Month: July 2012

Actor and hip hop artiste, Stanzo the Ace Killer has done a remix for DNA’s Maswali Ya Polisi. Stanzo, who has been rapping for almost a year now, is currently signed to Boom Recordz. His remix is titled Madeni.

Maswali Ya Polisi is the latest club-banger by DNA. It is the first track he released after announcing that he has gotten back to doing gospel music in a press conference last month.

Stanzo’s Madeni uses a similar style, beat and flow to Maswali Ya Polisi only he refers to a man in debt. “Uko na madeni mengi. Kwani we ndio hulipwi?” Check out the remix below.

Kenyan afro-fusion artiste Fena Gitu, otherwise known as the ‘FenaMenal (phenomenal) woman’ thanks to her Twitter alias and her previous single, has just released her third single titled ‘Africa Massive’.

This funky tune follows the release of her first song, Down in 2011 as well as her second track Fenamenal Wo(man) in September 2011.

‘My name is Fena, … representing Kenya – the Pride of Africa’ says the stellar musician, on a track that has a continental feel to it with its traditional drum set features and heavy drops. The song was produced, written and arranged by Fena herself with help from Jaaz Odongo who also mixed and mastered it.

The two have joined forces in what could very well possibly be one of the biggest tracks in the country in recent times. Great work on this new track and beat. ‘Africa Massive’ has got our stamp of approval!

From the first time you give it a listen, the track will blow your mind away with pleasure. Check it out for yourself below…

Former Tusker Project Fame faculty member, Joseph Hellon made news headlines in 2010 following revelations that Esther Arunga, a popular newscaster at the time, had left KTN to join Hellon’s church, The Finger of God. Joined by Quincy Timberlake, the three declared that they are forming a political outfit with which pursue political positions in the next general elections.

After a recent performance at the Hilton, jazz maestro, church founder and occassional media attraction, Joseph Hellon confirmed that he is running for Presidency in 2017. The revelation came after he had been quizzed by Jalang’o about his political aspirations.

Hellon had just performed in front of the crowd when comedian Jalang’o asked him about his political ambitions. That’s when Hellon confirmed that he would not be running for presidency in the coming elections but he will definitely bid for presidency in 2017. Check out the video where he confims his bid below.
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1. So brave! Jua Cali stops a plane from crashing!
2. Kenya’s hottest female celebrities
3. Jua Cali currently living at the Tribe Hotel
4. Goldie opens up on everything, including her status with Prezzo
5. Haiya! Ian Mugoya and Huddah Monroe suck faces?
6. DNG feasts on Sarah Hassan
7. Attention all, first ever Kikuyu rock song!
8. Checkout Bupe’s hot new track
9. The most heated freestyle battle on the ‘Don’t Break the Beat’ competition
10. Bamboo, Dempsey, Parking Lot Grass and other Artistes announced for Art and Beer Fest

APOLOGY: An M-NET representative has called to confirm that this story is fake. We are deeply sorry to any parties negatively affected by this false press.

MNET Africa has approached Mejja and offered him a movie deal after watching him perform in his videos. Mejja is known for his comedic music videos, where he acts just as much as he performs. The hilariousness of all of his videos make them get loads of airplay, which has made him a de facto star actor in the process.

Unknown to many, Mejja has been approached by several other media houses with offers to feature in programs and other movies, but he is considering MNET above all the others because they are willing to pay him a LOT of money. They have already put a Toyota Premio on the table in order to sweeten the deal for Mejja.

If all goes according to plan, the movie will be released early 2013.

Jua Cali is currently being forced to live in a hotel after the mansion that he was building in Kahawa West was affected by the heavy rains, flooding most of his ground floor in the process.

He has been staying at the Tribe Hotel for the last one month as constructors are still fixing the damage and working on how to prevent this from happening again.

Jua Cali is a well known Kenyan rapper who shot to fame after his 2007 song ‘Kiasi’ topped the charts. Later the same year, he cut a 10 million shilling brand endorsement deal with Orange Kenya which saw him soar to great heights.

One of the most lyrically talented gospel artistes in the country, Bupe, has released a new track. The catchy track is called I Know Who You Are and in it he features upcoming songstress, Lisa.

