Month: March 2013

Elections may be over and done with, we have all but moved on! Still I deemed it necessary to put up a list of the top ten peace/elections themed songs released prior to us casting our ballots.

Of course I was tempted to delve into the whole voting debacle but Chim already tackled that, thus i’ll just post my humble list. This is purely subjective FYI.

10. Kenyan celebs unite

Although it’s not a music video perse, this one just had to make the list, it shows Kenyan celebs united to preach peace. Read about that here

9. AshantyL, Rex, Gb, Ulopa Ngoma: Stand up.

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8. Rufftone, The GSU, National Youth Orchestra of Kenya and the Tuvuke Team: Mungu Baba

Read the full article here

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7.  Avril, Marya, Jimwat, Ala C, Rabbit, Sana and Jua Cali: Change Read the full article here

6. Nyota Ndogo

Read full article here

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5. Marungu by Jimmy Gait. Read about that here

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4. Fena, Juliani and the music summit: Mama kenya, for deets, follow this link

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3. Dela’a Never again takes the third spot. As usual hear and read about it here

2. Juliani’s featuring Dela’s Voter Vs vulture takes the first runner’s up position.

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And the song that steals the show has gotta be Camp Mullah’s If you believe! That song is off the chains!

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When Goldie passed, there was alot of unfortunate drama surrounding her life. From husbands we never knew about popping up (read about that here), to wives of said husbands threatening to sue (read about that here). That was just an entirely messy affair.

But Prezzo never let it get him down. He kept his head down, absorbed his lose and entirely avoided the drama. And he lay low. He went to the extent of refusing interviews. All this was in the backdrop of Andrew Leonard Harvey chest thumping and attempting to cow Prezzo. Read about that here.

Anyway, Prezzo finally stepped out to enjoy Nairobi and the event known as The Circle. Check out the photos here:

<Prezzo on stage with Camp Mulla>

as i write this, i have to admit that i’m not exactly a fan of Kenya’s reggea scene. The violence, blatant abuse of drugs and thefts aren’t my sort of thing. I’d rather be kicking it at either Changes on Platinum Thursday or Santa Fe for Infectious Saturdays.

Don’t get me wrong, i love reggae, it’s just that the people that are attracted to Kenya’s reggae scene in Kenya aren’t good peoples yo! But away from that. i didn’t even know about the alleged beef between Jahkey Marley and Kriss Darling.

But in a recent interview with Pulse Magazine, Kriss Darling -who has a sick ride that you can check out here- opened up about the roots of the purported beef and how he squashed it. Jahkey Marley hosts reggea nights at Club Click. Kriss Darling for his part begun to host Monday night reggae at Legends which is within staggering distance of Club Click.

The Click crowd shifted base and decamped to Legend. Naturally, egos were bruised. Kriss darling asserts that his move was merely to cater to the surplus patrons at Click who wouldn’t find enough room at the club. It was never a competition.

And when he realised what was happening, he chose to shift base to Tamasha Hurlingham out of deference to Jahkey Marley whom he sees as a mentor. Respect. and just like that beef was averted. goodstuff!

Towards the run up to the presidential elections, celebrities were busying themselves endorsing the various presidential candidates. they sang themselves hoarse, gyrated themselves lame and fell over each other to convince you who to vote for and why. From Redsan to Jaguar to Ringtone to Jalang’o. You can read about their endorsements here.

But the real question is whether or not you bought into all their hype. Because in America, when celebrity heavyweights such as Jay Z, Diddy, George Clooney et al endorsed Obama. Nikki Minaj did the same for Romney and the backlash was proof that people take their endorsements seriously.

But is that the case in Kenya? Have your say! Do celebs influence you? Did they factor into your decision on whom to vote for?

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Just under 24 hours we saw Capital FM’s owner and renowned business guru, Chris Kirubi warned politicians against making reckless statements and now Classic 105 afternoon show host and the brains behind the “Busted”  segment Ciku Muiruri has emerged to address Kenyans directly regarding the elections.

Urging fellow countrymen to be considerate of each other despite the outcome of the general elections due later today, Ciku gave her own example of how she did not vote for Governor-elect for Nairobi, Dr. Evans Kidero but was among the first people to call him and congratulate him on his win.

