Month: September 2012

Blood Bars is another release from Nairobi based rapper, Raj. It was recorded, arranged and mixed at MusicBank. Listening to the track’s lyrics, it is obvious that the track is not only dark, but there might be some Illuminati references on it.

I don’t know everything about the Illuminati, but I know a little bit about it. Below are select lines from the song that believers might find suspicious.

“Seal Of Solomon Make a n***er wise.” The Seal of Solomon is the symbol of the pentagram, popularly used by the Illuminati. It has also been associated with artistes who have been associated with the Illuminati, Jay Z and Kanye West.

In the bridge he says, “I’m a triple six threat.” 666, as you all may know, has been used in demonic references. He finishes the bridge by adding, “I see dead people, dead people I swear.”

“Bird , nine, eleven” have been used by the “group” in reference to the 9/11 attacks.

“Get Delilah, Angel Michael on the board.” All these were at one point evil people in the Bible.

“Ever since I lost my sister, I done been seeing dead bodies, demons and evils.” You can deduce for yourself.

You can check out the track below and see if you can find any other demonic references.

The angelic singers, The Moipei Quartet, have covered British singer, Adele’s Someone Like You. The video is low quality but you still get to experience how good the siblings are.

Adele’s Someone Like You is undoubtedly a leading contender for classic love song in future. It is the most recognizable Adele song and the point of reference for a lot of people, especially ones who are not Adele fans. The track off Adele’s 21 album was the most successful song of 2011.

The Moipei Quartet is made up of triplets and their younger sibling: Martha, Magdalene and Seraphine. Someone Like You was written by Adele and Dan Wilson, who also produced.

The cover is done in their signature a cappella style on a camera phone. Check out the Moipeis cover of Adele’s Someone Like You below.
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Chiwawa is proving that he was serious when he decided to take a dip back into the music industry after a hiatus. His return is more polite than his debut, where he became famous as the guy who dissed established artistes.

His latest track, Imejipa, was released a while back and the shoot a couple of weeks ago (you can check out behind-the-scenes photos here and video here). In the song, he talks about how working hard in entertainment can finally become rewarding.

The video was shot in Karen and at the KICC rooftop by Tattuah Films. The song is dedicated to the other performer in the song, Sweetie, who died. Her sister appears on her behalf on the video. Check out the track below.
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Remember the beautiful Talia Oyando? She is a former reggae show presenter on Easy FM. She was dubbed the “night nurse” and used to present the show alongside DJ Kriss Darlin of Dohty family. Am sure you are wondering where she disappeared to and what she has been up to.

Well, wonder no more because we have exclusive 411 about her. The Emmy Award winner songbird and radio personality is expectant and has been keeping a low profile because she doesn’t like publicity.

Talia is also the voice behind Nyambane’s hit song, “Sweety banana”. The baby daddy, Ezekiel Onyango, a film director and the mom-to-be are happy and obviously cannot wait.

Congratulations Talia!

According to todays Pulse, Frasha insulted Bamboo at the just concluded Nokia Don’t Break The Beat competition.

The Pulse reported that Bamboo left the stage a dejected man after Frasha who was one of the contes’s hosts insulted Bamboo buy cutting short his performance and declaring “Hatujakuja Ku launch ma album hapa”.

We called Bamboo’s manager who when asked about that said that the report was inaccurate. There is no bad blood between the two.

Bamboo and Frasha have no ill will between each other and trust! You heard from the horses mouth.

Have you ever wondered who Kenya’s liveliest celebrities are?

And have you ever wondered why we like them so even though they tend to say or do things that shock our sensibilities?

Well, the thing about these guys is that they are the kind of folk that keep it true to themselves and they are never afraid to stand up for what they believe in and they say what most are to afraid to say outside the comforts of their bedrooms.

And without further ado, i present to you the 5 most controversial Kenyan celebrities:

#5. Cess Mutungi
This lass has uhm… how do i say this with all the refinement and diplomacy necessary… cojones to say what alot of men wouldn’t dare to even think of. This lass is the epitome of real to a fault.
Cess is loved because she is sassy, in-your-face, loud, boisterous and eloquent. This lady is not afraid to raffle feathers and she makes no apologies for the fact. The best thing about Cess is she manages to do all this in a humorous manner.
Plus her demeanour gives her enormous sex appeal.

