Month: November 2012

Camp Mulla have always been ahead of the fashion curve and when they first blew up onto the scene, they made Kenyans and indeed the rest of Africa fall in-love with Vazzi. That was then. They are now onto the next big one. and i present that clothing line to you:

COMMON ROOTS

 

The print work is well thought out and looks really good. Real effort was put into this clothing line right here!

Log onto http://commonroots.kbo.co.ke/products and order yours today!

 

He might be coming slow, but he is definitely coming back to the music industry. Chris Kantai has been dropping tracks, one by one, in between long intervals. Mostly, he has just been collaborating with other rappers but now it seems he is ready to make an official come-back.

He has once again dropped a feel good track. The kind of track that would get you in an easy mood and still get your head bumping to the hip hop flow.

Personally, the only disappointment that Kantai has ever served is going M.I.A for a while. But like he said in one of his previous songs, he got issues just like everybody else. All his tracks have always been on point and this one is no exception.

Kanta’s new track is titled ‘Feel good’ and indeed, you will feel good after listening to this.

Have a listen to it right now, below.

The Kuvuka Kuvuka concerts have kicked off. This is the concert where you get to enjoy live performances of your favorite artistes while making your contribution to the very much needed change in Kenya by registering as a voter.

The Kuvuka Kuvuka concert was in Kajiado county recently and this is how Octopizzo’s concert went down.

The Kissing bandit made his plight, and the ladies did not take to flight. Infact, as all the photos of him kissing them illustrate, they very much welcome the kisses that ‘the kissing bandit’ has to offer.

John Telewa is a man on a mission to get the most kisses and break the world record. His efforts have been recognised and applauded by many.

He has also been recognised by Japan’s huge website, ‘Japan on Top‘. They even made a video about him. This dude is like a role model to youths out there. Weird, huh?

So last week I was at Homeboyz’s offices to meet some of my friends there. It was actually my first time there, and something that struck me was that it was much, MUCH bigger than I had originally imagined. They own an entire building guys. It’s that big.

I then thought, “Many other people must have this misconception about Homeboyz, right?” So I embarked on a mission to set the record straight.

Homeboyz is an entertainment conglomerate that has been in business for 20 years(since the early nighties) as you might know, they started out as a small DJ outfit, but now they have expanded into various other businesses, such as animation, radio, movies, audio production, and I hear they are now working on coming out with a TV station soon.

I went to do a photoshoot of the Homeboyz office, the first photoshoot with our brand new HD camera, and the place was so big, I took so many photos that I have to split up the story into several parts. So here is part one of the Homeboyz office, which showcases the audio and movie production floor.

 

Let’s start with the reception. The receptionist was a bit shy, so I could only get a sneak peek of her kisogo:

 

I’m going in!

 

Like I said, these offices are magnificent. Here’s concrete evidence:

 

Here is one of their classes from the production academy. Very artistic shot, wouldn’t you say?

 

We got into a production class with my tour guide, Alf Rabar. He got a bit engrossed, so we sat in the back:

 

 Guys actually write notes and chop for this DJ ish. Hapana mucheso!

 

We then went to the DJ practice room. They’ve set it up to simulate a club setting:

 

I gave the decks a try. DJ Mr. Majani. How does that sound?

 

Back into the reception:

 

Cool story about that Homeboyz mascot(the “Homie”); they use it for endorsements! In fact, the Homie was Kenya’s first product placement endorsement, in a deal with Sprite:

 

Onto the first production room. Homeboyz are getting ready to release a bunch of new producers and artists. For now, everything is top secret, but watch out in Dec:

 

OK, I’ll give you a sneak preview: Their names are Versatile, Sappy, Clique and Miss Kendi. I got to listen to their tracks in the next production room below:

 

Alf Rabar (center) was so jazzed to hear their songs. He was bopping his head mbaya mbovu!

 

 

Men at work:

 

Another production room. This producer was working on a soundtrack for the UAP Insurance IPO launch(imagine!)

 

 

Onto the movie production room, where they were altering sounds for the first high-quality Nigerian movie I’ve ever seen.

 

The movie is called “The Meeting” it’s about the stress a man goes through just to get an appointment with a Nigerian minister.

 

Pay attention to the speakers in these shots. They are called GENELIC speakers, and are the only ones of their kind in Africa. The Homeboyz rep told me that they cost several million shillings a pop:

 

The next part of this tour is coming soon, where I will now go take photos of Homeboyz Radio and Homeboyz Animation

 

 

 

 

A while back i aggregated a list of Kenya’s top radio personalities. Unfortunately, that list had very few women. but i’m back to correct that with this list right here.

This is a list of Kenya’s radio queens and hopefully you’ll agree with my take on all of them. But whichever way you lean, let me know!

