Month: October 2012

This weekend turned out to be rather fortunate for one kid who has been living a life that no man would wish for his son. He might have just approached Akon and his entourage just for laughs at first, or maybe he was really up to it. Either way, he got his shot and he didn’t waste it.

This fourteen year old boy, Wilson, stopped Akon and his entourage on the way to the concert and decided that that was probably the right time to pour his soul out to Akon and seek for a chance in the Konvict Family Records. Crazy? Think again.

After telling Akon all about how his father mistreats him and sometimes forces him to sleep outside, how much he loves music and has no way of getting into a studio since he has no money, surprisingly, Akon decides to give him a chance. Lets him get into his car and heads over to the concert together.

“This is all too easy,” you are definitely thinking this right now. It would be that easy if he Akon had agreed to signing him right there and then, but no. Akon made it hard for him. He exerted pressure on this kid and placed him on the stage, infront of a live audience, for the first time, and told him to perform. That should have been his cue for taking off, but this kid took the mic and what came next was just amazing. You gotta see this for yourself in the video below.

After his short performance, Akon announces that Wilson is the newest member of the Konvict Family. Priceless moment right there. So now, Wilson gets to fly off in the sunset and live the American dream.

Could this be the next African musical success story just like Akon was?

As the year winds down and the election approaches, it’s expected that politically-leaning songs will be released. So far, we have already seen such tracks from KenRazy and Octopizzo, now it’s Jabali Afrika.

The band is made up of Joseck Asikoye, Justo Otongo, Dumisizwe Bhembe and Victor Savani. The Kenyan–mostly US-based–band are most famously known for their track, Aoko.

In their latest single, they talk about the state of leadership, their views on the people running the government and the character of those who occupy the parliament. And they have nothing nice to say about them. Check out Gangsters In Parliament below.
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Attitude broke into the music scene in the mid-2000s and painted the industry with the highly infectious crunk sound that was the biggest thing back then.

His collaborations with Chiwawa, Abbas and Mery Myra made him one of the biggest hip hop artistes from that era of music. Just as suddenly as he appeared, so he disappeared from the scene right after his marriage to singer, Mercy Myra.

The rapper recently announced that he is hitting the studio and coming up with new material. And so we waited for the great return of Attitude. He didn’t take long to release something new. His new track, Green Light, shows that the rapper has moved with the times and took an about-turn on crunk and gone hadrcore. Check out his new sound below.

“Ni wewe ninawaza usiku na mchana/Ni wewe nitasema kwa baba na mama/Ni wewe utanipa msichana mvulana/Ni wewe.”

That is the chorus from Lyraoko’s new track with singer, Butali. The song is a beautiful ballad with the two performers trading verses proclaiming the affection they share. The beautiful piano chords add to the song’s romantic feel.

The song sounds heartfelt and is just waiting to take over the charts. Lyraoko is increasingly making some of the best music there is out to sample out there. Butali is definitely a star in the making and this might just be the start of something big out of him. Listen to Ni Wewe below.

In an interview with Protel Studios’ 99 Degrees, Size 8 made an interesting revelation. Apparently, she has had image issues and was apparently teased for her size. That’s weird because the singer is known for her bold and provocative stage performances.

“I started off in 2009 in August, I released Size 8 as my first single. When I was in primary school, people used to call me Skele Mabony. I was the thinnest in school and had the biggest head so I had self-esteem problems. People don’t believe it when I’m on stage performing but, yeah, I had serious self-esteem problems.”

She further talks about how she used the experience to make a song. “When I went to high school, there’s another chick called Sophie, she was a first former like me. She was so huge, I think she was a size 16 or 18. When she entered the dining hall the first day, all the fourth formers laughed at her. She never went to the dining hall again until those fourth formers left.”

She adds, “So, I’ve just seen women going through image issues, size issues, you want to be a size something, sometimes it’s impossible. I can’t add weight. I can never, so I have to accept myself with the way I am. My sister even had problems with her husband after the weight gain after she had a baby. So, I sat down and asked myself why do we allow ourselves as women to go through such things?”

