Month: December 2012

The Kilimani Festival takes place on the 14th and 15th of December in two venues featuring award-winning films and musical performances.

On the 14th it takes place at Kilimani Primary School between 6:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and will feature screenings of An African Election and Nairobi Half Life. Entry is free on this day.

On the 15th, the festival starts off at Kilimani Primary School from 10:00 a.m. till 6:00 p.m. and will feature performances by DJ Adrian, Eric Wainaina, Suzanna Owiyo and Atemi Oyungu. On this day, entry is Kshs. 100 for adults and Kshs. 50 for kids.

The party then moves to Volar where The PA System, the new outfit made up of DJing legends, Pinye and Adrian, will spin between 10:00 p.m. and late. Entry is Kshs. 1,000.

After eight superb editions, All That Jazz is back. The ninth edition takes place on Friday, December 21st at The National Museum Courtyard.

This is the 2nd installment of the theme Nairobi’s Hottest Diva, after a highly successful 1st installment held last year. Show up dressed to impress and you stand a chance to win a full wardrobe makeover and a stunning weekend getaway to BlueBay Cove, Watamu.

Gates open at 7:30 p.m. With guest star artist, the amazing guitarist Eddie Grey and a Christmas Extra Special by Kanjii Mbugua and The Aaron Rimbui Quartet. The evening’s DIVA host is Mwendwa Mbugua. Entry is Kshs. 2,000.

Sounds Africa Entertainment brings you Countdown 2013 at Club Ichonic on 31st December.

DJ performing at the event will be Kenroots, Kumi, DJ Donnaccia, DJ Chukie, LSD, DJ Andie (Homeboyz), Suraj Mandavia, Shym, DJ TI, Woyez, Red Eye, House Chef, Electronauts, Allan Strange, Half-life, Guahira, Professor X, Electrik Hail, A4tiori, Joe Ferro, DJ Kenshi, Wyzle, Traldi and a musical performance by GBO.

Tickets for Countdown 2013 can be found at Game Changer (Junction), Monty’s (Sarit Centre), Recordez the Music Shop (Westgate and Yaya Centre) and Sanj Grafix (Diamond Plaza).

The first 30 people to buy tickets in advance will get an extra ticket free. The first 100 people will get free drinks between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. while people with ticket no. 13 will get a bottle of Vodka. The first 100 ladies will get free glow-in-the-dark merchandise and one person with an advance ticket will get a bottle of champagne to enjoy with friends.

The trailer for what promises to be the biggest party of the year is out. Check it out below.
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By now you must be aware of the invectives that are being leveled against Kiss 100’s radio queen, Caroline Mutoko. For some reason if you haven’t, let me bring you up to speed with what’s going on. So, over the weekend Caroline gave a piece of her mind to those people who use her Facebook page to vent their anger on CEOs of certain organization (in this case, Safaricom) for what they deem as sub-standard services. Caroline, typical of her, did not mince her words, so she posted this on her Facebook Timeline;

Okey – I let the average idle person vent as much as they need to on social media, I’m alright with the fact that you probably have nothing else of value to do with your time. However, here’s where I draw the line:

1. You will not use my wall to be mediocre & hide behind your bogus pseudonym to insult the CEO of any organisation, or anyone else for that matter. I don’t care what your beef is. You
don’t get to do that here.

2. Safaricom has a FB page. Use it.

3. Bob Collymore – Mr. Collymore has a twitter handle – use it.

4. It’s a freaking free country, you don’t like s’thing move on. Don’t waste my time & yours posting filth on my wall.

5. Have the basic skill to refer to me by my name. It’s at the top of the page for easy reference. I don’t know who caro is.

6. By all means raise issues about our clients/advertisers, what you will not do is apply the same bottom feeder behavior you reserve for bigotry & politics to slander business entities. Not here.

And yes, our advertisers ALL bar none, contribute to our bottomline, therefore I make no apologies for being in their corner. Incidentally, I did ask Safaricom if I should take this nonsense down & they said no.

But this is MY page.

You want to be rude, abusive & base, go elsewhere. 
I don’t need you, not now, not ever.