Here’s her message;

Dear friends, as we approach the final sprint in Election 2013, please be magnanimous in victory or defeat. The Presidency will be for all Kenyans. If your guy wins, don’t rub someone’s face in it. If your guy loses, life goes on. There are some pretty awesome Jubilee supporters and some pretty awesome Cord supporters. There are also some mean-spirited Jubilee supporters and equally there are some mean-spirited Cord supporters. The party you represent doesn’t make you a good or bad person; it’s your actions as an individual that determine your character. I did not vote for Kidero but I was happy to be among the first to call him to congratulate him on his win. And I’m sure he will do a great job as governor. Let’s support all our leaders, irrespective of the seats they have won, in the same fashion. That is my humble request. God bless you and God bless the Republic of Kenya.

Read more about Ciku HERE.

The hard working deejay has surely gotten round to proving his worth musically. Born Barnabas Otieno 30 years ago, DJ Mantix has undoubtedly shown that the audio and video mixes is alive and well, and has gained a place of prominence on Kenya’s music scene with his daily mixes.

Just like most stories of successful entertainers. While the rest of his family members took other career paths, DJ Mantix chose to take deejaying following his love for music. His dad was against the idea of him becoming an entertainer but his mum gave him all the support he required.

In 2002, his dream became a reality when he met DJ Mantell who guided him into the entertainment industry at the age of 20 and in college. 3 months later, he got signed by Morgan Entertainment as a DJ and MC for 2 years.

A couple of years later he joined City Rollers Entertainment where he took DJ Kalonje under his wings for mentorship. Mantix describes Kalonje as a hardworking student who he got to work with for some time after he was signed by City Rollers Entertainment. Seeing his resilience and diligence, Mantix together with Kalonje created MixxMasters Entertainment in 2005 and worked for a year before being called up for another assignment at the Visa Place, Upper Hill as a resident DJ.

He did stay there for long before he got back into the streets to form Hepta Entertainment. He later took on board DJ Slahver, DJ Lex and DJ Ice as his co-DJs and through mixtapes and live shows across the country, he achieved alot seeing that he had now gained a bigger fan-base.

With these achievements there of course came accolades. As such, Mantix got nominated for Nganya and Chaguo La Teenies Awards for 2010 and 2011 respectively. His reputation also earned him appearances in music videos; notably he featured in “Heshma” by Nonini and P-Unit.

Having worked in South Sudan for White Bull beer between August and December of 2012, Mantix returned to the country and immediately joined Evolution Media where he is to date.

DJ Mantix definitely has a great deal to be thankful for, if his journey so far is anything to go by. Mantix is happy and in a serious relationship and blessed with a son and daughter who are his best friends and source of motivation. Mantix credits his career success to his familly, who challenged him and finally made his dream come true.

Hate her or love her, Vera Sidika is hot news.

Miss Sidika seems to be on our lips, we can’t help it. If she’s not the reason the you guy video got banned, she’s supposedly beefing with Huddah Monroe, a rumour she disparaged here. Read that piece from february here…….I however have a rather positive story to share with you. I know, the headline was misleading, bare with me. Vera has gotten her hot self embroiled in something. No nothing nasty, it’s actually charity.

Called Martha’s little angels, it’s by Martha Njeri and is aimed at taking in homeless and abandoned kids. The home however consists of shanty structures in Kawangware, so well wishers are urged to lend a helping hand to this really worthy cause. The home currently gives shelter to twenty six kids in total, feeding them is a tall order.    Vera spent the whole of Saturday 2nd March with the kids, playing and bonding with them. She has been to other Children homes like Zion children home in Mombasa so clearly this is one lady with a golden heart.

You see, she does not spend her time hobnobbing with the high and mighty or frolicking on the beach with her booty as Mr Majani put it here. I think.

Vera Sidika’s pictures at this children’s home just won me over. Happy International Women’s day to you mami. Read full story here

My very best pic has gotta be this last one.

Women cannot for the love of all that’s ‘holy’ stomach the fact that Kenzo is not gerring it…by CHOICE. 

Yani celibacy is a ‘virtue’ that went to the dogs as is evident. Some of his female fans, have been dming him on twirra and sending him messages on MKZ with one theme clear, ‘we want the D!!.’ Since we reported that he is now celibate, we have received a ton of responses, read that story here.                                                   Kenzo has gone on a sexual hiatus for an undisclosed amount of time, but mamis have been hallaing at him to give him the cookie! Forget that he’s announced that he wants to wait for his true Milka, but no, lasses won’t let this brotha breathe!