#4. Shaffie Weru
This is the lad to beat! He is a rebel without a cause and he doesn’t claim to be any different. He lives his life and if you don’t agree with it, you can stuff it! Shaffie is arrogant (but atleast it’s borne of confidence in his abilities), obnoxious, quite the bad boy and yet manages to squeeze in humour. Lad is funny and good natured. Shaffie endears us all to him by injecting style into being a rebel.

#3. Fareed Khimani
This lad is a douche and he doesn’t even attempt to deny who he is. He has a vendetta against rotund ladies and yet somehow they still love him… i am truly baffled!  This lad is as real as they come and funny too.
The thing i personally love about Fareed is that he is crass, insensitive and a straight up douchebag but we all love the fact that he is sarcastic, hilarious, witty and goes straight to the point rather than chop stone. And the end-all-and-be-all of Fareed is that he is charismatic.

#2. Mwalimu King’ang’i
This man is straight funny and even he knows it. We love him because he lends his humour to the controversial topics discussed on Classic FM. He is the guy who gets everyone laughing and anticipating more.
Why we love him: come on, really? I shan’t even dignify that with a response.

#1. Maina Kageni
This yob is charismatic, provocative and entertaining. He has found the fine line between shock jock and entertainment. Every morning Kenyans wake up, complain about him and his show but even more tune in to be entertained: schadenfreude.
Maina is just a likeable bloke and that has helped him sell his product to the audience. You can hear his smile through his voice and you can tell that he enjoys provoking the conservative Kenyan thought on life in general.

Kenrazy is know to introduce new artistes every other day and he keeps on at it. Very encouraging stuff he does. It is with this actions that we have welcomed artistes with names more interesting than their songs, into our music industry.

Now, under Kenrazy’s wing, enters this new rappers by the names of Bamba 50 and Grill. Yes, you read correct. He is not working with Safaricom at all. That is his independent stage name.

Their new song, ‘Kanjo’ in which they have collaborated with Kenrazy, can be put in the same category as the names.

Check it out below.

How proud am I to be Kenyan? Well, with almost every foreigner who visits this beautiful country, be it a celebrity or just a common tourist, and eventually develops desires and plans to stick around much longer or even relocate here, I think that should be enough to convince you how awesome Kenya is (slightly ignoring the politics).

Tanzanian singer and rapper AY has been in Kenya for quite some time now, so has fellow Tanzanian rapper, Mwana FA.

Seeing that Nairobi is kind of like the center of all showbiz matters in East Africa, AY has seen it convenient and advantageous to set up shop here in Nairobi. According to sources, AY was actually looking for a vacant office days before he left for his country.

Could he be the next artist to relocate to Kenya? I sure hope so.

It is an undeniable fact that that female rapper Xtatic is not just another ordinary rapper, and she knows it too. How else could she have been named MTV Iggy’s artiste of the week, a few weeks ago?

Xtatic recently flew to South Africa to finish up on her album which is set to change the Kenyan hip hop game, giving it a little bit of more swag from yet another female rapper. In this album, some of South Africa’s huge artiste are to be featured.

Turns out that Xtatic feels that the Kenyan entertainment industry undermines her and she does not like that at all. She complained on her facebook page about not being invited to the Nokia: Don’t Break The Beat show. Not even once, while other hip hop heads performed at most, even Ugandan female rapper, Keko. It just doesn’t make sense.

I have to say that I really feel her on this one.

Nelly Furtado’s upcoming album, The Spirit Indestructible, will feature the highly acclaimed Kenya Boys Choir.

The Choir will appear in the album’s finale, the last two songs. The song is called Thoughts, and a DJ Tiesto remix of the same song has been included in the album.

The Kenyan Boys Choir is made up of 25 young boys from different backgrounds given a chance to excel in music by the Jospeh Muyale, the group’s founder and director. They have previously performed at U.S. President, Barack Obama’s inauguration. The band has released three albums so far: Uvumbuz, Amerika Jambo and Spirit of Africa.