Thank you

 

Apparently, this did not go down well with a section of people who call themselves Idlers Camp and they demanded for an apology but Caroline stood her ground. At this point, these guys resorted to name-calling and verbal abuse. It did not end there as they even created not one, not two but three Facebook pages (R.I.P Caroline Mutoko, Kenyans against Caroline Mutoko’s nonsense and teenage like attitude and Kenyans agnst Caroline Mutoko’s nonsense & teenage like attitude.) all dedicated to dragging Caroline through the mud. So popular are the pages that the likes have grown rapidly. For instance, “Kenyans against Caroline Mutoko’s nonsense and teenage like attitude” has amassed over 12000 likes (by the time this article went up) in just below 24 hours!

Caroline has not responded to Idlers Camp (and I doubt if she will) a Facebook page named Kalekye Mumo, asked “haters to give them a break” on her Facebook page and that’s when the insults started pouring in; over 600 comments (most of them abusive) in just under one hour. Idlers Camp hold that they are not relenting in their quest and infact want to show Caroline “how idle they can be”.

Now, you be the judge.

These are the chicks who are always party rocking and never sorry about it. You’ve probably seen them in the clubs living it up, popping bottles and riding out in exotic fast cars . They live life in the fab lane, and the rest of you are jealous. Here are the top five sexiest Kenyan socialites:

 

 

5. Shiro Waruinge

The first queen of Facebook has taken her title to the social scene, which she now rocks with reckless abandon!

 

4. REMOVED BY REQUEST

 

3. Pendo

 

She shot to fame last month after her sex scandal with Willy Paul took a turn for the worst, but even before that, Pendo had been known for hob-nobbing with the entertainment elite at the biggest events, and behind the scenes of some video shoots. If your name is not in the newspaper or in a Ghafla! article, you should probably keep your distance.

 

2. Huddah Monroe

 

This chic lives to party and has no regrets about that! Remember the last time Kenyan MPs wanted to raise their salaries? Huddah said herself that she didn’t mind at all, as she would enjoy that cash. Nuff said.

 

1. Lois Hannigan

 

If you’ve ever raved at Fifis or Westlands, then you’ve probably spotted Lois somewhere in the mix. This model/actress parties with no holds barred. No retreat, no surrender. No stone left unturned. I think you get the point.

 

Think we’ve left some socialites out, or wrongfully included others? Leave your interesting or creative responses in the comment section below:

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, frogs and toads alike, incase you missed it, last week Maina and King’ang’i dropped what can only be described as a bombshell.

During their “Morning Kasheshe” segment, they announced that they would be taking the leap into the murky world of politics. But that was only half of the bomb they detonated. They have decided to ape the other politicians and go the way of political marriages and coalitions. They are promising to be joined by Julie Gichuru, Jeff Koinange, Caroline Mutuko and even Cess Mutungi would be on the ballot papers as part of their coalition.

King’ang’i asked who would be able to withstand such a political jaggernaut and that indeed is the million dollar question isn’t it? I can just see TNA’s Uhuru Kenyatta and hispolitical wife URP’s William Ruto and ODM’s Raila Odinga and his political wife Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka clamouring to get into the party.

Wonder what name they’s go by seeing as there’s Uhuruto and Railonzo. Maybe Maing’ang’i or Mgeni. But i bet that title has set off the radar’s of alot of these politicians. 

So I was on the phone with Prezzo earlier today, and he was excited to be back in town after his brief sojourn in Nigeria. We talked about his new songs, and he told me that he’s got a hot new video coming out: “My city, My town.”

 This song was recorded by Prezzo shortly before his Big Brother Africa experience and became a hit. It was much requested on radio and in many clubs across Africa. The audio clip below also went viral on YouTube:

 

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In order to please his fans, he has decided to release a video directed by world renowned Jay Blessing of Pink Video. It’s gonna be hot, but don’t take my word for it. See it for yourself when His Rapcellency’s video launches on 12/ 12/ 2012 at 12:12.

So I was on the phone with Prezzo earlier today, and he was excited to be back in town after his brief sojourn in Nigeria. We talked about his new songs, and he told me that he’s got a hot new video coming out: “My city, My town.”