 

#10. Mwalimu Rachel -Home Boyz Radio

<photo from Facebook>

This is the lass that holds it down on HBR from 1 -2- 3. Gerrit? She hold the afternoon session and refers to it as class and the teacher gets mad love from her students who text in or tweet their requests for songs. She has a fun voice that lightens up anyone’s mood. the best time to listen to her is right after being paid and you’re thinking of going out. Her demographic is young, mainly college and uni kids and she has that on lock lock! She even has a tv music mix show on KBC!

 

#9. Kanana -Ghetto Radio

why is this former househelp on the list? Simply because of her reach. Her reach is wide and as i explained earlier, reach is a big deal. her being on Ghetto radio means she reaches more Nairobi and indeed Kenyan youth than any other radio personality on this list. Need to push condoms or sex ed? She’s your girl!

 

#8. Joey Muthengi -Capital FM

<image from Joey Muthengi’s Facebook page>

Well, now that we’ve officially surpassed rankings -he says with a rather huge grin on his face! But moving on swiftly Joey Muthengi hosts Capital Fm’s hit show Hits Not Homework which was popularised by Eve d’Souza. That means she had the daunting task of filling Eve’s shoes but she did so so marvelously that one is hard placed to remember Hits Not Homework without Joey Muthengi on the show. She owned the show completely and i take my hat off to her for that achievement.

So influential is she amongst urban school going kids and college peeps alike that Kisima tapped her to host the event for them.

 

#7. Angela Angwenyi

<image from bazanye.wordpress>

This lady right here has earned her strips in radio entertainment and she has the influence to prove it. When i first heard that she’d been hired by Easy and partnered with Kwach, i expected her to be entirely flummoxed by him but she held her own and they have such radio chemistry!

She seems to know both how to hold it down on her own and pair up with a partner. She even writes for Zuqka… That is Angwenyi in a packet of chips.

 

#6. Tina Kaggia -One FM

This is the lass that holds it down for One FM! Other than her, the most prolific one FM radio personality is Bamzigi but he’s called it a day at One FM. Don’t get me wrong, there are alot of great radio presenters on their roster but Tina just stands out. She does the One Active show which is a mid morning show and she has the youngins locked on this time slot.

Why is she golden? She can sell anything in her flirtatious borderline naughty voice. Plus she gets all the real entertainment scoops… Wonder where she gets them from. Hmmm…

 

#5. Sheila Mwanyigah -Easy FM

This would be the lady of radio. Calm, collected, smooth and sensual in a grown and sexy sort of context. She has a voice that you can’t help but pay attention to… The lads know what i’m getting at. The type of sultry voice that could convince an Eskimo to buy ice!

 

#4. Cess Mutungi -Capital FM

This lady would be the exact opposite of Sheila Mwanyigah. She is loud, boisterous and chatty. She is the type to tell you to get something and you would simply because you can’t help but trust open people. She has Capital on lock and it’s because of her that they even feature so high up this list. She is the lass who always hangs out with the lads for drinks and footy and somehow became the resident Oprah. That type of lass even Uncle Chim Tuna would trust with his life!

 

#3. Kalekye Mumo -Classic FM

Even though she called the Ghafla all Stars cabbages, i can’t begrudge her what’s her’s and that’s a slot in the top 3 radio queens. She has an infectious laugh, bogus insults and an endearing persona about her. She and Cess Mutungi would make quite the radio pairing! She is the type of lass you trust because you just can’t bring yourself to questioning her honour… Quite the opposite of her co-host. i guess that’s why they work so well together!

 

#2. Ciku Muiruri -Classic Fm

Women believe Ciku has their backs busting errant husbands left right and centre and they trust her implicitly and without question. Want to sell a product to women, Ciku comes second only to one other lass on this list. Although, she once said she couldn’t believe the fact that we’d taken one of her facebook updates about being a second wife seriously… i wonder whether we can take her number 2 billing on this list seriously… we should probably ask her that…

 

#1. Caroline Mutoko -Kiss FM

This lady is what you would expect to turn most listeners off; haughty, rude and no nonsense. yet these are the same qualities that have amassed for her an audience anyone else on this list would be envious of. she has the “modern” 30-45 year old women by the uhm… purse strings. When she tells them to jump, they ask how high. she is the absolute golden standard in marketing because these women have money to burn (or want to look like they have money) and want to prove just how independent they are.

Don’t get me wrong, she’s doing alot to empower women but when it comes to the shillings, this part of her demographic is all that matters!

This is good news. Especially for the artistes. This is that kind of opportunity that would get an artist from the ‘local’ status, all the way to big time ‘international’ status.

Nigerian big time producer, Don Jazzy, the guy behind the escalation of great West African artistes like D’Banj and P Square, might just be expanding his works all the way to East Africa. With all the talent here, there is about to be an explosion of stars.