Bupe is affiliated to Hip Hope, a movement of artistes doing positive hip hop music. Other artistes who have been part of the crew included Juliani, Michelle, Astar and Rigga among others.
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Rap Damu has released the video with songstress Halima, and upcoming new singer. The song by the rapper is called Nimezama and was produced by Iyzo. Rap Damu has previously been nominated for Best New Artiste at the Chaguo La Teeniez Awards.

Rap Damu has previously released songs such as Holla Holla, Human and Hustlin’ Anthem with Big Pin among others.

The video quality is pretty good as has been with other Rap Damu videos. The videography is by Ogopa Video. Check it out below.
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I just stumbled across this cover of Linkin Park’s “Numb” by a chap named Awesam.

And i was blown away. I had to track down a translator for the track who let me know that the song is a gospel track done in praise of Ngai.

The video is simple and that should not detract from the fact that this lad has done something truly brave: he has thought outside the box and broken the mould.

Have a listen to the track and let me know what you think of it!

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Taurus Musik may have just opened shop but they are going all out on their signings. After welcoming Camp Mulla to their stable immediately after opening, they have now gone for Zambia’s Zone Fam.

The four-member group consists of Dope G, Jay Rox, Thugga and Yung Verbal. Their name comes from a recording studio they used to visit in the group’s early days, The Zone. The group started doing mixtapes individually but they recently worked on an album together, The Business (Foreign Exchange), whose singles got great reviews.

The group which was previously signed to Slam Dunk Records has previously performed on Big Brother and alongside Brick & Lace, Jozi Liquideep and Naeto C. Channel O Awards nominated them for Most Gifted and they won Best African Group at the Global African Music Awards for which their Life Is Good had also been nominated for Best Hip Hop song.

Kenya’s own Mavado, Marc Brunnel has lately impressed Kenyans with his music that resembles those of the Jamaican dancehall artistes.

It is actually really hard to tell the difference between his music and those of the Jamaicans, unless of-course you are Jamaican.

Marc Brunnel has also unleashed his own freestyle video, being the first dancehall artiste to ever do this (in Kenya).

Check it out.

This battle was between two guys, of which one of them has actually been around and about the music industry but hasn’t really received much recognition. Well, I guess this is the time that the real rappers are actually discovered and given a real chance.

Rapper Eli Sketch, or as he’s now commonly known, Sketch, killed it in this freestyle battle at the Nokia: Don’t break the Beat. His opponent was also very entertaining but he really stood no chance against this guy.

Mind you, these are real freestyle battles and not written material at all. Listen to this.

You’ve probably heard about the new series that’s been running on radio lately, kind of like  a drama series depicting the lives of the youths in Kenya and all the write and wrong decisions they make in matters concerning alcohol, drugs and sex.

Jongo Love has now been running on Ghetto Radio for a while and is already among the popular radio programmes right now. Apart from having all that sex talk, it’s even more interesting because it has Octopizzo himself in it, and his music as soundtrack.

The show also has mini clips on YouTube that briefly cover some of the latest topics from the show, since the action connot really be seen on YouTube now, can it?

This is one of their clips and you can find the rest aligned.

Gospel music is becoming more exciting and very very entertaining if the music being released these days are anything to go by.

As the clubs are now being taken over by the gospel revellers, and gospel music filling up the sound at parties, there is no doubt that the artistes know exactly what they are doing.

The S.P.A.T crew has now unleashed their own party song that is set to be the new gospel party anthem all over east Africa. I mean, this song is just too much. It’s a feel good song that can actually get you on the dance floor immediately after reading the Bible and not feel guilty at all… SERIOUSLY!

The S.P.A.T has just made gospel a lot more fun with this new track ‘Celebrate’ that has just launched it’s official video (also their first video ever as a group).

This is just too amazing. Check it out.

While on a recent European tour, Juacali became a local hero in Amsterdam after preventing a plane from crashing just before it took off. Here’s what happened:

Juacali had just boarded a plane that was going from Amsterdam to London. He got the window seat. Looking outside as he sat in his chair, he noticed the left engine of the plane was producing some black smoke. Juacali sensed that something was amiss. He immediately alerted the beautiful air hostesses to the problem. Shortly afterwards, everybody was instructed to get off the plane.