 This song was recorded by Prezzo shortly before his Big Brother Africa experience and became a hit. It was much requested on radio and in many clubs across Africa. The audio clip below also went viral on YouTube:

 

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In order to please his fans, he has decided to release a video directed by world renowned Jay Blessing of Pink Video. It’s gonna be hot, but don’t take my word for it. See it for yourself when the video launches on 12/ 12/ 2012 at 12:12.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, thank you for bringing up Ghafla to what she is now.

And by that i mean to say “Asante Sana”  to all our readers who have helped get us into the top 20 most visited sites in Kenya. And that is when we take international sites such as Facebook and Twitter into account. The top 20 list actually looks like this:

 

#1. Facebook

#2. Google

#3. Google.co.ke

#4. YouTube

#5. Yahoo!

#6. Twitter

#7. Blogspot.com
#8. Daily Nation

#9. Wikipedia

#10. LinkedIn

#11. The Standard

#12. 302 Found
#13. Babylon

#14. Windows Live

#15. BBC Online

#16. WordPress.com

#17.Capital FM 98.4

 

#18. Ghafla!Kenya
ghafla.co.ke Kenya’s number one entertainment news website.

 

#19. Safaricom The Better Option

#20. Conduit.com

 

And this is inspite of all the nay-sayers and the doomsday tall tale foretelling sooth sayers. To Dennis Imaya, Anthony Fuego Sserwadda, Ruth Marichuy and the hard hitting, pull-no-punches Mohammed Jaffar asante. To everyone who raises genuine complaints and criticism that keeps us on our toes, thank you.

To everyone who enjoys reading our articles and go as far as feeding us stories, thank you. To all the celebrities who keep it real, the celebrities who give us a shout out in appreciation of our work, the celebrities who give us a helping hand, imela!

To the haters. Those who constantly have something slimey to post about the team or their hardwork, thank you for checking out the site anyway. And i wish you a long life so you may witness the growth God blesses us with. Whenever i say that up is the only direction for us, i also pray you live long enough to witness that progression. All 10 of you.

Men lie, women lie but numbers don’t lie and while the minority are loud, the silent majority are the ones who matter and they are the reason Ghafla keeps growing. And next time you see me pub creeping, holla and i’ll buy you a drink to help you swallow down all that hate.

Top award-winning Coast DJ, entertainment manager and events organiser DJ Lenium yesterday came to a rude shock at his home, when he found that almost all his household possessions had gone missing! Here is the whole story:

He says that the robbers came in a white van. Lenium’s wife and son were in church, and he was at an orphan’s christmas party. The thugs took ALL the electronics in the house: a 33 inch flat screen TV, a home theater, DVD, microwave, gas cooker and cylinder.

The thieves also reportedly ran sacked all the rooms in DJ Lenium’s house, stole his wife’s jewelery, Lenium’s chain, his housegirl’s cash and they also broke a few utensils for good measure. To escape, they sprayed the watchdogs in the compound with a sleeping drug and jumped over the wall.

To make it worse, this whole robbery took place on the day of his 1st year wedding anniversary. DJ Lenium has reported the incident to the Bamburi police thanks to his groomsman Dan Sonko, who was with him at the orphan’s gig.

Thanks to Big Tunes Live, Jah Cure’s concert was one of the most successful events of international magnitude to be held in the country. The event marked Jah Cure’s first tour of Africa and live concert shows in Kenya. Jah Cure whose real name is Siccaturie Alcock rocked Kenyan fans with his ghetto voice that wails through his songs. Check out;

 

 

 

DJ Kris Darlin 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos courtesy of Reggae Music Kenya

In marking the first anniversary since the launch of Tusker Lite’s “Discover the Tusker Lite Experience”, EABL is set to host a spectacular music concert on December, 11, 2012 at the Carnivore Lounge featuring Grammy-Award winning American singer and song writer Erykah Badu.

Known for her eccentric style and cerebral music, Erykah is the fourth musician to perform at the cozy affair sponsored by Tusker Lite, one of Kenya’s newest beers.

“With the past three successful experiences by Donell Jones, Joe Thomas and Johnny Gill; Erykah Badu will definitely showcase yet another spectacular show. We are expecting a turnout of 2,000 guests at the experience providing them with nothing but the best in both entertainment and experience,” said Caroline Ndungu, EABL Kenya’s Marketing Director.

