Artist Profile: Jua Cali
Jua Cali is one of the few established local artistes who represent the true Kenyan sound, appeal and image on the world stage, yet he is humble and, unlike most musicians who have made it, he is hungry to climb up a few more rungs on the career ladder.
Jua Cali has dominated the Kenyan music scene over the past two years and continues to attract more music fans across Africa and the rest of the world.
He has won four major awards this year, starting with the Chaguo La Teeniez (CHAT) and then following it up with last week’s Kisima from which he took home the Boomba male of the year and best male artiste trophies. But this came as no surprise to many music observers.
Besides being talented, he a commercial success, thanks to his appeal to the young and the not-so-young alike. For instance, he became Kenya’s first artiste to get an endorsement deal when he recently signed a reported Sh1-million-a-year deal mobile phone giant Motorola for its W model.
And, according to the company, he is quite a catch. ” Jua Cali is part of the Motorola family, and we are honoured to have worked with him in the recent past,” says Joanne Doyle, the marketing manager for East Africa.
“He has been a great ambassador and, like Motorola, he is all about creativity, style and substance, so we could not be happier that his hard work has been recognised at the prestigious Kisima awards.”
The artiste has also been involved in major advertisements such as Protex bath soap and Pilsner beer, and the deals have raked in big cash.
“I am very happy that corporate oganisations have started to recognise the role we artistes play in Kenya, and they have seen that working with us also sells their brand among the youth,” says Jua Cali.
“They called me one day, told me about the deal and we met and agreed on what I was meant to do, and the rest, as they say, is history,” the musician adds.
His appeal, music and character have endeared him to millions of people across the country and beyond, and it is without doubt that he has been the greatest local artiste in the past two years.
The “hotness” of an artiste is not measured by the number of record copies he sells in Kenya but, rather, the impact the song has on the local scene and the coverage he gets from the Press, he says. Awards also mean little in Kenya and even if Jua Cali had not won one, fans would still flock to his shows, sing all his songs word by word and still rate him as high.
Jua Cali, despite having a dozen hits to his credit, released his debut album only about two years ago, but he kept it on the low and many of his fans do not know about it.
“I’m actually releasing my second album in December, and I can understand if people get shocked when they hear I’m about to do this,” he says.
“Jua Cali Sekta was released almost two years ago, but I did not hype although it still pushed many units, and I still get distributors asking for more.”.
Born Paul Nunda on September 12, 1979, Jua Cali started rapping in high school, and decided to pursue it as a career after school.
“I was at Jamhuri high school (in Nairobi), but I was not that actively involved in music until I finished school in 1998. Then I hooked up with Clemo, my childhood friend, and started Calif Records two years later,” he recalls.
The rapper then stormed the music world with a new sound he called genge (masses). He was first meant to be a producer with Clemo and at the same time act as the studio artiste, but they did not seem to hold artistes for long and so everybody around him started pressuring him to start rapping.
“We hooked up with a few guys, but things did not work out because they did not have faith in us and I soon bowed to the pressure and started rapping. This is when the I got the name Jua Cali, referring to the city neighbourhood where I’d gown up,” he says. The name means “know California”, the area where he was born and brought up at Eastleigh estate, and Jua Cali says he wanted people to know more about the place.
He released his first single, Ruka, which surprisingly went straight to the top of the charts signalling a new sound different from the kapuka that had dominated the airwaves, courtesy of Ogopa Deejays.
With the success of this single, Jua Cali did soon released a follow-up single, Nipe Asali, which also topped the charts. With the latter hit single he made it known to all and sundry that he was not a one-hit wonder, and that he was determined to rule the local music scene.
He decided to let the songs dominate the airwaves until 2003. Then when it was clear that Kenyans had embraced his new style, he released the third single, Nikipotea Tena, which, according to Jua Cali on his myspace.com webpage, has “blown up like nitro.”
At the same time, Jua Cali met an upcoming musician who wanted the artiste to help him to grow, and so he signed him up to Calif Records and almost immediately, Pilipili was a household name, especially after he collaborated with Jua Cali in the song, Kamata Dame, which took the country by storm.
Thus Pilipili was launched, and Calif Records began showing its first signs of growth.
From then and with song after song, Jua Cali and Calif Records have continued to dominate the music scene, launching artistes such as Nonini, Jimwat, Lady S (now late), Choku, Rat-at-at, Flexx and Bishop - now all big names on the Kenyan music scene.
Jua Cali says the Kenyan music has grown tremendously, although he is quick to add that there is still big room for growth. In the next few years, Kenyan artistes will be major players on the international scene, adding that they already on their way.
He says Jimwat is one the artiste Kenyans need to watch, arguing that the young rapper has a lot of potential that he is yet to release and, having worked closely with him, he should know.
Jua Cali says he will continue with his music career before eventually venturing into full-time production and scouting for more talent.
“We are in the process of shooting a short film on Calif and what it is like growing up and living there,” he says of his immediate plans.
“And it will be out maybe next year; that is another route that I am exploring.”
Jua Cali is in the UK for the Mobo awards ceremony.
Source: Nation Media
