Month: June 2013

Cote d’ivoirian-born reggae singer and international recording artist Alpha Blondy is in the country. Alpha Blondy landed this morning and was received by officials from Big Tunes Media. The reggae icon is in the country ahead of tomorrow’s concert at KICC.

Here he is when he landed at JKIA;

Alpha Blondy will be performing tomorrow during the Big Tunes Festival of Music alongside Jamaican reggae legend Tarrus Riley who landed in Nairobi yesterday.

Meanwhile, get the last advance tickets before they are sold out!!Click on GHAFLA! DEALS and save up to KSh3000 on the tickets.

Turns out the rich also cry. Who said that? Show yourself! No one standing to take credit for such a gem of infinite wisdom? Then I must accept credit. Anyway Muema Nzomo, a friend to Kenyan hiphop artist Jemedari was recently robbed of his keyboard allegedly by Timothy Mwakazi, the son of Alfred Sambu, the one time Chairman of both AFC Leopards and FKF and who happens to be the current sitting MP for Webuye.

Anyway, in a statement released to Ghafla!Kenya, Jemedari claims that this is a case of betrayed friendship and theft. Here’s what he told us:

Two weeks ago, Timothy Mwakazi showed up at an event where my band and I were performing (House Of Jazz, Goethe Institute)
 He and Keyboard player Muema Nzomo were old high school pals. He claimed he had lost his child and needed to get away from it all.
 Juzi, Muema came home to find his keyboard and Timothy missing. He was also not reachable on phone.
 Luckily, Timothy had taken the keyboard to a loan shark and had gotten 8k for it. By Tuesday morning, he went back and told them to sell it, and give him an extra 7k.
 The pawn shop operator reached out to interested parties and one of the potential buyers recognized the keyboard and called Muema, who headed there accompanied by police and nabbed the unsuspecting Timothy.
 He is currently in police custody.
 When reached for information and solution to the issue, Former FKF Chair Alfred Sambu, who is Timothy’s father refused to pay for the Keyboard (8k for the pawn shop) and he also refused to bail out his son. His PA also refused to comment on the matter.

                                             Timothy Mwakazi

Muema Nzomo continues to say, “I asked old school mates later and was told he does this to people…he comes to your place. With a story whether his mother is dead or his kid is dead thinking he is vulnerable you will let him in then he steals from you.“

                                           Muema Nzomo posing with his beloved piano

Kenyans on Twitter are one unforgiving lot. Yet again like it’s their nature, KOT have decided to drop the troll hammer on visiting Jamaican dancehall artist Demarco. Thing is, KOT seem not to understand what business Demarco has in the country after it became apparent that he will not be performing alongside Tarrus Riley and Alpha Blondy tomorrow at KICC.

So, in their usual nature the jeering started. Take a look;

@tizomu: Its only a matter of days till Demarco start LOLing and LMAOing at our jokes 😀

@Lencer_B LMFAO y’all trynna say demarco is broke? LOL please leave him a loan. *slaps knees*

@Its_mwaas: Or maybe Demarco is in the country because he has not yet met with our socialite president.

@iGuchwani: nashuku demarco tapped a kao,that nigguh is never leaving kenya #kamoteIsRealYo!

@DesignaWEN: If Demarco had swag&ego lyk Konshens,he would have left already cuz time wasted in Kenya will never be recovered in Jamaica,unless in da gym

@iDavie: Demarco atasota aanze kuuza Jamaican accent abaki na ya kimeru

@QueenGathoni: What if Demarco has bought land in Ruai, and is not planning to leave? What if?

@smusyoka: Go home Demarco, you are drunk RT @DemarcoDaDon: I want the whole kenya to follow me on twitter, let’s go TeamDemarco!!! Kude kude

@sickolia: Go home Demarco you’ve overstayed your visit. RT @DemarcoDaDon: I want the whole kenya to follow me on twitter, let’s go TeamDemarco!!! Kude kude

@deebirundu: reason Demarco is still here is that he wanna make a chick pregnant real quick then chill for the laptops. I figured.

