthem auditions.

“There is great potential in Kenya and it was encouraging to have seen people come out in huge numbers for the auditions”, said Madtraxx who will produce the official Olympic anthem.
The finalists for Nairobi are Alvin Maina, Juliet Karanja, Johna Maina and Vanessa Khamati. Mombasa will be represented by Susan Wairimu, Victoria Akinya, Winfred Bwire and Stephen Otieno while Collins Okoth, Fiona Olali, Gertrude Akinyo and Philip Omondi were the top in Kisumu. The four finalists from each of the cities will now face a public vote where the top two winners will emerge.

 

DJ Pinye (PHOTO: Ego Image Kenya)

“This was a very unique competition whereby both rappers and singers were auditioned. It is the first time such a selection has been done and we are very excited about it”, said Dj Pinye.
The voting, which has been on-going, continues throughout this week on NTV’s “The Beat”. Two contestants will be eliminated every day till the final two winners emerge and finally sing alongside Madtraxx on the Coca-Cola Kenya Olympic Anthem.
To date, six of the finalists have already been voted out. The six remaining contestants are Juliet, Jonah, Susan, Victoria, Winfred & Collins.
The announcement of the final two winners will be made next week after voting closes on Friday, 15th June 2012. The finalist’s videos and their voting numbers can be found on the official Coca-Cola Kenya Facebook page.
“This is a very exciting time and we are hoping that through this anthem, the spirit of Olympics will be spread throughout Kenya,” said Catherine Mudachi, Senior Marketing Manager for Coca-Cola Kenya.

You can vote for your favourite finalist by SMSing the name to short code 8800 on NTV’s ‘The Beat’.

Coca Cola is the World’s largest beverage company and through the world’s largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the beverages at a rate of approximately 1.7 billion servings a day

It is the latest dance style in town and has one of the weirdest and most interesting title ever. The Raila dance was launched last week (read related article), both in Machakos and in Webuye.

Cartel is getting a lot of attention with the catchy dance name that’s gets everyone interested in what it has to deliver.

Check out how the concert was and how fast guys adapted to the Raila dance.

If gospel music is all about inspiration, then Grace Muna has got plenty of it. The Kenyan artiste is just about to drop her brand new single ‘Hakuna’ which is a celebration of the wonder that is God.

Produced by R Kay and Directed by Enos Olik/CPJ Films KE, ‘Hakuna’ is a feel good and gentle track saying there really is no one like God. 

Enjoy the trailer to Graciela Muna’s track ‘Hakuna’ below…

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Jaguar recently came through with his brand new top of the line Range Rover Sport!

And that got me thinking. How many Kenyan artists and celebs are on his level? How many celebz can go pound for pound, blow for blow and shilling for shilling with Jaguar?
Well, whether or not they can here is a list of Kenya’s big ballers and number one will shock you!
#8 Shaffie Weru. this lad knows how to stunt hard! This is the one guy who stunts like your daddy and he has no apologies to make about it. He was once in a leading print publication interview talking about the fact that he rocks jeans worth twenty thousand shillings! Believe that!

#7 Ringtone. This guy was recently in an interview with the Pulse talking about how his chains can compete with Jaguar’s. And why should he talk greasy? The good Lord has blessed this former street urchin with a Range! He is even hobnobbing with the who is who! Talk about from rags to riches!
#6 Baby One. This Kenyan based South Sudanese emcee is also mad stunting! He recently dropped a mint fresh Hummer pick up truck. What can you say about that?
#5 Daddy Owen. This guy is on the d.low but he hasn’t escaped my radar. And you know why? As humble as he may be, he dropped an Escalade. Yup! Add the cost of one to the cost of importation and all that and you have a baller!

This is the point at which the usual “watu” get separated from the big boys in matters balling! Leggo!
#4 Juliani. What can we say about Kenya’s most beloved emcee? This guy has been on his come up for quite a while. We watched him grow his dreads and mature as an artist. And we watched the good Lord bless him. And we watched him cop a 5 series beamer then switch it for a c-class Benz!

