Month: July 2012

The six-member MIST (Music In Serious Times) music group was officially formed in 2009 even though they had started exploring their passion in music in 2006 while still in high school. Its members include Yblaqq (Brian Karanja), Chef (Peter Kimani), Rlobs (Bernard Mutua), Dizz (David Mathenge) Ganjor (George Njuguna) and D.O. (Daniel Lumumba).

The members are versatile and fuse hip hop, patois and dancehall in their tracks. The group has so far released five songs which they are still working to ensure get airplay on local media. MIST’s mission to use music to express themselves while entertaining their listeners at the same time.

In 2009, they recorded their first song, Letter To The Streets. In 2010 they followed it up with Killa Come, which they re-recorded as Angel Come the following year. They have now used the same riddim to do a feel-good song, We So Fresh. Check it out below.

On the 27th of July, the Goethe Institut will host afro-fusion band, Yunasi in their auditorium for a concert. The event will start at 8:00 p.m. and tickets will be available for Kshs. 250.

The band recently came back home to build a local following after success overseas, including winning the U.S. International Songwriting Contest for Ji Opgore and being the only Kenyan band to perform at the O2 Arena in London for BBC World Service 75th anniversary.

After their return, they have performed at a number of shows including the Sawa Sawa Festival and at Choices’ Thursday Nite Live. At the Goethe concert, Yunasi will perform old, popular and new tracks from their upcoming album. The tracks will be performed in an acoustic set that is sure set to bring the house down.

In his quest to positively influence his generation, Solexx Genge is planning a concert at Rurago High School. The Nazusha Music Concert will be held at the venue because the artiste wants to bring the Maragua society together in an effort to preach peace as the country approaches the general elections.

Solexx has already reached out to various artistes to perform at the event. They include Kriss Eh Baba, Chiru wa GP, Jimmi Gait, Ben Githae, Dennis Mutara among other media personalities.

A year ago Solexx released his first album, Get Lifted. He has toured around Kenya and Uganda where he has performed his single, Not A Day.

Solexx wants to use music to send messages of peace and solidarity. He also wants to motivate the youth of Maragua, where there is a drug problem. He also wants to give leaders a platform to speak to the community and raise funds for projects to better the lives of local residents.

It’s been an action packed week for some of Kenya’s leading celebrities. We’re highlighting which artistes are making the biggest splash in the industry this week.

8. Xtatic – it seems this Kenyan rapper was preparing Kenyans and the world with her single ‘The Prep Track’, for the launch of her highly anticipated album. We’re expecting her to release the first tune Wild anytime next week, but news that she has been signed onto the global recording label Sony Music is definitely a step in the right direction for her career. Seems we will be seeing a lot more of this starry eyed and multi-talented rapper.

See more about Xtatic being signed onto Sony Music

Checkout which radio personality listed her as his favourite!

7. Daddy Owen – first he released his video ‘Mbona’ which was an inspiring representation of the plight of the disabled in the country. This set him on course to having one of the biggest gospel videos of the year in addition to the scores of awards and acclamation he has already received. To topple all that, the King of Kapungala signed onto telecommunications provider Airtel as their brand ambassador and its amazing the dedication with which he produces his music and gives back to the community.

6. Doreen Nyawira – the proclaimed ‘Princess of Probation’ in the ongoing season of Tusker Project Fame was saved this week from probation by TPF Judges Ian, Juliana and Hermes. Doreen is currently being mentored, together with Joe, by Judge Ian and we’re waiting to see if she will undergo a metamorphosis. At such a crucial time in the competition, it will be interesting to see whether her strong army of voters will keep her in contention for the Universal Music deal and a Kshs. 5 million jackpot.

Vote for your favourite Tusker Project Fame contestants to stay in the house

5. Sauti Sol – Kenya’s leading Afro-fusion group are currently in Europe on tour to promote their brand new EP self titled ‘Sauti Sol’  and having a field day while at it. They are expected back sometime at the end of the month for the expecting launch in Nairobi in early August. The international attention these guys receive for their live performances is nothing short of epic.