The pilots said they were 5 minutes away from taking off but Jua Cali’s keen observation actually saved the day. The airport paid for his trip and he was awarded with 10 bonus first class tickets, valid for 5 years.

Ukoo Flani member and one half of the Wakamba Wawili hip hop duo, Labalaa, will feature in a remix for a gospel track, Mapambano. The artiste has decided that he is now a conscious music rapper.

The original song which was done by gospel group Watumwa is about the challenges individuals go through in Christian life. On Labalaa featuring on a gospel song, one of Watumwa’s members, DJ Freddy, says, “Labalaa is a real person. He might not go to church every Sunday but believes in God and recognizes Him as the Creator.”

“The first time I heard Mapambano, I knew I had to be in the remix,” said Labalaa. The rapper also confirmed that he is not planning on switching to gospel music. He is just changing from a hardcore rapper to a conscious music rapper. You can listen to the original below.

DNG got his game on lock as you can clearly tell. The beautiful and sexy Tahidi High actor and Mashariki Mix host, Sarah Hassan seems to be enjoying every moment of this little kiss.

As DNG feasts on this exclusive beauty, we can’t help but wonder what’s behind all this.

According to our sources at Calif Records, Clemo recently wanted to acquire a house in the leafy suburbs of Karen. After making up his mind on the type of house he wanted, he came across a classified ad in one of the local dailies which was advertising a 5 bedroom mansion in Karen with a swimming pool and personal gym. This was the house Clemo chose to buy, so he called the number that was provided in the ad.

Clemo was attended to by a man called Jasto, who went ahead to arrange for a viewing of the house on a Saturday. When the two finally met, Jasto insisted that Clemo hand over 20% of the asking price prior to viewing the house. Clemo smelled a rat, so he got into a fight with the real estate agent.

Lucky for Clemo, his whole Calif crew had accompanied him, so they grabbed Jasto and took him to Karen police station. At the cell, Jasto was identified as a wanted criminal. The house that was allegedly being sold actually belonged to an expatriate who was out of the country at the time.

Hot off the release of her brand new come back song African Tango, Kenyan bombshell Mercy Myra has a catchy new release which is set to take the industry by storm.

The title, Money Troubles, could have some underlying inspiration to it, but that’s just speculation for now, but we’ve had a listen to it and it definitely does grow on you. The accoustics and African feel to it give it a sense of authenticity overlying the feeling of an ‘The Apprentice’ sampling. Great work though Mercy! 

Have an exclusive first listen to the track here and tell us what you think…

As part of MTV Shuga’s on-going efforts to reach the wider populace with its latest offering, Shuga Radio, MTV Shuga have announced a partnership with the Praekelt Foundation to bring the rivetting radio series to mobile devices.

Listeners across Kenya can now listen to, download, read and interact with the Shuga Fam for the episodes of the brand new radio drama series which airs on Koch FM and Homeboyz Radio every Wednesday, as well as on the MTV Shuga site, MTVShuga.com.

The application is called ‘YoungAfricaLive’ which is a mobile community where you can find out, talk about and even ask about love, sex and relationships in the time of HIV/AIDS. You can also read articles by your peers about their experiences and tips from experts on how to handle different situations.

Safaricom users go onto WAP (wireless access point) to find the YAL link! You can also find YoungAfricaLive at www.yal.co.ke.

For more information, you can visit MTVShuga.com

We recently reported that Juliani’s documentary had been featured on Webby Award-winning film Website, IndieWire. And now the 30-minute doc has been featured on A View From the Cave, a blog owned by Huffington Post blogger, Tom Murphy.

On the same post, Murphy features another Juliani documentary about the environment. The documentary was part of Juliani’s work in trying to popularize Google+ in Kenya. The documentary follows Juliani’s journey across the country for a show in Mombasa together with five fans who he picked through the social network.

This is part of what Murphy has to say about the short: “The Google promotional aspects are a little heavy-handed at times, but it is an interesting story of a young musician. For those who are looking for different stories from the continent of Africa, this is one example.”

Other than Huffington Post, Murphy also blogs for The Christian Science Monitor and Global Health Hub and is the Deputy Editor of Healthy Lives Blog by PSI.