I’m surprised though, I actuallly thought his stance would be lauded but yawa mamis are chipoing themselves and delivereing themselves on a silverplatter!! Sema DMs and steamy Facebook inboxes esh! “Can’t a young Luo make money anymore??” Gidigidi Majimaji once asked!                                                                                         Allow the nigga some space ladies, he just wants to concentrate on his career, and find the right one to share his duly earned success with. 

Kenzo seems to court controversy whether he wants to or not, just look at the kinda attention an innocent move has garnered. Meanwhile a while back, we reported that he was accused of plagiarism by the Coastal Tuff Shutterz crew, did you read that? No? Check out his retort here.

There has been alot of speculation around about Maina Kageni’s bank statement. Personally, i don’t believe in counting a man’s money. Maybe Akon and I have that West African pride in us. Maybe i’m only concerned with mine.

But according to Pulse Magazine, the Classic FM radio presenter is window shopping for a helicopter to buy. Actually, he’s doing alot more than window shopping, he’s reportedly negotiating the rates he’ll be expected to pay.

The chopper in question is for a business venture. He wants to start a luxury tour company. and taking all his other rumoured investments and business ventures, the lad could be a rumoured billionaire in the rumoured future.

But keep it Ghafla for more on this story. For now read how exactly Maina has made his millions so far here. Or maybe you’d prefer to check out his Karen house? Click here.

I have been on record time and time again saying that Kenyan bouncers lack proper training and common decency. They often harrass clientele forgetting Mahatma Gandhi’s gem of wisdom, “The customer is king.”

But fortunately, Changes Pub has never had such a problem. But Skylux? not so. But the problem i believe has now been arrested by management. reports reaching us courtesy of my optics -yeah, i read this one off Pulse- seem to indicate that Abbas Kubaff was recently embroiled in a small scuffle at Skyluxx.

Abbas who was there as per management’s invitation expected to be ushered in only to find a burly sir eager to dust his knuckles. But Abbas is a smart lad and he averted the showdown by simply paying his way in. For the unintiated, when you are invited by management, you do not have to pay for entrance. That memo doesn’t seem to have reached the bouncer.

After Abbas paid, he lodged his complaints with the manager who saw off the bouncer. And just like that, he was out of a job. Tragic. But come on bouncers, i understand that some patrons are drunk and unruly but your job calls for restraint. Just ask the Changes bouncers how they handle drunks.

The truth has to be said and who better to get Kenyans to open up than Maina Kageni and Mwalimu King’ang’i? And today they are asking the question i would like answered: What happened Peter Kenneth’s twitter and facebook votes?

I remember endorsing P.K in my own way. I voted for him. I was convinced he would have a strong chance to contest for presidency. Everyone at home thought i was crazy. I told them i’d seen the future and voting against an international judicial institution or against an individual and community is nonsense. I chose to vote for change.

And alot of Kenyans took to social media to declare the same. Turns out it was all lip service. But Maina and King’ang’i had a hilarious way of putting it. Maina said that if he were Mudavadi or Peter Kenneth, he’d sue each individual Kenyan for leading them on.

All the Kenyans who called in did what Kenyans do best; gave excuses for not delivering. The excuses ran from him not being a tried and tested candidate to him not having any real clout -a slur he addressed and you can read about that here- to P.K not reading his psychology books to understand that human beings magnify the negatives of others so he never stood a chance.

Only one lady so far has called in to say that she actually voted for Peter Kenneth. Goodstuff. But the question remains, what happened? Are we a nation of liars? It would seem so…

What happened to Risasi and Suzuki? Remember the pair? They were a duo from Kenya’s Coast that took the music scene by storm only to disappear with all but a whimper!

I was just listening to a track of theirs from back in the day when Ogopa was the dominant force in Kenya’s music production front and i couldn’t help but find myself reminiscing. Whatever happened to the pair.

But wherever they disappeared to, i wish them luck on their endeavours. Here’s a couple of their tracks for you to enjoy:

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The biggest Kenyan export to Norway thus far has been STL and she has indeed put us on the international map. 

Well joining the fray is a Hip Hop Group African sunz also based in Oslo.

They recently released their latest video “Justice”. Listening to their music, you feel the interesting influences of hip hop and reggae that gives their sound that Sunz sound.This group is Originaly from East Africa, and is composed of Kimani from Kenya, Sergent from Rescal from Rwanda. Their music is characterized by heavy lyrical content and positive vibes geared towards the youth

African Sunz have been making conscious tunes for a couple of years now, but this is their debut video. They’ve been on tour in Africa a couple of times perfoming live in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. The group currently has its headquaters in Norway, but established links in other communities. They are currently working on the debut album. Watch their new video below and get acquainted with them.