Nelly Furtado has previously released four albums, Whoa, Nelly!, Folklore, Loose and Mi Plan between 2000 and 2009. The Spirit Indestructible comes out on September 18th.

Muthoni Ndonga known by her street moniker Drummer Queen is jetting out of the country to the US for ONEBEAT.

OneBeat is a new international cultural exchange by the U.S. Department of State that celebrates the transformative power of the arts through the creation of original, inventive music, and people-to-people diplomacy.

Muthoni the Drummer Queen has reflected a new musical spirit from East Africa. Singing and rapping in English, Kikuyu, Kiswahili and performing on stage with a percussion set, Muthoni blends styles as diverse as salsa, kwaito, afro-rock, taarab and rap.

During this year’s OneBeat concert, around 30 exceptional young musicians from around the world will come together to write, produce, and perform new music. The group will also lead engagement events with local youth, and develop strategies for using music to make a positive impact on our local and global communities.

The singer-rapper-drummer-poet whose unique style is an eclectic fusion of various distinct genres has shared a stage with over 200 other cutting edge artists in an intimate context to an international audience before, so this is not new to her.

The event will run between September 10 and October 7. All the best Muthoni DQ.

Miguna Miguna. The man who has managed to capture the attention of a country for the wrong or right reasons. Enter CMB Prezzo. Another man who managed to capture the hearts of many Kenyans while as a representative of the country at this years edition of Big Brother Africa, The Stargame. Incase you missed Prezzo’s antics in the house read about them here.

Back to Miguna. He is the artchitect of the famous phrase, “Come Baby Come”. But have you ever wondered where he coined this phrase from? Well my colleague @imbuhila has come up with evidence of what music Miguna was listening to on his iPod when he wrote his now controversial book, Peeling Back the Mask.

Remember the song Nipe Nikupe by CMB Prezzo and AY? It was done sometime in mid 2006. Around the 0:20 mark in the video of the song below you will hear the distinct words, “Come baby Come” by AY! Folks that is where Miguna got his magic words from!

And that is the power of Kenyan music peeps!

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Rapper Nonini who has been committed to helping boxer Conjestina Achieng’ has announced that he finally secured a PayBill number.

He ran into a hitch when he initially tried getting the number for fans and wellwishers to send donations to aid the ailing sportswoman. Two days ago, the rapper settled Conjestina’s four-month rent arrears before starting an intitiative which has been joined by many other celebrities and good samaritans.

Here is the announcement by Nonini:
“After a long days work, we have managed to secure a Safaricom PayBill number. You can now send in your contributions to support the PamojaConje2012 Initiative for her medical treatment! Lets support our heroine by sending any amount to PayBill No: 222911 Account No: 2012 from your Mpesa Menu! Your Contribution will be highly Appreciated. Bless!“

Could the Prime Minister and presidential hopeful, Raila Odinga, have realized that the only way to nail youth votes is through Kenyan celebs? If that’s the case then he’s doing quite well…

Last week, the Prime Minister met the former Kenyan representative in Big Brother, Prezzo, and his frenemy Jaguar. Prezzo, was the first to meet Raila in the morning and was congratulated for “raising the Kenyan flag high” during the Big Brother competition.  “The Prime Minister is a good patriot and I was really humbled by the fact that he noticed my effort. I however cannot disclose much on the details of our meeting,” Prezzo said.

Later that day, Jaguar met with Raila to discuss “matters affecting the youth”. “We had a broad discussion and I told him about problems affecting the music industry; he was very keen about it and I know he will do something to help,” Jaguar said.

Yesterday, East Africa’s King of dancehall, Redsan, paid the Prime Minister a courtesy call at his offices during the #Talk2Raila session. It is however not clear what the two discussed.

Ogopa’s vivacious singer Avril has made it known that she admires Esther Wahome’s figure.

The sexy Kitu Kimoja singer says she likes the way the Kuna Dawa hit maker and model has maintained her physical image since she joined the music industry about 15 years ago.