#3 Prezzo. He is in heated competition with Jaguar, who has trounced him of late. This is an unfair advantage though, as Prezzo is caught up in the Big Brother Africa house, where he is representing Kenya well. He had some issues on the personal front that have taken a toll on him.

#2 Jaguar. This guy has been stunting like your daddy’s daddy! Mek i tell you he has been big balling like no one’s business! Dropping a Range immediately after he dropped a 400thousand bob chain! Only the next guy could beat him.

#1 Maina Kageni. Like Jay Z asked, “Who gon’ stop us huh?” Who can step up to this baller? He doesn’t dress flashy but when he makes a move, all of Kenya waits with bated breathe to find out what’s up.

Note that this list only had people whose monies have been acquired legitimately and through their sheer sweat have built a portfolio of wealth and assets.

 

Khaligraph Jones blew back to the music scene with the track ‘Everyday‘ that saw people talking about it and the ill flow that he serves. Sometime later, fellow rapper and close friend Oksyde re-introduced himself as Oxide in Coolagang’s cypher ‘People’s choice cypher’ that also made fans go crazy.

Before these two songs, not many people knew about these artistes and their ill and unique flows and attitude when they are with mic in hand. So, I figured I would give you guys a taste of one of their songs before all these.

Check out their video for the song ‘Mavichwa‘.

Known for his Kikuyu gospel songs that attract thousands of views on YouTube within a short period of uploading such as ‘Akorwo Niwe‘, Paul Mwai has blessed our ears yet again with another Divine track.

Paul Mwai has collaborated with sweet voiced Carson on this track titled ‘Holy One‘. Armed with a piano, and Carson with a violin, they create music that gets you in an unbelievable peaceful mood.

The video itself expresses humility as it is shot in a Church Hall. You just have to listen to this one to get what I mean. Check it out.

Most of us have heard her on radio but very few of us know about her private life, dreams and struggles. Tina Kagia is one of the female radio anchors who are currently taking the country by storm through excellent journalism. The journey to celebrity status has not been easy for Tina even though she comes from an artistic family. Did you know that Dennis Kagia a.k.a DNA of the Banjuka fame and Andrew Kagia of the Waguezi fame are her siblings? Get that amusing story here.

During her childhood Tina always wanted to become a professional dancer but she sustained a weird knee injury that cut short those dreams. Also time was not her side so she was not able to pursue this at all. It was her dream to do radio but numerous voice overs in many radio stations seemed to get her nowhere. Being the go getter we know her to be she decided to take action into her hands.

One day she walked out of a class and tracked down a producer at Radio Africa, begged for a voice test and after getting it she was back to the streets for another 11 months. Fortune was on her side once again when she stalked popular Capital FM presenter Fareed Khimani into meeting her who really helped and mentored her.

She then put in the work at Classic 105 FM, working 10p.m to Midnight for a month then was assigned an 8p.m to 11p.m slot for the next five months where she eventually became host of the mid-morning show. Fast forward to 2012, she then decided to call it a day at Classic 105 FM and moved on to One Fm. Find out why she quit Classic FM here

An interesting fact is that Tina is mother to a six year old girl! Did you also know that Super Hypeman DNG is her cousin? Seems talent runs in the family on this one. Tina also dated a musician (she refused to give up the name!) and has attended two universities dropping out of one. Her first job was as a sales girl in a supermarket at the age of 18. After much prodding she admitted to Team Ghafla! that she is extremely quiet when not on air and camera’s freak her out!

Her future plans include to become the biggest female name on radio, make herself a mega brand and become a great muay thai boxer! Tina is now the host of 1Breakfast and you can catch her from 7:00a.m to 10:00a.m because after all “She’s that girl”.

It has been a while since we heard from this gospel group, but it has been worth the wait. I was hoping they were working on some really good music and it turns out that they were indeed.

Their latest song ‘Mwambie’ has seen them collaborate with gospel artistes Se-v and Skizza to give us something that we are not used to receive from them. They have always leaned heavily towards the dancehall and Nigerian flavour type of songs, but this right here is pure and sweet Kenyan music.

