Month: December 2012

The poll for artist of the year is now closed. Here is the final result:

The poll for collabo of the year is now closed. Here are the final results:

The poll for best hip hop song is now closed. Here is the final result:

The poll for producer of the year has been closed. Here are the final results:

The poll for best gospel song 2012 is now closed. Here are the results:

The poll for Best New Artist 2012 is now closed. Here is the final result:

The poll for Best Breakout artist has now been closed. Here are the results:

The poll for best traditional song has been closed. The results are as follows:

D.N.A had surprised his fans sometime back when the renowned hit-maker announced that he was hanging up his club anthem boots and going into the world of worship. Then earlier this year, D.N.A had a press conference to announce something big: that his brief sojourn with gospel music was over. After only one big song, “Mtoto Wa Sonko,” D.N.A had already grown weary of the genre, and who can blame him? Gospel is extremely restrictive in terms of creative scope. Every song you sing must be about Jesus, church or the Bible. Further to that, the watchful eye of Kenyan fans is all-seeing: they will castigate you as a gospel artist if you fail to mention the Holy Trinity in any of your verses.

So in 2012, back came the D.N.A that we all used to know and love. The one who gave us “Banjuka.” The one who gave us “Una.” The one who gave us “Kamua.” He came out with yet another undisputed club banger, “Maswali ya Polisi” whose lines have become part of day-to-day speech amongst the Kenyan youth. THAT’s when you know your song has had an impact. Testimony to the track’s success, it has been featured in each and every ‘song of the year’ story I have come across so far in entertainment publications across Kenya.

Then D.N.A came out with “Fimbo ya Pili” alongside the Grandpa family. This is where the full advantage of not being a gospel artist came to help D.N.A. In a world where you are free from the moral restraints of gospel, you can stretch your creative mind and take risks. I’ll admit that when I first heard the line “nye nye nye nye nye,” I wondered ‘what the hell?’ But I have now seen for myself what D.N.A and Grandpa family were going for. Even in the village I am posting this from, drunk revellers really enjoy singing along, especially to the “nye nye nye nye nye” part. It was a simple song for the club, the risk paid off. “Fimbo ya pili” for me is the club banger of the year.

Hats off to D.N.A for a rebranding well executed.

New Jay-A

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Usually when we get photos of Jaguar, we have to work very hard to obtain them, as Jaguar is very secretive about his private life. Just a few weeks ago he barred people from taking photos of his new 6million shilling home.

Even when it comes to his cars, the pictures we have managed to get so far are simply snapshots of him on the streets of Nairobi. We were fortunate enough this morning to have a photo sent in by Jaguar’s neighbour of all his four cars parked outside his house. According to this neighbour, the cars are:

1. A silver Range Rover Sport (Cost:8million)

2. A black Mercedes E240 (Cost:5million)

3. A beige BMW 5-Series (Cost:5million)

4. A Toyota Mark X (Cost: 2million)

Total cost: 20million. Nuff said.

Prezzo today showed his fans this photo of him chilling with a Lamborghini Murcielago. He said that he was not doing it to brag, he was doing it so they can be motivated to the cash. (Click the image to enlarge)

Alice Niyonsaba Theluji who hails from DR Congo credits the land of her birth for her musical talent. According to her, everyone can sing and if they can’t, they can dance and if they can’t, they can play an instrument.
Born in 1987 in Kinshasa, she relocated at the age of 4 when civil war broke out and ended up seeking refuge in Kenya.

AS a child, she felt she lacked an identity: she wasn’t Kenyan enough nor was she Congolese enough so what type of music would she do? And which country would she represent?
But inspite of all the struggles she faced, she didn’t let them affect her music and she kept going, writing lyrics and singing. So musch so that she now has countless songs yet to be recorded.
Her song “Mpita njia” which featured Julianna from Uganda is what made the Kenyan entertainment scene sit up and take notice of her. The fact that this was her first attempt at making a track yet Julianna is a veteran only serves to highlight the fact that she is talented.
She is currently pursuing an education in Sweden. Her album will be dropping soon.