Checkout pictures of Sauti Sol in Europe

4. Madtraxx – one of the hardest working artistes in the industry is set to perform alongside international megastars DeMarco and Wayne Wonder in Uganda later on this year. He has also worked on Kenya’s official Coca Cola Olympic song which was released just last week, in addition to his collaboration with Uganda’s Keko on ‘Make You Dance’ which is ruling the airwaves of the region.

Have a listen to the Olympic anthem by Madtraxx

3. Muthoni the Drummer Queen – gunning for the hip hop queen title, Muthoni is set to release one of the most creative music videos of recent times as she contracted international experts from Britain and Rwanda for her brand new single set for release later this week.

Have a look at some pictures from the video shoot

2. Ruth Matete – the only contestant in the Tusker Project Fame season 5 competition to have not gone on probation up until last weekend is finally on the chopping board. She’s been a darling of many and the possibility of her leaving this coming weekend will come as a shock to many. Ruth has had a consistent and above-par performance rating to her peers and this coming week she will be singing the challenging ‘Hallelujah’ by Alexandra Burke.

1. Octopizzo – taking on his hustle and branching out of his music to even producing a condom line, this rapper seems to be everywhere in the entertainment news. He’s been headlining Nokia’s ‘Don’t Break the Beat’ competition in addition to making a variety of releases that are taking even the Ghafla! Top 7 Chart by storm. Let’s see if this star is here to last!

See Octo’s performance launch of the Nokia competition

You thought the Kenyan music industry is doing wonders on genres, you ain’t seen nothing yet. So far, I don’t think there is any genre of music that the Kenyan artistes haven’t touched yet.

We have seen crunk tracks for quite some time now from Kenyan artistes and now Kenrazy has just jumped in on one of the upcoming artist’s track from their record label, Grandpa Records.

The lady who goes by the name, Libby has just completed her track titled “Aii’ which features rapper Kenrazy. The track is entirely of the crunk genre and injects a lot of energy into the listener.

Here’s the track. Tell us what you think about it.

Mwakenya is back once again and this time he has laid off the tracks and gone straight to the cyphers, considering every other rapper in the city has done so or is in the process of doing so.

Mwakenya’s cypher, ‘Celebrities’ Killer Cypher‘ is kind of unique, in that he is the only one in it unlike all the other cyphers which consist of numerous rappers going back to back.

As usual, his beats are just on point and so raw, and so are his lyrics and flow. I have a feeling that this guy is just in the beginning of what may turn out to be the next ‘sudden explosion’ in hip hop, kind of what Octopizzo did.

The video for the cypher will be released shortly but meanwhile, here is the audio version. Have a listen.

As soon as Bamboo touched down on the Kenyan sands, you knew what was coming. The game is about to change all over again, and this time, it will be epic.

Not wasting much time, Bamboo has already done a couple of tracks and has in-fact shot a video for his latest one.

Details about the track have not been revealed yet but we were able to get behind-the-scenes photos of the video shoot courtesy of The Insyder magazine.

Check them out.

Now you have another reason to attend the Arts & Beer Fest. Bamboo will be among the artistes that are going to light up the stage on one of the two days the event will run through. Bamboo recently came back to the country after years in the U.S. as an artiste.

The second edition of Art & Beer Fest will take place at the Ngong’ Racecourse on the 28th and 29th of July in an extravaganza that will feature food, drink, fashion, motorcycle art and even a lingerie among other exhibitions.

Bamboo made a name as a rapper during his days as a member of the K-South hip hop group together with Abbas. He later went solo and did a couple of tracks including the very popular Compe. This will be Bamboo’s first performance since his arrival in the country.

The festival hopes to stage reputable events for a local and international audience as it raises awareness on Kenyan culture and trends. They also seek to raise funds for community development projects.