@Kubz_Bomaye: Demarco set to appear on Mejja’s Niko over my ex remixx, only this time the ex here means his country Jamaica..

@QueenGathoni: It’s all fun and games, until Demarco buys a Safaricom line and gets tetemeshwad! Somebody take that boy home!

@Mbusih: But kama demarco hana fare he should pull some naija stunt and immigration officials will gladly deport him

@The_Magerow: We @SafaricomLtd si mtetemeshe demarco apate fare ya kurudi kwao.

@droid254: Demarco has joined the race for Makueni senatorial seat….

 @Brabbit_2: #WhyDemarcoIsStillInKE

However, I came across a sober tweet as well;

@dawambui: Ya’ll whats ua problem.if Demarco wants to stay for a month let him be…he aint staying in ua houses.

News reaching our desk is that Langa, the Tanzanian artist who was discovered on the Homeboyz/CocaCola popstars reality show, died today.

 He was taken to Muhimbili hospital in an unconscious state, where he succumbed to his death. 

He was part of the Wakilisha group alongside other members Witness and Sara. I remember how DJ John and the Homeboyz crew had started out by looking for singers, and he was the only rapper allowed to move into the later stages of the competition. They made a special exception for him, because they deemed him to be so good at rapping.

Rest in peace Langa.

Jalang’o has recently been awarded a prize for being the most creative/innovative person at Standard Media Group during the 2nd quarter of 2013.

The award was presented to him because of the creative segments him and co-host Alex Mwakideu introduced on Radio Maisha 102.5 in the morning, including the hilarious “Lipa Deni” & “Hali Halisi.” These segments have brought in massive listenership to Radio Maisha, and the online feedback is has also been crazy.
It’s not always about fun and games though. The major laughs served up have also pulled in new clients to Radio Maisha. Big corporates such as Safaricom, Uchumi and GOTV are advertising because of the listenership Jalas and Mwakideu have brought on board.
Tune in to Radio Maisha in the morning to witness this revolution for yourself.

This will be particularly interesting for avid Capital FM fans more so drive show “The Jam” fans. Your favourite presenter, Cess Mutungi has just had her name embedded on the ‘wall of fame’ after she became the first ever documented Kenyan to have an alcoholic mixed drink named after her.

Jackal News reports that the Imax Bar, on the former 20th Century (now IMAX) building along Mama Ngina Street is selling a cocktail named “Numb Bum from Mrs Cess Mutungi” to its patrons. The cocktail consists a cocktail of Martin Rosso, Myres’s Rum and Baileys.

So next time you are at the bar just ask the waiter for a glass of “Mrs Cess Mutungi”. Meanwhile, find out what Cess has been upto HERE.

Props: Jackal News

Are we living in the end times? This article may just explain why we are living in the last days just before Jesus returns. Now, in a rather bizarre incident, a rogue pastor was sometimes back exposed for doing something that many other rascals calling themselves pastors are doing but goes unnoticed. Anyhow, their days are numbered.

In this particular case however, a crook pastor was busted for sleeping with one of his church members (what’s commonly referred to as Mchungaji kula kondoo wake) in the name of ‘breaking a curse’, thanks to Classic 105’s Ciku Muiruri. So it happened that this lady called in and ask Ciku to assist her bring to book her pastor.

Ciku called the pastor and duped the pastor (by the way Ciku can act, she deserves an Oscar for that, but that’s story for another day) into believing that she is a dejected woman whose husband cannot sire kids but wants one so badly. As expected, the pastor fell for this and in all his greed boldly told Ciku that she was possessed by demons and that doctors can’t help her conceive and so the only way she could get a child was by sleeping with him!

This when the other lady took over; the cornered pastor in trying to save face, started speaking in tongues as he ‘prayed’ for the lady. Let me not spoil further, here’s the audio clip;

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Living up to its word the Sarakasi Trust has been creating platforms for performing artists at the Sarakasi Dome every Friday where fans freely meet and mingle with their favorite artists.

This Friday (Tomorrow) will be no different as DJ Joe Mfalme will be holding it down in a special show dubbed THE MASH UP FRIDAY LIVE which will also feature the amazing Sarakasi Dancers and Dj Sejo!