And then how she made a song out of it, “So, I said, why can’t I write a song that empowers us women? A song that tells us haijalishi, it doesn’t matter. Haijalishi kama unafikiri mi ni wa udu. It doesn’t matter if you think I’m not good enough whether niwe na hips, ninone nikose nikonde. So, that song was for me.”

Fresh from dropping a new video barely two weeks ago, the Katenga family is obviously not about to sit pretty. As such, Cartel, the Katenga president is set to do an off the hook collabo with afro-fusion artiste Makadem.

The song is currently being recorded at the Katenga studios and the video is set to shot in a weeks-time. This only goes to show that Cartel is trying to leave a significant mark in the music scene by reaching out to afro fusion fans with his Katenga style.

Makadem, also known as the Ohanglaman, is of one Kenya’s most talented performing artist whose command on stage, charisma and powerful vocal delivery, spiced with satire has earned him the title Kenya’s Fela Kuti.

Be sure to catch the song exclusively on Ghafla! when it debuts.

According to the Pulse, a political party methinks is TNA has offered Jaguar it’s ticket on which it wants him to run for Makadara MP.

And why do i think it’s TNA? Well, it’s a calculated guess. Jaguar is pretty tight with the sitting MP Mike “Sonko” Mbuvi who has his eyes set on the Governorship of Nairobi and thus will be vacating the MP seat.

Whom better to bequeath his seat to other than his already popular friend Jaguar? Atleast that’s what i presume Sonko’s thinking. Well that and which eye-rap*ng jewerlery to assault our eyes with today.

When Pulse contacted Jaguar for a response, he apparently said that he didn’t feel the time was right but he left the future open ended just in-case he gets bitten by the political bug.
I recently did a piece on Kenya 15 most influential celebrities and it seems Jaguar just climbed higher up on that list! You can read that piece here.

So many times do we find ourselves in tight spots and almost want to give up because things are not working out for us. Anyhow, those are the dynamics of life. However, gospel singer Hey-Z is one guy who is here to give you the push to move on.

Recently, he churned a masterpiece called “Bado Nasonga” featuring Danny (one of the finalists from Exodus 2 Stardom contest on KBC). The song urges everyone to move forward in life no matter the obstacles and opposition face. Complete with a Bongo feel and laid back dance moves, the single is an instant darling.

The song is also a personal testimony by Hey-Z considering so many people were questioning whether he had quit music. His answer to them; #badonasonga. Enjoy the video below;

Early this week Ghafla exclusively told you about Jua Cali doing it big with Esther Passaris’ daughter. Theirs is the tale of rich girl, poor boy. The acclaimed genge rapper and Esther Passaris’ daughter, Makenna are doing currently recording a track that follows the same storyline.

Dubbed “Hawajui”, the track is done in Swahili and is inspired by the many stories you’ve heard of rich girls who fall for poverty-stricken stricken guys. “Hawajui” is slated for release sometime in December according to Makenna’s spokesperson. Makenna is just few days old in the country and is already causing ripples in the music industry. So far, she has done a series of interviews with leading radio stations and a magazine in Nairobi all in a bid to promote her music.

16 year old Makenna already has five tracks under her name and is not stopping there. Check out her tracks HERE.

You probably know by now that Senegalese born American music icon landed in the country yesterday evening ahead of his concert over the weekend. So here we managed to get exclusive behind-the-scenes photos of his arrival. Check out;

Photo props: Kevin Kemama Photography, Phix Tv and Andrew Macharia

9con (pictured above) was today on yet another crazy episode of Bamzigi’s evening radio show, “Fired Up.” They talked about all kinds of sexual things, like whether he goes down on women, and what his favorite position is. As insane as that all sounds, Bamzigi saved the best question for last.

He asked 9con which person in the One FM team he would like to have sex with the most. At first he was coy about it, deflecting the question by saying, “Why are you putting me on the spot? I like all of them. It’s like asking me to choose between a Blackberry 8210 and a Blackberry bold.” Eventually when he finally came around, he admitted that he would most like to bang:

Tina Kaggia

His reasons?