Winnie Wambui comes from a family with alot of weight in the community. She is the last born in a family of 5 children and the only girl.
And the beautiful Chantelle gives most of the credit for her upbringing to her brothers and thus the sheng words she knows and uses and even employed in crafting “Toklezea” she learnt from them.

And just how did the track Toklezea come into being? Well, her good friend Abass (Kubaff) challenged her to try her hand at rap with some reverse psychology: he told her that she cant rap. After an intense debate, Abbas took her to the studio where they wrote the lyrics out then recorded the hit.
Since then there has been no turning back. The track “Toklezea” even made the phrase popular among day-to-day conversations.

“Parents mislead their children into believing that music is for losers, and that art is for losers. So if you’re a parent and your out there, and your child is a musician or an artist, or even a mathematician and he’s talented in that field, give them a chance to exploit their possibilities in that field.”

– Bien Aime Baraza of Sauti Sol, in a Sauti Sol interview:

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Collo, what else do you do, outside of music?

“Well, music is 24. 24 hours, 365, 7 days. BUT, there’s a lot in the studio. I’m either coming up with concepts for new products, I’ve worked with different advertising agencies, Scanad, I’ve worked with O & M, I’ve worked with ZK. I come up with ideas, and come up with scripts for movie scenes… it’s all about the creative department.”

Full interview with George Kariuki below:

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Kanda King, your style is different, it’s not what Kenyans are used to. Where do you get this from?

Kanda King: As a dancer, you have to be unique and creative. Ni lazima uchambue hapa na pale. Sometimes, mi huangalia hizi mahiphop, nachanganya… naangalia breakdance, nachanganya… so you can come and be different from the others. Mi nikiingia stage, I don’t even plan what to do on stage!”

There you have it folks. I guess Kanda King is a freestyle dancer then. What do you think of this style? Leave your interesting or creative comments in the response section below. For the full interview, click this video:

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A while back, SK Blue got an offer by a United States company. This is what he had to say about that:

“We had gone to the states, myself and Rufftone, for American Gospel Music Awards. So afterwards, that’s when I met these guys from a US company. They wanted to sign me up for 10 years, but in basic, if I may paraphrase, there was a lot to be offered. There was a tour bus, there was 3 million dollars(250m shillings). The reason why I didn’t take it was that they had obligated me to just go secular. At the end of the day, I’m at the point where I’m thankful that vision always comes through to fruition.”

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We know that Wyre is a family guy. Here is what he has to say about that:

“Yeah, it’s been quite good. I got married a few years ago. I got a son about 2 years into that. I’m so happy… at times, man I’ll just funga jobo mapema to just go home to my family, you know what I mean?”

On the whole flashy celeb lifestyle, here is how Wyre approaches it:

“Wyre is a guy who avoids trouble as much as he can. You’ll never find me in any fight, or confrontation of any kind. If you bring me problems, I’ll leave you there alone. I won’t throw the first punch. Wyre does not drink, Wyre does not smoke, Wyre does not take drugs.”

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On coming out from the pulpit to making music…

Pastor Joan: “actually, I started as a singer. I’ve been singing from 1995. That was the time that I did my first album. I was a young girl from school… I think I was about 22 years old, and I have continued singing. I would not say it’s really coming out from one place to another, it’s graduating from one thing to another.”

On some of the challenges she has gone through…

Pastor Joan: “it’s many things together, but I would say I have seen the fruits of music alot, because I have seen music minister to people more than anything else I’ve ever seen.”

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Achieng Abura was on an interview with George Kariuki, and he asked her how she has managed to survive twenty years in the music industry.

She replied, “We have our moments, and there are times when the music industry BOOMS… and then it goes down. And so you have to be somebody who’s very well organised to survive it. One must be able to reinvent themselves. To be in the time. And that would be maybe why I’ve been able to continue for this long. I’ve seen many of my colleagues fall by the wayside, then they say, ‘ai, it’s enough!’

But for me, I still see so much more. Doors keep opening, so I know I’m on the right path.”

Wise words.

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