Doors open at 7PM and drinks cost just 140/= and tots at 100/=. There will be also Ample and secure parking available.

Don’t miss.

The entire week there have been rumours flying around that former Capital FM presenter and Channel O VJ Joey Muthengi was dumped by her boyfriend in public. So we sought to find the truth from Miss Muthangz herself because we knew she hasn’t had a boyfriend for quite some time now.

Laughing off the allegations, Joey says that she has been writing a series of stories on her blog based on reality though not 100% word for word but are some of the experiences she’s had. Thing is though they happened in the past not now.

She added that she writes the mini-stories so that people can relate with. Here’s the post on her Tumblr page that has been causing ripples; (Warning: Long post ahead!)

I arrive at the hospital at about 6:30am. I rushed here as soon as I could. A small part of me tried to think about the reasons why I shouldn’t be jumping at his every beck and call but the other part of me won that argument. I find him sitting in the waiting room with his head in his hands. He doesn’t hear me coming. His hair looks shaggy and his clothes look like they haven’t been changed in at least two days. I’m dressed in an oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants with some of the make-up I wore to the club smeared shamelessly across my face. I take the seat next to him and tell him how sorry I am about his mother. He’s distraught. Without really looking me in the face he says thanks. A few nurses are passing by but its still early and the waiting room is rather quiet. I ask him what room his mother is in and his expression hardens. He says she doesn’t want visitors. So why am I here? I wonder to myself.

We sit in silence for close to an hour when a doctor comes out to speak to him. He tells us to go and get some rest and come back in the afternoon. The doctor says that the preliminary tests have so far come back clean but that they’ll continue running some more just to rule out anything serious. He looks a bit relieved but is still not responsive. I ask him if there’s anything I can do. He ignores me. I tell him if he needs help with the hospital bill I have some savings I’m willing to contribute but he says his family doesn’t need my money. I’m confused. He won’t let me see his mother and he doesn’t want help with the bill. Why did he call me?

He gets up from the chair and begins walking towards the exit. I can tell by his mood that he regrets calling me. Yet he did. And I’m here. But my gut tells me that this is goodbye. I’ve stood by him way too long to be mistreated during my attempts to help. We walk to the parking lot and I ask if he needs a ride home. He says he’ll take a cab. I tell him that I’ll be praying for his mom but he doesn’t seem to hear me. His mind is a million miles away. My attempt to hug him goodbye is met with a head nod as he walks towards where the taxis are parked.

He needs me but won’t separate himself from his ego long enough to want me. So I’m done. I’ve given all I could to him with nothing but a fantasy in return. I walk to my car dejected, wishing the ground would open and swallow me whole.

In the weeks following the hospital visit I make a decision to try my best to move on, again. I’ve been here before and its not a pretty place. But with experience everything becomes routine. Once you’ve had your heart broken several times you become a favored member of heartbreak hotel and no one stops you at the security desk when you drag yourself back in. Their job is to try and keep you occupied with so much static that you have a few moments during the day when you forget the name, smell, and feel of the person who landed you there in the first place.

So like most of us, I return to the only form of therapy I’ve ever felt effective and begin shopping for a new wardrobe with money I don’t have. I call up my hair stylist and tell her I’m ready for a change. A new hairstyle has a way of making you feel like a new woman so I give that a try. I even go to church two Sunday’s in a row. My parents would be so proud of this person that I’m now becoming. The many changes come with a new job, which I kind of enjoy. William would especially be proud of that part of my transformation.

My job seems to be taking off and I’m immersing myself in it as much as I can. Yet there are only so many hours that you can stay occupied in a day. There are still those hours in between the time I open the door to my apartment in the evening and when I leave for work again in the morning. Those hours seem to drag on forever. They’re filled with more loneliness than I have ever experienced because now I’ve lost the fantasy. And when you lose the fantasy it all just becomes menial labor. Everything you do feels stagnant. Comedies on television no longer make you laugh. Food tastes bland. The bed feels colder than usual. All I do in those hours is sit and think of him. I wonder how his mother is feeling but I can’t ask. I hope there’s someone taking care of him but I then again I hope to God its not Veronica and all that ass. I bet she doesn’t know how to cook anyway. I think of the things I’d be doing for him had he just decided to let me in.