“She’s crazy like me. I like Adelle but she is innocent like an angel. Tina though, is a special kind of angel.”

When asked whether he was in a relationship, 9con said that no, he doesn’t have a girlfriend.

Now tune in to Tina Kaggia’s 1Active show tomorrow morning, where we will DEFINITELY be discussing this topic!

So I was working late today on a revamp of the Ghafla! site design(which is going to be awesome by the way) and listening to 1FM on the radio in the background, when I heard something that shocked my system to the core:

Bamzigi was presenting his evening show ‘Fired Up’ doing a segment called “Make You Famous.” He was interviewing Nigerian artist 9con and admiring his abs, but that’s actually not the awkward part. The awkward part was that Bamzigi shortly mentioned LIVE on air that he was guzzling down a bottle of Famous Grouse whisky during the show!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard of a radio show host(or anyone for that matter) drinking on the job. However, Bamzigi has been known to push the envelope with the content of his show. On the same show I mentioned above, he discussed with 9con about sexual positions that benefit the body more than working out!

However, even despite knowing that, the fact that he said he was drinking caught me off guard, and I decided to bring it over to the Ghafla! audience to air what they think of this bold move by Bamzigi. Has he gone too far, or is he pushing the limits in the right direction?

Leave your interesting or creative responses in the comment section below:

In the past month, Kenyan celebs have been eager to join parenthood like it’s going out of fashion. First we had Lorna Irungu who we spotted pregnant outside Mater Hospital. Then we had Talia Oyando, who today presented her new arrival to the world.

Now Calif records legend Mahatma of ‘Pande Zote Mbili‘ and ‘Kadhaa Remix‘ fame has a baby as well. Today we got an exclusive first picture of Mahatma’s baby, which can be found above this article. Congratulations Mahatma on your first child, and all the best to you and your family.

You may also drop your congratulatory messages in the comment section below if you wish.

Today on One FM’s 1Drive with Adelle Onyango, she brought in the ‘experimental’ group from Kenya: Just A Band. One of the hottest questions Adelle asked was, “who would you guys like to collabo with?” And one guy from the JAB crew just said:

“LA LA LA LA.”

That’s a line from upcoming band Large Gang’s latest song. Adelle sought to clarify, asking whether the Just A Band guys meant Large Gang, and the reply was, “Yes, I like their sound.”

The sound JAB were talking about is the 8-bit sound, which is taking over the internet right now. Basically it’s where a producer makes a song where the beats sound like the sound effects from an old gaming console, like a Gameboy or a SEGA MEGA.

Just A Band have made a song before with the 8-bit sound called ‘Dut Dut,’ and Large Gang have been maximising on this sound of late as well. Check out the trailer for their upcoming video below and leave a comment:

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For weeks now we have given you empirical proof as to why you will never go wrong advertising through Ghafla!Kenya. And at one of our recent ad hoc office brainstorming session, i came up with an idea: who are the most bankable celebrity personalities?

Here i mean the celebs who are marketing gold! They have influence over their fans as much as Ghafla does. And i came up with a list. Have a read and tell us what you think:

#15. Bonoko
Laugh if you will but if you want to get to Nairobi’s urban grassroot populace, you have to get Bonoko-deh on your team. This radio personality has a story that reads like a fairy tale -he wrote the book on “from ashy to classy” and anyone would be enthralled by it. From street urchin to radio personality. From mutura guy to online celebrity to affecting the rate at which sheng evolves!

#14. Caroline Mutoko
Love her or hate her, she is very good at getting her demograph to go out and buy, buy, buy! She mainly appeals to middle class women trying to get a taste of that champagne lifestyle and that is gold for anyone trying to get single women aged between 30-45 to go out and spend.

#13. Camp Mulla
These guys have all the youngins trying to dress, walk, talk and sag like them. They have a lock on the difficult segment of teenagers to those aged 24. This segment is fickle and hard to impress but they have 100% disposable income whether or not that just amounts to 100 or 1,000/- shillings.