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While things have been somewhat strange on the political front, that did not stop patriotic Kenyans on twitter (KOT) from ridiculing the international media because of the violent rhetoric their stories contained. CNN in particular was the butt of many a joke, and someone even went ahead to write them an open letter. Nima of CNN must really rue the day she decided to post that piece about Kenya. But I digress.

Kenyans are brilliant there is no denying that, and twitter and memes have gone a long way in proving that simple fact. Below is another meme followed by funny translations that are all the rage in social media. The way the originator juxtaposed Kenyan celebs and ‘violence’ underscores the humour.

CNN translations

1.Dj Bunduki – Armed with Grenades looking like headphones, and disks with sound effects of bullets and breaking glass, may sometimes be heard saying “ikibamba sana wapi nduru weuweeeee”

2.Risasi – almost the same as the above, but not as dangerous as him. Is not commonly known since he is mostly an underground rapper.

3.Cannibal – said to be a carnivorous man, i.e may eat people at any time. His weapons of mass destruction are his teeth.

4.DNA – said to be inciting kenyans by carrying what kenyans call “fimbo” and chanting “fimbo chapa”

5.Jaguar – this citizen is said to be using his hand to slap people on their behalf. This is proven by the fact that he is heard saying “nawapigia makofi…. eeeh….makofi…. eeeh…. makofi eeeeh”

6.Size 8: A known arsonist (she is that hot), has vowed to set things on fire today and errday. Has been heard saying “Leo kutawaka moto, moto faya”

What say you?

There are many who would like to believe that being a diva is about being the female version of a hustler. That lot of people believe that being a diva is not allowing any other individual onto your plane. allow me to put on this ring on my finger then slap you!

One would have us believe that being a diva is about living in South C and not having plastic money. That individual would also have you believe that being a diva is refusing to take advice from anyone. but Uncle Chim Tuna is here to say that the whole lot are wrong.

I’m here to take it back to the classics. I’m looking to the original divas for inspiration, not the corruption of the term we have prancing about. If you think Rihanna is a diva, please jump out of the window and belly flop -on the cement!

The ladies i am about to introduce to you are reminiscent of the Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Dion Warwick, Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan et al. Don’t get me wrong, the Kenyans aren’t yet at that level but with the right direction, the right team to back them and the right business apparatus behind them, they could have achieved that status.

Ladies and gentlemen i present to you:

Alicios

This lass has it all. The looks, the aura but most importantly, the voice. You can just picture the paparazzi running after her and her fans stalking her. If only she had the right management team in place and the resources to achieve that…

Amileena

Voice? Check! Grace? Check! Wardrobe? No! She looks like she dressed in the dark in her videos. I can understand that she might be trying the whole India Arie vibe but to be a diva you have to be well dressed. Everyone should be fighting to find out who designed your dress!

Neema

Not even a sex scandal could slow down this lass… And she was a gospel lass to boot! She would need someone to give her proper grounding though and she will soar like an eagle. That’s all she’d need because everything else about her is in place. The talent is undoubtedly there!

Ruth Matete

What can i say about Ruth? The lass dropped the ball if you ask me. She should have hit the ground running. She was my equivalent of Jennifer Hudson. She should have been aggressively markets! She should have been dropping hits not just leading Sunday morning worship. It would seem that for alot of this lot professional management and resources are a huge hindrance.

Miss Karun

This lass can sing. And her clean and innocent image is such an asset in a conservative country such as this. If i could, i’d market her as a prodigy. A musical and vocal prodigy. She should be the new age queen of the roost in as far as Kenyan entertainment is concerned.

Yvonne Darcq

This lass has the super model looks; legs that go for miles, that undeniable magnetism and an awesome voice to boot. If there were any recording companies in Kenya with clout, this lass would be their goose that lays the golden eggs! Her voice is so powerful that the only thing she lack is proper marketing. That push!

Mercy Myra

Mercy Myra is the Tina Turner of the lot of them. She was there to popularise Kenyan RnB but honestly has nothing substantial to show for it! She should have her name immortalised in the annals of Kenya’s Hall of Fame!

Atemi

This lady shouldn’t have anything to prove. She should just be making the glorified technical appearances. Nothing more. But if wishes were horses… i’d let her ride mine.

Article pulled on request. Click here to read other stories about Nonini.