“As we wrap up and toast to the successes of the ending year, we are excited to bring you a brilliant experience that will nicely blend good music, a great environment and of course fun time with friends in a responsible way as,  ; exactly embodied by the Tusker Lite Brand.”, she added.

Erykah Badu arrived at the JKIA International Airport on the evening of Sunday, December 9, 2012 and will host a press conference today December 10, 2012 at the Sankara Hotel from 11.00 a.m. ahead of the day’s programme. Revelers will be able to enjoy her performance on December 11, 2012 from 6:00 p.m. at the Carnivore Lounge during the “Discover the Tusker Lite Experience.”

The curtain raiser during this experience will be East Africa’s Leading Smooth Jazz Artist Isaiah Katumwa from Uganda, also popularly known as ‘Uganda’s sax wizard’.

Tusker Lite Brand Manager, Faith Nyambura said, “This is definitely one experience not to be missed. As we celebrate the first anniversary, Tusker Lite promises an awesome experience to its audience and fans at The Lounge giving them an easygoing drinking experience while we discover and enjoy a relaxing time with friends and a four time American Grammy Award winner.”

Ordinary tickets are currently on sale for Kshs. 4,000/= at Nakumatt (Mega, Junction, Prestige, Village Market and Westgate), Barton (Westgate, Prestige, Junction and Village Market), Dormans (Mama Ngina Street,Yaya,Westgate and Karen Crossroad, Mercury (ABC Place and Junction). VIP tickets can be purchased for Kshs. 7,500 only at Capital FM offices and Carnivore Restaurant.

Vmixx Music presents the official Kenyan club-dance inspired follow up to Arthur’s debut hit single Come Back.

After making headlines across Africa and Europe this summer, Arthur’s follow-up single packs a smooth blend of slow African and fast electronic inspired vibes, uniquely combining bongo and dancehall beats with pop, RnB and Swahili vocals.

The release also marks the first time both label mates have joined forces on a record and we sure do hope to hear more of them both. Till then, head on over to iTunes, pick up a copy of this spanking new collaboration here.

Jomino Entertainment are looking for next big thing in rap in Kenya. The main event took place this weekend.

Due to high demand, the period has been extended. There were requests from artistes travelling from outside Nairobi who wanted to be given another chance to showcase their talent.

And Jomino has granted them their wish by holding another talent search session this Thursday, December 13th. The winner gets to record a song and its video with Jomino Records for free. That’s not all, he/she will also get to appear on the Furu Furu remix by G-Kon. Get more details at facebook.com/jominomedia

Last week we told you about business journalist Larry Madowo resigning from South Africa-based TV station, CNBC Africa. It has now emerged that the journalist is heading back to his former employer, NTV.

Larry revealed a few minutes ago that it was Nation Media Group’s CEO, Linus Gitahi’s, efforts that made sure he is back at the “twin towers”. “After 8 months in the SA wilderness, this prodigal son is happily back home at @ntvkenya. Thanks to @LGtwits for making sure I returned,” tweeted Larry. Larry and Linus have a strong relationship and hence there was no way he could turn down his offer.

Larry also revealed that he had numerous conversations with Kenya’s oldest media house, KTN, however, the deals were not fruitful as Larry opted for NTV. “For the record, I also had many conversations about returning to @KTNKenya. I wish them nothing but the best, they’ll be worthy competitors” tweeted Larry.

 

Larry’s return is a move that’s expected to give NTV a major shot in the arm after the TV station experienced massive walk-outs by top anchors. Ghafla! wishes him all the best as he resumes duty.

The biggest winner at last Saturday’s Kalasha Awards at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, as we all expected, was Nairobi Half Life.

The film won a total of five awards including Best Original Screenplay for Serah Mwihaki, Charles Matathia and Samuel Munene supervised by Billy Kahora and Tom Tykwer. The film’s editor, Mkaiwawi Mwakaba, however, lost to Simiyu Samurai.

NHL bounced back with a Cinematography award for Director of Photography, Christian Almesberger and camera operator Mohamed Zain. Tosh Gitonga won Best Director and lead actor, Joseph K. Wairimu repeated his Durban International Film Festival achievement by winning Best Actor.