A few weeks go by and after allowing me a sufficient amount of time in heartbreak hotel, my friends call me up and invite me to a party. Although I’m in no mood to celebrate, I realize the walls to my bedroom are beginning to cave in on me so I decide to get dressed up and see if a few hours out of the house will cheer me up.

The party is at the house of a friend of a friend. You know the ones you go to carrying a bottle of something just so you look like you were directly invited? It’s in one of those leafy suburbs. A massive residence with a spawning yard and lots of security. I negotiate with the guards to let me in telling them my cab guy is just dropping me off and leaving. Purse and bottle in hand I walk up the stairs and ring the door bell. I spot a DJ set-up through one of the windows and doubt anyone can hear me so I push the door open. People. Lots of people. I’m smiling and trying to act like I belong but I don’t see my friends and I don’t know anyone here. Anyone but him that is.

William is here. Sh*t. In the corner of the living room by the expansive balcony my eyes lock directly with his.  He’s accompanied by a petite young girl who’s sitting on his lap and feeding him shots while he laughs and plays cards with his boys. I’m excruciatingly unaware of how to react to this situation as I hadn’t anticipated it. I wave briefly and mouth ‘hey’ to which he replies with one of his usual head-nods. I walk to the kitchen and place my bottle on the counter next to the dozen others which are much more expensive than what I brought. My hand is doing that shaking thing it does when I’m nervous but I mange to pull out my phone from my purse and dial one of my friends. As if they can hear anything with this noise…

I decide to walk across the room to look for them and end up by where William is seated. The girl on his lap quickly gets up when she see’s me and heads to the balcony. Unsure of whether she knows who I am or not I remain where I am. ‘Yeah, you better run b****’, I think to myself when I see her stand. She looks about 20 years old. Small frame, cheap hair. Probably just another one of those campus girls he likes. I realize he’s now several inches away from me and I start to get flustered. It’s suddenly very hot in here and I catch a glimpse of my brow sweating when I see my reflection in the balcony door. He still hasn’t turned around and seen me. I can still make a run for it.

I clumsily push my way through groups of strangers and luxurious furniture till I find my way to the front door. I walk outside and take a deep breath. I now remember I didn’t drive here. I grab the rail and take a seat on the stairs trying to figure out my next move. That’s when I hear footsteps walking towards me. “Leaving so soon?”. I turn around hoping it would be him. But it’s not. It’s Kevin; William’s friend who I had bumped into at the club a while ago and interrogated over his disappearance. He sits next to me and offers me his jacket, seeing as the short skirt and chiffon blouse I’m wearing were not made for this weather. I drape it over my shoulders and thank him.

He has a drink in his hand, which he offers me. The smell of whiskey turns my stomach a bit but with the night I’m having…I’m going to need something strong. I take a sip, then a gulp. And before I can even utter a word I squint and notice tears coming out of my eyes. “I’m so sorry”, I tell Kevin. “It’s just that I didn’t know your boy would be here”, I say fighting back a waterfall of embarrassment. “Who William?”, he asks. I manage a slight nod. He tells me not to worry about it and that I shouldn’t let anyone stop me from having fun. He says he’s sure that deep down inside William cares for me but he’s always been too much of a wild child to get serious with girls. He tells me I deserve better anyway. He sounds sincere but that still won’t stop the tears. He’s confused. The way men get when women cry and they have no idea what to do.

He offers me more of his drink and I sip it till a calming numbness takes over me. “I really needed that, thanks Kevin”, I say as I glance his way. The next thing I know Kevin leans in and begins to kiss me. My mind immediately goes into a shocked panic; I’m finding it hard to react. It’s been so long since I’ve been with another man that for a brief moment I imagine that the man locked onto my lips is William. But it’s not. And this is wrong. I think I’m tipsy. Why is he doing this? Is this genuine or is he just taking advantage of the situation? My instincts kick back in and I pull myself away, terrified.