It’s even sweeter because of the fact that the song is dedicated to all mothers who miss and need help from their children who are probably somewhere trying so hard to make ends meet, thus the lyrics “mwambie natafuta”.

M.O.G has really outdone themselves this time. Big up to them!

Immediately ‘bila mic’ was launched, it received frequent airplay and within no time, was one of the hottest hiphop tracks in town. Octopizzo has managed to amaze his fans with all that he is dishing out to them, and yet, more surprises come from the rapper.

As if the track ‘bila mic’ wasn’t hot already, he just made it way hotter by adding star artistes to the remix. The ‘bila mic remix’ will contain artistes like Collo, J’Mani, Frasha, Rabbit and the new girl in the music industry, Xtatic.

Both the audio and the video will be launched at the same time which, as Octopizzo says, will be very soon. Let’s not talk much about it until it’s finally here, then we’ll see how hot it will be. Just can’t wait.

Juliani is no stranger to the gospel and celebrity circles in Kenya. The musician has grown in leaps and bounds receiving a number of awards and recognitions, including being crowned the 2011 Groove Awards Male Artiste of The Year.

The ambitious and community-conscious star recently started his ‘Mtaa Tour’ initiative which seems him motivate fans to stand up and be recognized representing their neighbourhoods around Kenya’s capital and order his latest album.

Juliani goes ahead to hand deliver the album door to door faithfully, which is a first and a definite favourite with his fans. Today he revealed some information about where he held his first performance.

Believe it or not, Juliani had his first rapping competition at Club Barn in the presence of Big Kev and Big Ted. The artiste had fond memories of that stint especially after he read an article on Ghafla! about the enterrtainment venue’s recent rebranding to ‘Club Ichonic’.

Click here to read more on the change to Club Ichonic

Calif record’s talented young artiste Ala C just released a picture of himself back when he was almost a toddler.

The artiste, who this past weekend almost got arrested, posted on his Facebook wall:

“Usiulize huyo ni nani…hapo ndio ALA-C nimetoka…thats me nikiwa mtoi ocha..mungu ametembea na mimi na bado tunaendelea na safari..#WalkingClass!”

Have a look at the pic for yourself below…

These guys all seem to be caught up ina family business!

Let’s first start with the Kagias. DNA would be the trail blazer in this family of creatives. He’s the secular hit maker who gave us “Banjuka” before falling off the wagon and eventually finding religion. Well, DNA’s related to Tina Kaggia. We all know Tina Kagia as the bubbly, energetic yet petit and beautiful One FM radio personality. And to complete the list there is Andrew Kaggia. He’s the graphics and design genius who gave us the “Wageuzi” trailer.

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A tease trailer about Kenyan politicians as transformers (decepticons and autobots). Talk about creativity running through the whole family!

(Photo courtesy of Tina Kagia)

Then there are the Kibukosyas. Gido kibukosya is a reknown and celebrated music producer. his former wife Suzzanne Gachukia was a songstress turned music producer and their scion is K’Cous. Yup, K’Cous, ytalented rapper and producer who’s part of Camp Mulla.

(Photo courtesy of Suzzanne Gachukia)

Then there are the acting wizards the Masandukus.

Son to the late legendary comedian Masanduku Arap Simit(Sammy Kimani Muya), reknown from the Vitimbi & Vioja Mahakamani comedy shows.

He was also a presenter on the unique KISS TV show ‘Matatu.’

It would seem that for these guys entertainment is a family business!

After travelling from city to city in German for various projects, most involving lectures to University students, I doubt that Abbas has had as much fun as he did last week at a boat party.

Abbas expresses the joy he felt at the party on his facebook page,

Check out how the party was.

The Standard Group is owned by retired President Daniel Moi, together with a group of associated businessmen, including his former personal secretary Joshua Kulei.

Moi and his son Gideon recently merged their shares in the group and now are the largest shareholders in the group, which also runs Baraza Ltd, the owners of Kenya’s first private owned television station, KTN.

The group also runs the recently launched Swahili station known as Radio Maisha.