Looks like Bamzigi is sticking with electro music. His latest release continues in the same direction of his newfound genre. This time he features Kora (DKCK) and a very interesting sample of a Sam Kiunthia on his latest single, Mutumia. He has previously released Bachette using the style.

Bamzigi has experimented with different sounds. Beginning with ragga and hip hop as part of Necessary Noize with Wyre and Nazizi. As a solo artiste, he dabbled in Kapuka using the Bounce Beat. And now he is getting more experimental. Sam Kinuthia is one of the most popular Mugithi singers in the country, most famously known for his one-man guitar shows.

The song is produced by Wawesh Mjanja using a Mizuka Beat. The song is described as electronic, African, hip hop, R&B, dancehall fusion. Check out Mutumia below.

Mtech is really getting serious about content distribution and they intend to get the best, if how they pursued DJ Cleo is anything to go by. They have now signed rappers Nazizi and Cannibal.

Nazizi is considered as one of the pioneers when it comes to female rap in East Africa. She broke into the scene at 16 with the hit, Ni Sawa Tu. She was part of the highly successful duo, Necessary Noize with Wyre. Cannibal is a Coast-based rapper who started off as part of the Ukoo Flani Mau Mau crew, some of the country’s pioneers of hip hop music. He later went on to cement his status in the music industry with a number of hits done with fellow Ukoo Flani member, Sharama.

Mtech has recently signed a number of artistes regarding content distribution deals, including Camp Mulla, Jimmy Gait and Kidum among other local and international artistes.

Laty (Latisha Musau) is one of the newest entrants in the Kenyan music industry. She is one of the few established female rappers in the hip hop scene. Her first song was Balling So Hard in which she featured DazzP. She has also featured on Kubobea with Bamra Lochaz and Chacha, which was released through ATL Entertainment.

She classifies her music as hip hop, crunk. Check out her latest release, Eulogy. Here she headlines the track and features CamfaDog and Davinci. Have a listen below.

With Influx Swagga paying Ghafla! a visit recently, he gave a shoutout to our readers as well as his fans. The artiste is looking forward to a promising future with his music as he has big plans and new material set for release soon.

Have a look at the shout out he gave here…

Taurus Musik, the latest venture by Taurus Group, is a one of a kind record label which was launched late last week and is set to offer what it terms as a complete set of in-house solutions to some of the biggest names in local and international music.

With speculation rife in Kenya’s entertainment circles following the launch of Taurus Musik yesterday, there have been questions as to which artists are already signed unto the Taurus Musik rooster.

None other than Kenya’s Camp Mulla are already signed onto the label that boasts a portfolio of other artistes from across the continent including Zambia’s ZoneFam and Nigeria’s Twit9Con.

For more information on this new label, you can follow them on Facebook (Taurus Musik) and Twitter (@taurusgroup).

We recently did an interview with Ida Onyango, an actor and musician. She lives in LA with her husband, Lovy, one half of the Longombas trio with whom she has one son. We asked her about her family and their influence on her.

“You come from a musical family. What impact did this have on your career while growing up? Have your other siblings followed the same musical path? we asked.

“My mother and father are both musicians. They saw the talent in me and decided to nurture it. I remember for about two years straight they booked me for several talent shows to build my confidence on stage. My parents have always supported my career in both music and acting,” she said.

And on her sister’s involvement in showbiz. “And they have done the same with my sisters. They have a group called EME and Mary has begun working on her acting as well.” Ida Onyango is going back to acting and music full force and is working on promoting her latest EP, IdaMatic.

DJ Sparks has released a mixtape of popular East African music. If you like local club music, you will love it. The mix starts with a slew of Camp Mulla tracks and slowly eases into other African hits.The mixtape was posted by DJ Sparks today. Other than Camp Mulla featured artistes include Nonini, Wahu Victoria Kimani, Sauti Sol, P-Unit and Prezzo among others. Check out the mix below.