I try to stand up only to notice a shadow lurking behind us. He steps into the light. It’s William. He looks at both of us, disgust seeping through his pores. Kevin gets up trying to explain himself but William isn’t hearing it. He’s headed towards the front door and Kevin is chasing him, shouting. I’m frozen on the steps unsure of which way I should run at this point. I find my feet headed towards the house and soon join Kevin in the shouting match. “Its not what It looks like!!” “We were just talking!!” “I’m sorry William!!” “You know I love you”…

William opens the door to the house as if to go in and the blare of the music oozes into the cold night air. He stops dead in his tracks and turns round. Kevin steps back as William viciously takes two steps towards me and points his index finger directly into my face.

“Damn you Joey. You would do this with my boy?? That’s exactly why nobody’s ever gonna wife you up. You crazy bitch!!”.

******Fade to black****

Now you know, separating the wheat from the chaff the Ghafla! way.

I suck at Sheng! No, really, my sheng is atrocious. But there is something about music that transcends language barriers. It speaks to the heart and as they sayeth, music alone may soothe the heart of the beast.

And why am I waxing poetry? Well, because that is the essence of Rap music. Rhythm and Poetry. And back in the day while I was having a torrid time in high school which I hated with every inch of my body, there was a fluttering of life in Kenya’s entertainment scene; the rap pioneers.

Sadly for them, they were way ahead of their time. The likes of the female rhyme slayer L-ness, Judge and Mwafreeka. The underground movement that sprung out of the throbbing artistic veins at WAPI while it was still at the British Council.

But most of these pioneers went silent. They were notreceived well by the then myopic media that only thought foreign music was good. But they are back now. Or atleast Judge is back. And he has an entire album for you!

Judge who was one of the hardest, grittiest and talent rappers out took a hiatus but he’s now back to blessing the mic! He will be releasing his album at Goethe Institute on the 5th of July and he will be bringing his gang of hard sopitting emcees with him.

If you are a true Kenyan hiphop fan, you don’t want to miss this one!

Listen to this awesome track he did while still part of the rap duo “Black Duo” below:

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How time flies! Remember Caroline Mutoko’s little daughter? Well, she’s all grown up now! In her latest photo, the pint-size toddler called Nduku you used to know has now a pretty young girl who doesn’t need so much supervision in the car while the mum is on wheel.

This is little Nduku back in 2011

And now this is her today;

Her mum speaks fondly about her and at one time dedicated her entire column in The Star talking about her and some of the things she had to forego now that the baby was in her life. If I may quote a paragraph of the article;

“My daughter is growing by the day and oh, I’m awed by her every morning, evening and night. Watching a human being grow is the most fascinating thing ever! She’s 11 months now and I keep telling people I want her to stay there. She’s loving and warm and wonderful and the best company in town. However, I must admit that Nduku came into my life to save me from myself.You see the way I view the world and especially money and what I spend it on has changed dramatically and for the better I should hasten to add.” 

Reggae legend Tarrus Riley and Dean Fraser from Jamaica have just arrived in the country. Tarrus and his entourage landed at JKIA this morning and immediately left for his hotel. The “Sorry” singer will hold a press briefing this afternoon at East Land Hotel.

Here are Tarrus Riley and Dean Fraser when he jetted in;

Dean Fraser

Tarrus Rilley with Michael Odhiambo

Tarrus Riley will then make an appearance on Churchill Show. He will be performing this Saturday during the is Big Tunes Festival of Music with this year’s theme being Kenya celebrating 50 years of independence. 

Photos props: Reggae Music Kenya

With the current unemployment rate in Kenya having increased to 40 percent in 2011 from 12.70 percent in 2006 according to KBS, many young people are turning to business ventures to make ends meet. Having realized this, business magnate and owner of Capital FM, Chris Kirubi wants to mentor them on how to be successful in enterprenuership.