Nairobi Half Life also won the night’s biggest award by taking Best Feature Film. Despite all the glory NHL also provided the biggest surprise when Olwenya Maina lost Best Supporting Actor to Torn Veil’s David Ng’ang’a Ndugi. Check out the full winners’ list here.

Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter, Erykah Badu is in the country. The 41 year old songstress jetted into the country shortly before midnight ahead of her Tusker Lite Experience concert at the Carnivore Grounds on Tuesday.

The American singer will this morning address a press conference at the Sankara where she will brief both the media and her fans of what to expect at her extensively hyped concert.  Erykah is in the country with her her band and her production team which is expected to thrill fans tomorrow.

Advance tickets for the show are retailing at Sh4,000 (regular) and Sh7,500 (VIP). There will be no tickets sold at the venue.

 

The Tusker Lite Experience is a relaxing evening with great music, great people and the great tasting low carb beer, Tusker Lite. The Tusker Lite Experience has previously brought in legendary RnB performers, Joe Thomas and Johnny Gill to grace previous events. Follow @TuskerLite on Twitter here, use #TuskerliteEXP as the hashtag and like the Facebook page here.

 

 

Photo props: @tuskerlite

In a city where crime takes a different form every day, it has become a daily occurrence for muggers to pounce on unsuspecting city residents. Such is the unfortunate story of budding Gospel artiste Papa Muyelele.

Thursday last week, the Gospel artiste cheated death after he was attacked by robbers in Buruburu estate and stabbed and left him for dead. Luckily, he was rushed to hospital where he underwent a minor surgery and thank God, he’s now okay. In a Facebook message, Papa Muyelele was thankful to his friends and thank God for saving his life.

 

“THANX FRIENDS I HAVE REGAINED MY STRENGTH, NOW ON MY FEET RECUPERATING AFTER THE MINOR SURGERY..LOVELY WEEKEND MAY GOD PROTECT AND WATCH OVER ALL OF YOU!” posted the singer on his FB timeline.

 

Papa Muyelele becomes the second prominent personality in showbiz to be attacked by armed robbers after comedian Kajairo was accosted by carjackers who made away with his car and other equipment (which were later recovered) less than a month ago in the same estate. This incident comes just four months after Papa Muyelele released his inspiring single “Omwami”. Check it out below;

Eko Dydda has released a new track titled “A For Apple”…

And yeah, i had my reservations when i read he title of the track but trust me when say that this is a definite club banger!

For those of you who do not know the lad, he is one of Kenya’s most prolific artists who is yet to release a miss. The lad has “Niko na reason”, “As for me and my house” amongst his repertoire of hits and he has now released this scorcher! The instrumentals are off the hinges like a broken door, the lyrics are spot on and the video is pretty decent. This track is clearly hiphop influenced from the instrumentals to the delivery of lyrics and as we’ve come to expect from Eko Dydda, it’s very energetic.

It merits the full 5 Ghafla rating.

Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think of it:

Top of the morning fam! Another fresh week is upon us. Here’s what you need to know this morning;

#1 Revealed: The s3x dens where Kenyan p0rn0graphy films are shot.

#2 Girls’ school Principal wages war against comedian Eric Omondi. Find out why.

#3 Check out Maina Kageni’s myths about girls.

#4 Take a look at Classic 105’s Ciku Muiruri’s prescription for cure of acne.

#5 After leaving TV to retire, veteran anchor Njoroge Mwaura has made a comeback at KTN.

#6 Ogopa’s Marya confirms to Ghafla! that she’s not pregnant.

#7 Bamboo releases his first video mixtape Fridays. Check it out.

#8 Fans demand that the “Faiba Wakamba characters” be turned into a comedy series.

#9 Are you young, educated and unemployed? If so, check this out.

#10 Thespian Ian Mbugua hangs out with this year’s greatest Kenyan. Take a look at this photo.

 

Now you’re up to speed. Have a blessed day and week ahead.

Ma3 was the band hired to play for this year’s Naija Nite. They played for Chidinma, 9Con and P-Unit. “We enjoyed the experience and decided to collaborate further,” says Tim Rimbui.