Meanwhile, Media Max, a group associated with Deputy Prime Minister and 2012 Presidential hopeful Uhuru Kenyatta, has taken over The People Daily of veteran politician Kenneth Matiba, K24 TV and the Kikuyu language radio station Kameme FM, both formerly owned by media entrepreneur Rose Kimotho.

The group is part of TV Africa Holdings, also owned by the Kenyatta family.

In 2007, TV Africa bought STV from renowned journalist Hilary Ng’weno and now uses the channel to transmit Al Jazeera.

So Media Max now owns two TV stations – STV and K24, a vernacular radio and a daily newspaper.

Media Max is cashing in on management problems in the Standard group and has poached Paul Wanyagah, its former chief operations officer to become CEO.

Kenya Prime Minister Raila Odinga also owns an uptown FM station, Radio Umoja, which targets the youth.

A political ally of Raila who is also the Parliamentary chief whip, Jakoyo Midiwo, for his part owns Lake Victoria FM.

Water Minister Charity Ngilu, also of the Premier’s Orange Democratic Party (ODM), has also acquired Mbaitu FM/SioKamau, a Kamba FM station broadcasting in upper Eastern Kenya.

Royal Media services, which runs the largest number of FM stations in the country is owned by SK Macharia, a business magnate who is a close ally of President Kibaki.

Wits its large portfolio of vernacular stations, the family business has enormous influence, and has not previously shied away from showing open support for the Kibaki administration.

One of Royal Media’s stations – Inooro FM – was named in the Kriegler report as having been involved in instigating the 2007 post-election violence. It was also named in the Kenya Human Rights Commission report on the violence.

Another station named as guilty of inciting violence, Kass FM, has sold a 49 percent stake to another Presidential hopeful, William Ruto.

Kass is owned by a businessman who is an ally of the suspended Higher Education Minister.

Religious organizations have also taken up ownership in efforts to control what goes out in the public.

Protestant churches have acquired Hope FM, the Catholic Church has Waumini FM and Muslims have both Radio Rahma and Iqra Fm.

Najib Balala is now a media owner. He started Pili Pili FM this year.

Ali Mwakwere owns Kaya Fm, which he aggressively used when he was trying to re-gain his seat in a by-election last year.

Country Side Fm is owned by Mututho. It was previously known as Bahasha Fm

One Fm is owned by Henry Kosgey’s family.

On Monday, 11Th of May, a terrified lady spoke to Joe Gidi on his live show on Radio Jambo, revealing horrors that most of us usually believe to be fiction.

The woman said that she has for so long been baffled by the amount of riches acquired by her husband in such a short time. All the while since they moved into a six bed-roomed mansion in Butere, the husband forbade her to visit one of the rooms in the house which has constantly been locked.

Heavy cash started flowing in immediately her two children past away. The real horror started when she feel a little ill and her husband decided to step into the kitchen and cook them a meal. She was shocked off her skin when she walked into the kitchen only to find the husband stirring the soup with a human hand. A DRIED UP HUMAN HAND. A terrifying argument followed.

Next day, she decided to break into the mysterious room. What she found inside was something out of a horror movie. Six human private parts and three human heads, all dried up and neatly placed on the table.

After receiving the story, the radio station immediately contacted the Butere Police Station for the rescue since the woman was told by the husband that if she attempted to leave the house, she would die within two minutes. Unfortunately, her husband reached her before the police and brutally attacked her, leaving her for dead. Her mother later took her to hospital, only to pass away a day later (12Th may).

Here, listen to the conversation. You can also join the talk on Twitter about this story on #Buterewomanincident

The late Minister for Internal Security George Saitoti and his deputy Orwa Ojode have been immortalised in a song.

The track is one Kenyan artists way of paying homage to the two and also serves as an attempting at uniting the country in in dark hour of mourning.

The two were killed in the greater Ngong area when there helicopter went down and this plunged a stunned country into mourning with the President of the Republic of Kenya declaring 3 days of national mourning.

Kimdanny is actually a gospel artiste who decided to do the track (which is a dirge) in a manner that celebrates the legacies left behind by the two leaders. Watch the track for yourself and decide whether it’s a hit or a miss.

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