“I like her physique and the way she has maintained her image. It becomes difficult to maintain one’s image especially being in the industry for a very long time. She has maintained that well, I love my body but if I had her physique and image, I would probably be a model like her,” said Avril.

This comes after the Gospel songstress was recently crowned Mrs World Universe first-runners up in Russia. Asked about the secret to her killer physique, Esther said, “I’m naturally small so instead of going to the gym, I swim occasionally just to keep fit.”

Let’s just face it, the talent down in the ghetto is just too much and there is absolutely no limit to exposing and utilizing them. These rappers know all too well that all you need to make good music is just talent.

From the YGB group in Kibera which comprises of rappers Octopizzo, Virus and Slumdawg just to name a few, comes this ghetto track titled ‘better days’. The track is all about the hard life that Kibera residents go through and all.

What impresses me more about this track is the video. These guys came up with a really good video that would actually qualify to go head to head with the bigger heads of the music business. It captures the poverty, joy and the hip hop culture all at the same time.

Just check out the video below.

It seems things are headed north in the P-Unit camp as far as their music career is concerned. Just after the trio launched their new website www.punitentertainment.com and merchandise line that is geared to address the needs and requirements of their growing fan base around the world, their second album is due in October.

Speaking during the launch of their new song “You Guy”, Frasha said that their second album “Wagenge Hao Tena” will be released next month. “To launch our second album, we plan to have select local and international tours to engage with our fans who have continued to support our music over the years” concluded Frasha.

The new album follows the successful release of the up tempo dance song titled “FRESH” featuring P Unit with popularly acclaimed Klear Kut the 5 member Ugandan ensemble and the contemporary love track “NATAKA KUKUPENDA” that features P –Unit with Zambia’s K’millian and Links in August.

The relationships that were built in this year’s Big Brother Africa game were meant to last. Everyone from the house is still hooking up with the rest of the housemates if the opportunity presents itself. Even Maneta and Roki have maintained good friendship and have even acted a play together titled, ‘Roki and Maneta Encounter’. Pretty awesome, huh?

Now, back home, the ex BBA contestants are not about to let those relationships go down the drain. Remember when the housemates were still in the house and Kyle asked Prezzo whether he would be willing to work with him musically? Well, it’s finally going to happen.

Prezzo and Kyle (Uganda) have been seeing a lot of each other lately and are planning to release their much awaited collabo very soon. The collaboration that they are currently working on is actually the remix to Kyle’s ‘Facebook Lover’ track, that has been doing well in Uganda so far. Prezzo is just about to make it an East Africa hit, that much you can believe in.

Well, I for one just can’t wait to see what collaboration brings.

After successfully joining forces to do the club banger “Rush Hour”, self-proclaimed king of rap, Collo, and award winning, urban hip hop group P- unit, have once again put their heads together. This time doing a single with back-in-the-day ragga beats, You Guy is the name of the track.

Produced by Decimal Records, You Guy will be one of the songs featured in the group’s upcoming album “Wagenge Hao Tena.” Just hours after hitting the airwaves, the single is already featuring prominently on the Top Ten most requested hit songs on popular FM stations.

Speaking during the official release of the song on what inspired the unique style of the new song, Bon eye said, “Our music prowess and choice to pursue musical career was influenced a lot by the musical trends of the 90s and so with this track we want to take our fans back into that era through a clever blend of ‘Ragamuffin’ and our ‘Genge’ style of music.”

Nairobi Half Life’s score is mostly made up of Xaver von Treyer’s score with a sprinkling of tracks from Alai K and Just-A-Band. But on one song, he features unlikely collaborators.

Most of the film’s score is wholly made from instrumentation by Xavier von Treyer. The rest are retuned pre-existing songs. On Hodi Nairobi, he features P-Unit.

The beginning of the track blends with the rest of the score. It’s hard to believe a P-Unit flow can go with the beats, but it blends well once Frasha joins in late in the track. Check out how to download the full album here.

Check out Nairobi Half Life at the Planet Media Cinemas at Westgate at 3:20 p.m. and 7:20 p.m. for Kshs. 350 on weekdays and Kshs. 450 on weekends. Listen to Xaver von Treyer and P-Unit’s Hodi Nairobi below.