Though this is not fully confirmed yet, word is that he is actually trying to make this happen.

You might be wondering what all the fuss is about. Well, Kenya’s ‘record labels’, as our producers like to call them, are actually just recording studios/houses.

What a record label does is far more than what Kenyan ‘record labels’ do. Managing, pushing, getting shows for artistes, creating a relevant character for a specific artiste, all that comes with being a real record label. The kinds that pick up an artiste and turn him/her into a huge international star. That is a Record label.

That is what Don Jazzy is trying to be home. Big, huh?

Jua Cali and his long term girlfriend and/or fiancee, Lizz Munyu(pictured) have finally brought forth a child unto this earth. After a long-term engagement with Lizz for almost three years, where various reports had them breaking up and coming back together again repeatedly.

Well, according to our reliable sources in the event organising community, Lizz gave birth to a bouncing baby boy earlier this month. They named him Vitalis Imani.

Congratulations on your new arrival, Jua Cali, and all the best moving forward.

Kiss FM presenter Caroline Mutoko has taken matters into her own hands and has come out to enlighten her fans on the shenanigans that has been going on, leaving many played and conned.

Apparently, some conman/con-woman has been using Caroline Mutoko’s email, promising people jobs and eventually getting them to surrender their money in its pursuit.

Caroline made it clear that she is currently not offering any jobs and that she is definitely not a part of any of the offers going round with her name.

This is what she had to say about it,

“It’s come to my attention once again that you are still happily giving money to people who are promising you jobs in my name. Stop it.

Anyone telling you that is a conman/con-woman.

The culprit in question uses the name Mr Wisdom Aseka on 0707883835 and uses the e-mail address caro-mutoko@yahoo.com

I don’t solicit funds for any charity, foundation or home in Kibera or Mathare or ANY PART OF KENYA. I’ve said it once I’ll say it again – there are no jobs in exchange for any money at Radio Africa – not on-air, not anywhere.

The person he tried to con has gone to the police.
This is the third time this year I’m sending out this alert.
Let your friends know – be careful.”

The following artists yesterday all registered to vote in next year’s general elections at Kariokor social hall:

Jaguar

Nonini

Lady B

Q-Tah C

Lugz

Collo

Trapee

Banda(Ogopa DJs manager)

Kenzo

Mongolo among others.

Above is photographic evidence of all of them with their registration papers. They are now officially eligible to vote, and are exercising their human right to choose their future leaders and influence the direction of our dear country.

Mongolo, who was the one responsible for bringing the whole thing together, tells us that he will be repeating this rallying exercise next week on Tuesday for those who missed out yesterday.

Tell us, Ghafla!Fans, have you registered to vote? If not, is there any issue that is preventing you? Leave your responses in the comment section below:

This guy is now officially the new king of controversy in Kenya’s music scene.

 

Raj is an artist who just thrives in the hot seat. Just look at his tracklist:

1. The first song he submitted to us was called ‘Blood Bars.‘ That song had clear illuminati connotations in the following lines:

 

“Seal Of Solomon Make a n***er wise.”

“I’m a triple six threat.”

“I see dead people, dead people I swear.”

“Bird , nine, eleven“

“Get Delilah, Angel Michael on the board.”

“Ever since I lost my sister, I done been seeing dead bodies, demons and evils.”

 

2. Then he came out with his second controversial song, called ‘Jeff Koinange,’ which was talking about how Jeff came back from rape accusations that were levelled against him.

 

Then now Raj has come out with a track called F**K Illuminati! This is his SECOND song with Illuminati connotations. He’s brought in Kapella on the track. The question that remains is, the way Raj insists on singing about this Illuminati topic, is he part of the secret society or not? Analyze his words in the “F**K Illuminati” song below and find out:

 

So this week, Maina and King’ang’i have been going in on us Kenyan lads…

Jaguar, one of the most entrepreneurial musicians in Kenya, has invested his money again, this time going into the matatu business. Last week, he released his own Nissan vans onto the streets of Nairobi.

He told our source, “I have moved into the transport sector. My sister is the one who will be taking care of the matatu business. This is a way of creating employment.”

Remember that Jaguar also has a taxi business called Jagz cabs, and a garage for pimping out cars. Seems he has a thing for the transportion industry. Well, my family also once had a ka-small matatu business once, and from my experience, it’s a tough one. The matatu sector is very informal, with drivers and conductors exchanging vans throughout the day. Also, policemen target them a lot for fines, and when they do fine matatu drivers, they don’t issue a receipt or anything. This allows for a loophole where the driver of the matatu can just invent a story that he has been caught by cops so many times in a day that they could not make a profit. Very frustrating. Also the many accidents and maintenance issues just made the whole mat biz a big headache for my family.