The result was a track titled Sweetie, which was primarily written by Atemi and Tim Rimbui four months ago and the rest of guys added their parts later on. “We did not have a third verse and I asked 9con to come listen to the song, and see if he could do something on it. Sweetie is the first song of new collection of material that we will be releasing soon,” adds Tim.

The final bit was recorded the week after Naija Nite. So now, after a refreshing break, Ma3 is back with new music. Here is the trailer for Sweetie, their latest single featuring the Nigerian superstar, 9Con.

Mark your calendars for the worldwide release next week on date 12.12.12 at 12:12 p.m. in a worldwide premiere. Check out the trailer for the Enos Olik-directed video below.
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Kenya is moving fast towards a national general election in 2013, when new leaders will be elected, including a brand new president. And as we approach this important milestone a very serious issue continues to remain ignored.

The crime and population rate continue to escalate because the youth are lacking in opportunities to rise above desperation. Unemployment continues to eat at the soul of the country and not even expensive educations can keep it at bay. Whether it is through employment or business, we ALL deserve a fair chance to make something of ourselves.

 

KaaZi is a documentary which discusses realities of unemployment among the educated Kenyan youth and inspires solutions through candid conversations. It was made with the hope that this small contribution can ignite large scale change in Kenya.

KaaZi is available for download here

 

Directed by Andrew Onyango and Michael Miriti, this 38 minutes long documentary was done in English, Kiswahili (Sheng) with English subtitles. Check it out below;

Veteran news anchor Njoroge Mwaura is back on your screens. The old hand in matters TV made his comeback to TV this week on KTN’s prime time news. 

Njoroge who was recalled from retirement has spent a better part of his career at Standard Group-owned TV station. As part of KTN’s strategy to reclaim its lost glory, it has introduced a new interactive segment and you can guess who’s heading… Njoroge Mwaura. Known as Njoroge Mwaura’s Notebook, the segment discusses the contemporary issues surrounding politics.

 

Njoroge’s comeback to TV was received with great pleasure from fans. Take a look at these tweets;

 

@Arapmursi: Did is see #Njoroge mwaura?or what…cant wait to watch him.Bigup KTN with ur new crew! 

@WanjikuMzalendo: Njoroge Mwaura is back to KTN! I was shocked he left now I’m glad he is back

@2ROCKbySparky: With Njoroge Mwaura back to KTN News, i’m all Back! That guy knows how to deliver efficient news from back in the day!

@echenze: Hearing that Njoroge Mwaura is back at @KTNKenya. Good news. Loved his combi with Beatrice Marshall back then.
@johnallannamu: You can’t beat experience! Welcome back Njoroge Mwaura!

@tallzak: As a sign of his authority in news delivery, #Njoroge Mwaura doesn’t require a co-anchor. His presence is proof that he is King!

@KulaMoto: You listen to Njoroge Mwaura and suddenly realize how substandard the other anchors are.

@Reinhard_Asamo: I loved the way #NjorogeMwaura presented the news last night. Very authoritative!

 

Ghafla! joins the fans in welcoming Njoroge back and wish him all the best as he gives his career a second shot.

You probably have seen him during the many Tusker Project Fame cycles we’ve had on TV. He is known as Aaron ‘Krucial Keys’ Rimbui one of Kenya’s leading jazz maestros. He doubles up as a pianist, keyboardist, drummer, performing artist and music producer. Here is his music story, according to him

 – The 1st music test I took in Standard 4, I got 2/30

– So despite the 2/30 music score in class 4 I went on get I think 84% in KCPE. From then on it was smooth sailing!

– I actually started out as a drummer. I switched to piano at age 17: 3rd form in Nairobi School

– I switched to piano coz after a near fatal fire accident I thought it was the only way and best way to express my experience.

– Nairobi School was the best place to learn! Learnt from great piano players like Zack Amunga.

– As regards the piano,I’ve never heard any formal training! I’ve spent 16yrs figuring it out! Still learning and growing.

– so after Nairobi School did IB in saints. that’s where I decided it’s music I wanna do for the rest of my life!

– Took part in all the musicals in saints Sarafina, jubilee anniversary…Unfortunately music was not offered as a subject

– left IB ’99 got an internship then work at Bruce Odhiambo‘s johari cleff… Feb 2000. Walalalala I was green!