#12. Ekko Dydda
If you want to appeal to the Christian segment, Ekko Dydda is your man! Think about it, his brand has something very hard to come-by: integrity. And trust me when i say that not alot of celebrities have integrity! People trust what he says because he speaks his truth.

#11. Jaguar
Jaguar has released two tracks that have cemented him a the people’s favourite. Even Sonko jumped into his band-wagon. This guy has everyone seeing him for what he is; a good guy and no-one can argue about that! Safaricom even had to get him on-board Safaricom Live to appeal to a wider audience!

#10. Daddy Owen
All he had to do to leave Kisima reeling was to announce that he’d be pulling out of this year’s ceremony. Airtel had to hassle to get him as their brand ambassador and all for a good reason, his appeal cuts across every demograph and economic segment.

#9. Mbusi
Mbusi-deh’s influence on inner-city youth is unparalleled! He asks them to jump and they ask “how high?” because their trust in him is unwavering. This is the lad Raptcha tried to attack (or was his account hacked) and Mbusii said nary a word but Raptcha was so inundated with replies that he had to “clarify” the matter -Uncle Chim Tuna has spoken!
This lad came up with phrases such as “kung’uta miwa kung’u kung’u”, “safara”, “toto si tortoise” (i have no idea whetin i dey write!). When he started out, he was a mere tea-boy but he placed Ghetto Radio in the fore when it comes to his time scheduling. And so he brilliant is he that he gave Bonoko-deh his footing on his show and that partnership has struck gold!

#8. Willy M. Tuva
This chap has the most listened to radio show. Period! and his appeal has people from Lokichoggio calling in! The only reason why he drops so low on this list is that his segment while both diverse and unbelievably huge, isn’t a marketing execs ideal.
But trust me when i say that when he asked people to jump, they do so with out a moment’s thought! He managed to crash Ghafla!Kenya when he merely mentioned us! The traffic was like nothing we had ever seen!

#7. Papa Shirandula
Who? The chap who played an African king in a coke ad. he is so talented that any role he does, he nails. and his influence is immense and the fact that he has the reputation of being a like-able chap only boosts it. Why do you think AFC Leopards sports officials are always clamouring to be photographed by him and so are Luhya MPs?

#6. Jalang’o
From what i hear, his “Yogho Yogho” skit for some Yogurt brand has now become the name used to refer to a certain part of the female anatomy. Nuff sed! This chap is hogging all the ads and with good reason! He is just that influential.

#5. Prezzo
The King of Bling is so influential that he got Kenyans riding on a wave of patriotism. something not even the president himself has been able to do! He overturned negative sentiment and turned it into an unstoppable positive wave that had politicians bending over backwards to be associated with him. Ask yourself, where are the other BBA Star Game contestants, especially the traitorous one!

#4. Julie Gichuru
Her segment is mainly maternal and she can sell anything. Trust me on this! She has a segment on Citizen called “Who Owns Kenya” and what she exposes is both helpful and informative but i do believe her father-in-law was mentioned in a corruption scandal… Yet none of you ever noticed long enough to question that fact. Influential!

#3. Maina Kageni
This lad’s influence is mercurial. He got old foggies to cough up 10,000/- proper sidi to see James Ingram! A legend, true but even Ingram himself had to be reminded some of his own songs! This guy has every matatu driver tuning in to listen to his show. And it’s not just about controversy, if it were, the beautiful, voluptuous Ciku would be able to mirror the results with her controversial show “Busted”.

#2. Juliani
This guy is the golden standard. When Pulse attacked him, they met with a barrage of counters even though he himself didn’t dain to validate the rooobbish spewed with a response. He didn’t even have to lift a finger to defend his beautiful valkaryie Brenda Wairimu. We took care of that for him! And his appeal cuts across all the socio-economic classes. I watched him perform at Blankets and everyone sang his tracks word for word. A feat only rivalled by Liquideep and Just A Band (by that upper echelon crowd).

#1. Churchil a.k.a Mwalimu King’ang’i
This man right here! This man right here! His record speaks for itself ergo i do not dain it fit to go into details!