BUT, hopefully Jaguar can find a way of overcoming all these hurdles. All the best to him. What do you think of his latest move? Leave your interesting or creative responses in the comment section below.

Apparently, Afro fusion singer Sara Mitaru only does one, yes ONE, show per year, on purpose!

She told our source that she only does one gig per year to give her a whole year to surprise her audience. This year, her backup singers are going to fly in from all the way in the USA to perform with her during her show. She spares no expense when doing her exclusive concert. She wants that international flavour to it.

This year, her only show will be on the 8th of December at the Louise Leakey Auditorium, Nairobi. The show will only sell a limited number of tickets to a select audience. “I want the fans to feel as if they are seated in New York or London at a world standard show,” Sara said.

Bernsoft has widened the war against music piracy by enlisting support from the Kenya Copyright Board and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for those pirating from outside Kenya. Bernsoft is said to be going after companies that are offering Music content for download free against the artist, composer, performer, publisher wishes.

 We have received proof that they are getting help from the highest levels of the Ministry to have servers of a Turkey-based website disabled and the operators arrested for copyright infringement under Turkish law.

Bernard Kioko, the CEO of Bernsoft Interactive, is a well known digital music rights activist, who has published many papers and given multiple speeches on the rights of musicians and how they could make money off of new electronic media. His efforts have been well documented here.

It’s kinda weird that as so many people are trying to establish their music career however for one Tile Tinywe he’s calling it quits with music. Announcing the news on his Facebook timeline, Tile said he’s headed to become a rice and sweet potatoes farmer. He also alleged that some people have been messing with his career and he can’t take it anymore.

Coast-based DJ Hover had a chance to talk to him about his decision to quit music. Here’s how the conversation went;

 

DJ Hover: Ati naskia ni kweli waacha mziki ukalime?

Tile: Yeah ma dear, I wont play gamez btw…hawa wenye wameshika game ya Coasto wanaboo yaani…back home to Tanga nikalime bibie,15yrs ago nilikua nalima huko na no bdy alikua akinijua..tanx

DJ Hover: Am so sorry. Maoni yako kuhusu industry ya mziki pwani ni yepi?

Tile: Fake kabisa yaani, thats y napiga soko la Nai ju wao wanafocus Worid wide sie tunashinda tukikatana vijembe tuu..am bored wid dis shit!pole

DJ Hover: It’s okay naelewa machungu yako lakini wasanii wakikimbilia mji mkuu hatutawai endelea kama wapwani,ushauri wako kwa wanaobaki coast ni gani?

Tile: Ni lazma wafanye kazi na malengo coz kama utaimba tu ju ya fame utaharibia wengine na ndivo kulivo hapa saa hii ma dear..wastay focusd zaidi yani, but they need to grow hapa costo..mzuka!

 

Well… we wish him all the best in his new venture.

Africa’s most influential music producer (according to the debut list of Forbes Africa 40 Most Powerful celebrities in Africa), Don Jazzy is in Kenya. The renowned Nigerian producer is in the country ahead of a new phone (Samsung Music) to be launched by Samsung in which Don Jazzy is the brand ambassador.

The producer tweeted when he was leaving Nigeria, “Boarding time. Off to Nairobi Kenya. Chat later. I LoyaL ,” and “Nairobi Kenya see y’all tonight. Mavins alert. Much love. IDJA.” And yesterday he tweeted a photo of one of the streets in Nairobi.

Don Jazzy is attributed for creating the Samsung Hi Fi which was launched earlier in the year in South Africa. Don Jazzy who is also a songwriter and singer has has produced tracks for some of the biggest names in Nigeria like D’banj, Wande Coal, Naeto C, Tiwa Savage among others. He also collaborated with Jay-Z and Kanye West on the production of “Lift Off” featuring Beyonce on the album “Watch The Throne” released on August 8, 2011.

This is the party song that has been getting everyone in the weekend mood as early as Monday. Nonini thought right to bring over the beautiful Annete in this feel good track, ‘Pole Pole’.

The choreographer worked well with the dancers and this shows clearly through the uniformity they display.

The video has been out for a while now and so has the behind-the-scenes footage. Not so many of you know what it takes to make a video like this, so, with no further ado, check out the making of the video below.

He is recognised as the super producer, super DJ and super MC across East Africa. Madtraxx has done all that needs to be done in the music industry.

He is among the most sought after Kenyan performer, among other great artistes like Redsan and Juliani. When this guy touches the stage, it’s straight up fireworks. The revellers at the Farehnheit Concert a some few months ago bore witness to his electrifying show. All play goes down to work for this guy.

His Farehnheit performance, according to moi, is the best I have witnessed from him so far. Thus why I am really looking forward to December’s edition of the Blankets and Wine, where he will be touching stage.

Check out his Farehnheit performance in the video below.