– forgot to mention that my 1st paying gig was in 1998: a wedding. I was paid 500/-.

– at Bruce Odhiambo’s studio I learnt music production. Used to churn out jingles like woah!

– one day Bruce asked me to do a track for a little pretty girl who had a concert. Times do change: she is now Miss Karun

– this chap Dennis Ndavi used to be one the guys we churned commercials with at Johari Cleff!

– How much do you think interns earn? Bus fare! Anyhoo took a break went on a tour to the states for a year!

– while in the states apart from doing 4 concerts a day including the fact that you do set up, I got admitted to a good college

– Was admitted to the prestigious Musicians Institute. This man Kanjii Mbugua was the hookup! BUT: couldn’t go coz of $$$!

– the school wasn’t offering scholarships at that time. Yani that was one of my lowest points! Was gonna quit!

– in fact I decided to check up on International Relations at USIU!! Walalalala ..Went back to Johari Cleff! Humility 101!

– good thing is despite the humble pie…wah.. Bruce took me back. At least this time not as an intern!

– 2003 I worked with Sterling Quality productions to put up Sarafina! Btw did you know Mike Oyier was in the brass section?!!! He plays trumpet!

– 2003 myself and Kavutha and put up a band called 4winds! It’s also the year I started working with Eric Wainaina!

– met Eric Wainaina while in saints!was awestruck! 4years later I couldn’t believe he asked me be in his band!I pinched myself!

– musicians institute sent me an admission letter again! Sema wounds :-(….well atleast Lwanda man of stone was coming!

– started rehearsing for Lwanda with Eric Wainaina that’s where I met Carol Atemi. There are few who can sing like her! Period!

– I was now full time as an MD with Eric Wainaina. Put up Lwanda Man of Stone did toy know Gowi Odera was Lwanda?!

– now 2004 was hard. Not too much $$$ was coming in! Sema MAWIRES!! Wah I was broke! Anyhoo later that year Kanjii Mbugua came!

– I needed extra $$ so Kanjii Mbugua after coming back from a tour in the states asked me to join him in putting up Kijiji Ent.

– I was 4winds, playing with Eric Wainaina starting up Kijiji with Kanjii Mbugua. The money started tricking in….2005.

– Kanjii Mbugua also wanted to form his own band. The Villagers Band was a result! Imagine they were his band!

– Kijiji was good: I’d missed producing records. Dan Aceda was the 1st artist I worked with on tune called ‘waache waseme’

– forgot to mention in’04 I worked on the record for the coke pop stars with RKay & Chris Adwar. But I was bila $$! Lol!

– at kijiji I met Astar. This chap is always intense!

– lesson: You are only one person! I was working with Eric, Kanjii, kavutha, producing, performing. YOU WILL BURN! For real!

– so I had to make a choice. Stopped everything and decided to build on my career as a performing recording artist.

– that meant stepping down from 4winds and leaving Eric’s band. They were difficult decisions but I had to do it.

– lesson: be open to people speaking into your life. They may see things you are yet to discover in yourself. Let me explain…

– The idea to do my 1st record came from Kanjii Mbugua. I didn’t know I had it in me. Out of that simple convo….WOW!

– did my 1st record ‘Keys of life’ in 3weeks!!don’t know how I did it coz ‘Alfajiri’ my 2nd, took 2years!…

– the launch concert for Keys of Life at alliance, drama! Show’s starting at 8pm set up starting at 6pm! FIRE!

– this man Blackman can tell you the stress! Have you ever been nervous till you feel light headed&everything is slowmo?

– when I was introduced to the stage…I thought the world ended! Lol! Wah nervousness! Anyhoo God LITERALLY came thru!

– next couple years was doing show and getting my music out there. Gigging is a different science all together built on FAITH!

– June 2008 I did a show in the Urban Legends series where after a serious Facebook campaign, adverts.. 20 guys came! FIRE!!!

– have you ever put everything into a concert….only few guys come? Sema DEBTS!!!’

– fast forward to now, out of 8 All That Jazz shows 5have sold out! Good people don’t loose hope! Keep Hope Alive!

– over the years there’re times I’ve almost quit! If I did wouldn’t have shared the stage with Dwele,Hugh Masekela, BlackMambazo