One of the country’s newest recording studios, Silverback Records Kenya, which was opened at the start of the year, is giving both established and upcoming artistes a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Located along Karen road past the Vice President’s residence, and upstairs to the club “Spoilers”, the studio is well equipped with the latest in music recording equipment, technology and two seasoned music producers.

Now the icing on the cake is that Silverback is currently running a month-long “test the mic” campaign where its managers are giving either upcoming and established artists a chance to record FOR FREE at the studio.

So if you have your great musical ideas and have been saving up to record your track, or sinply want to try out how your music will sound if recorded in a professional studio, you had better get your stuff together and head for Silverback Records before this passes you by.

The track “Iko nini” is among the first projects undertaken by Silverback records. The single is by Kenyan rappers Generalli, Deksta, Muchii and the chorus is by Tripple A of Tanzania. It was first released in Tanzania by Cloud and East Africa TV. The beat was produced by Silverback’s own Mganga and mastered by Ulopa. The video was shot and edited by Boomba video. Check out the Silverback production below…

One of Kenya’s leading ladies of hip hop, Muthoni the Drummer Queen, is about to drop her brand new music video later this week.

Kenyan based British director of photography Jim Bishop, is set for this explosive production as Rwandan born international film producer and director Laura Rwiza also adds her expertise to the video.

Now Ghafla! exclusively grabbed some behind the scenes footage and all we can say is this will be a jaw-dropping, pioneering and beautiful video. Have a look for yourself:

Check out Muthoni DQ’s last video ‘Vile Inafaa’ featuring Octopizzo below…

Anton is one of the newest entrants in the gospel music industry but he already released a 16-track album, Revelation. He doesn’t see himself as a musician who is born again. He says he is more of a born again Christian who happens to sing.

Anton wants to use his music to massage the hearts of men and fill their minds with the Word of God. He prefers R&B and hip hop which explains why half of his album leans towards the two genres. The other half visits a wide range of genres including zouk, ragga and reggae.

Anton didn’t just blindly take a plunge into the music industry. He experimented with audio production for six years before finally getting into music, and started producing for himself. You can sample one his singles, Sorry, below.

The music industry has now been flooded by what seems to be everybody. Suddenly, everyone can sing and rap, no matter the fan base that they have.

Well, it is time a real artiste gave some advice to some of the upcoming artistes with intentions of taking over the music industry.

Kenrazy gives it straight at our recent iterview with him. Check it out.

Now, you probably have that one friend that has always been beside you no matter what you are going through and would share absolutely anything with him/her because you trust them entirely. If not, sucks to be you.

This artiste goes by the name Am Tini and goes all emotional on this track that touches the heart and soul of those that have the same feeling or have once in their life, been through it. The song titled, ‘Angel Friend‘ was released just three months ago and is a perfect tune to dedicate to that one special person.

Have a listen to this RnB song and get to it.

The Nokia competition, ‘Don’t break the beat‘ that just kicked off the other day has seen lots of freestyle sessions from various rappers lately. This is really good considering that we’ll actually get to know who is better than who in this flooded rapping industry.

As the competition goes on, some cyphers have been created to sort of boost it up and they are just as entertaining as the actual competition itself.

Check out this freestyle session which has Point Blank, Joey, Nazizi and Musyoka on the mic. On the decks, DJ Joe Mfalme.

Take a look.

You might have come across one of Kenya’s Cyphers titled ‘People’s Choice Cypher‘ which is arguably one of the hottest cyphers ever dished out by Kenyan artistes. It comprises of rappers from the Coolagang crew and features other hot rappers like Kaligraph Jones and Oxide.

It is in this cypher that one of the rappers, Oxide, took shots at Kenrazy and made it clear that they are not on mutual grounds. It is only fare to hear both sides of the story and that is why we had to bring in Kenrazy himself to hear what he has to say about it and to him (Oxide) in a recent interview at the Ghafla offices.

This is quite some interesting stuff. Check it out.