Last week Thursday, Kirubi launched a venture called #ASKKIRUBI on Twitter. It’s mostly for the young people to take up and ask questions pertaining to business and entrepreneurship.Last week, he received overwhelming response which came in form of numerous questions that he strived to answer.

Join Kirubi today as well on his Twitter handle and ask all the relevant questions pertaining to business ventures from 10Am through to 1PM. The industrialist has volunteered to give his time and advice in a field he is well versed with.

One half of the Kenyan legendary hiphop duo “Mashifta” called Gwiji has spoken up about his views on the state of the Kenyan entertainment industry and the rappers of today. And I mean leading acts such as Khaligraph Jones, Octopizzo and Camp Mulla, Nick Mutuma (his song was trending for 3 days straight whether or not that was fuelled by haters) and Lethal smallz.

Gwiji spoke about Room 16 rappers whom he said are an irritant as their spend all day on Facebook dissing other artist yet they have absolutely no material worth talking about. Empty talk. All talk and no nads!
He then was asked in the interview by youthtv about his thoughts on Khaligraph Jones and he said that while the lad is indeed skilled, his lyrics ring hollow because they are all about vain chest thumping. And he said that an emcee needs to be the mirror of society but he clarified that he meant no disrespect, he was only saying his opinion.

When asked about Octo, he was happy to talk about him and he was full of praise for the lad which took me aback somewhat because Octopizzo is the lad everyone seems to want to take shots at. Gwiji gave Octo the veteran’s salute and nod of approval.
He also had nothing but praise for Camp Mulla for taking Kenyan hiphop to the international platform but noted that their parents have the financial might to push their material and back them financially.

He then was asked about Smallz Lethal and he anointed him as one of the descendants of Ukoo Flani/MauMau. Nuff sed.

And he said that he suspects that there is some fraudulent transactions at MCSk. Yep, he said that MCSK is corrupt as he doesn’t receive his just dues. But watch the video below to here it from the living legend’s mouth himself:

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Recently when we broke it to you that singer Wahu is heavy with her second child, we also told you to expect a new song from her. Well, true to that, Wahu has has just released a new music video.

Called “For You” the track is a slow love song and has taken after back-in-the day RnB songs. Written and performed by Wahu herself, it was composed by Dennis Ihaji and produced by R Kay.

Here’s the video;

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I stated it here that no matter how good-looking a celebrity is today at some point in their younger days they were an awkward, and sometimes not so cute kid. And you are just about to realize that.

Here’s DJ Creme with his sister in their younger years.

Monday, we woke up to news that Ghetto Radio’s most popular presenter, Mbusii has left the station. However, today we received some shocking revelations that his arrival has caused discomfort among some employees of the radio station who are pointing fingers at the management.

This has prompted Mbusii to comment about the whole thing.

Speaking to Ghafla! via phone Mbusii stated categorically that he did not leave Ghetto Radio because of the cash he was being offered by Radio Africa Group. Acknowledging that even though the offer is more lucrative than the deal at Ghetto Radio, Mbusi insisted that it was not his driving force.

The soft-spoken presenter says that he was looking for growth and Radio Jambo was offering exactly that. He cites wider listenership and freedom as two major things that made him put pen to paper on the deal. Asked about freedom, Mbusii reveals that while at Ghetto Radio, there were stuff he could not do but is at liberty to do them at Radio jambo.

Mbusii will officially go on air on Monday hosting the Drive Show alongside Lion, a former Ghetto Radio presenter as well. This whole week Mbusii has been piecing up his playlist in preparation for the show next week.

The two have been offered a 5-year contract renewable on satisfactory performance in terms of listernship numbers. For now, the two are optimistic that they will get new fans now that Radio Jambo is giving them a platform to go national.

Kenyan dancehall whiz kid is back with another fast! After dropping his latest single with Jamaican songstress Alaine, ‘Nakupenda Pia’, yesterday, Wyre has just released the video of the single.

Though shot on location in Jamaica, the video brings out a Kenyan feel; from the chorus in which Alaine sings in Swahili to a Maasai warrior on the streets of Kingston. Enough said, to be video;

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Big up to Manuel of Spice Magazine for the heads-up.