Sometime back the interestingly weird Uncle Chim Tuna gave his cents about why Kenya beats Tanzania and Uganda at entertainment and while the article received so much reproach especially from our UG bro research now reveals that Kenyan artists are on top of their Bongo and UG counterparts as far as their fan-base on Facebook is concerned.

The survey titled “East Africa’s Top 50 Artists on Facebook” was conducted by HiPipo.com and involved close monitoring of Facebook pages of more than 150 East African musicians for 4 months. The report shows that Nonini’s official page has the biggest number of fans of about 91,650 Likes, followed by Wahu with about 83,356 Likes while Jua Cali Genge comes in third position with 80,224 Likes.

Overall, all the top 50 East African artists on Facebook were followed by a collective figure of over 1,710,630 people as of March 5th 2013. Kenya topped the list with 64% representation, followed by Uganda with 24%, Tanzania with 10% and Rwanda at 2%. The Facebook statistics also revealed that Kenya has about 1,886,560 Facebook users followed by Uganda at 537,820 then Tanzania at 681,180, Rwanda at 186760 and lastly Burundi at just 44,400.

This study also found out that majority of the artists under-utilize their pages and also know less about effective usage of these pages to reach out to their fans, and friends of their fans.  Furthermore, this survey found out that more than 86% of the artists don’t regularly update their pages and also lack basic tips on what content is ideal, and how to share it to their fans.

Here’s the list;

There’s no describing these girls’ voices. The first time I heard Pauline sing Ndiza, she made my hairs stand on end. 

Mouth agape, I replayed her video over and over again, and woke up humming it. The purity of Pauline’s voice enthralled so many people including the song’s original writer Zahara. Read about that here.

Honest confession, I’d never heard of Zahara before Pauline, thus the Ndiza cover could have passed as one of her songs and I’d have fallen for it hook line and sinker. That video was shared so many times on my Facebook and twitter timeline (mostly by me), that when I finally met her at Kenya Music week last year, I wanted to prostrate at her feet. I was disappointed she’s not divine, true story.

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Well thanks to the ongoing Sauti academy competition, she’s at it again, but this time she’s taken a stab at a girl group. Swahili for thirst, Kiu is the name and clearly three is NOT a crowd! The other belles’ names are Tracy and Rosa and boy do they quench your musical thirst! From the way their harmonies blend so effortlessly, it is evident that great things await. My maiden karaoke experience was with Tracy and Pauline so yes, maybe a collabo is in the offing. I’m kidding.

Watch their latest video here and share it with your people.

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As the poll’s results continue to trickle in, there have been complaints from a section of politicians who failed to clinch various seats that they were vying for. As such most of them have resorted to summon the press to air their grievances instead of using the right channel.

Gravely concerned by this trend, Capital FM owner and business mogul, Chris Kirubi has come out condemning this tendency and asked the dissatisfied politicians to use the right authorities instead of running to the media. Arguing that politicians’ could use the media to spread propaganda that could cause panic and chaos in the country, Kirubi also asked the media not to accept to be used.

Here’s Kirubi’s statement;

Dear Mr. Politician,
Don’t be a reckless mouthpiece! You all signed to follow and to entrust the IEBC to conduct the elections. Numbers don’t lie and the IEBC cannot be doing the right thing only when the numbers are in your favor. An honest competitor is the one who is prepared to win or lose in a contest. We love Kenya and don’t want loose cannons that could cause panic and chaos in the nation. Surely media should not accept to be used as a vehicle to spread propaganda that has no credible claims. If at all you have a dispute, kindly use the right channels to solve the disputes. I believe the Chief Justice assured us that the Judiciary is more than ready and able to handle any disputes that arise. Use the right channels and let the tallying continue.

Kind regards,
Dr. C. J Kirubi

When it comes to music, it runs in this family. It runs deep and rich through their veins from Bamboo to Kimya Miyaki to Vicky.

And as you know, Vicky is signed to Nigerian production power house Chocolate City under their Kenyan wing and she has wasted no time getting to work recording the track “M’toto” and now the video is nearly ready.

But as we wait to see what she came up with, she has released a teaser to give us all a sneak peek at what lies behind the curtain and i am impressed. it would seem that working in collaboration with Nigerians will bear some seriously juicy fruit for the lass.

Check out the video teaser below then you can read all about her signing to the Nigerian powerhouse that houses talent such as Brymo, Ice Prince, M.I and Jesse Jagz here.

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