Archive for the ‘Artiste Profile’ Category
Wednesday, November 7th, 2007 |
While Mbare gave birth to some of Zimbabwe’s greatest township musicians, Highfield nurtured musicians who experimented with various genres.
It was from Highfield where the Great Sounds, the Acid Band, the Harare Mambos, the Black Spirits, the Blacks Unlimited, Bhundu Boys and many others were formed. It was from Highfield where Pius Makokowe, one of the founders of the Great Sounds and the Acid Band hailed. Makokowe was asked by Elias Banda to join him after he and Grant Ndowa, Moses Kabubi, who now plays for Summer Breeze, the late Jethro Shasha, Daram Karanga as well as Eliah Chimwala had split from the Thomas Mapfumo-led Springfields in 1969.
The Springfields had a contract with Mutanga Club in Highfield but the group had poor instruments, which resulted in the club owners targeting them for eviction. Mapfumo spoke to the late broadcaster Dominic Mandizha who supplied the group with new kit but when the club realised that Mandizha was being paid more, they hatched a plan to ditch him.
Banda felt it was not professional and he approached Mandizha with the news but promised him that he would form a new group if given the kit. The Springfields split with Banda taking along five members to form the Great Sounds that became one of Zimbabwe’s most celebrated rhumba groups with its hit songs such as Koni, Anopenga Anewaya and Wotopfuhwira, which is the signature tune on the radio programme Chakafukidza Dzimba Matenga.
“These songs were composed by all the members. An idea was brought up and each member would contribute in shaping up the idea into a song,” said Makokowe, who is a retired soldier.
Makokowe said he was spotted by Banda at Highfield Community School playing a guitar and was invited to be part of the original group.
The group set base at Cyril Jennings Hall for rehearsals but toured the country before the then Salisbury Municipality contracted the group to play at Vito Tavern in Mbare. From Vito Tavern, the group set another base at El Morocco (now Livewire) after the OK Success had gone on a tour of Zambia. Karanga left to join the OK Success and Makokowe too left and teamed up with his brother Charles, Noah Mbirimi, Charles Makokowe, the late Albert Gweshe and the late James Chimombe to form the Acid Band in 1973.
The group was then contracted to play at Tsimba Hotel in Rusape where it stayed for two years before relocating to Harare where it set base at Mutanga Club in 1975.
At the time, Mapfumo had returned to Harare from Mhangura Mine where he had played with the Hallelujah Chicken Run Band.
“Thomas (Mapfumo) used to come in the early hours of the morning and ask us to let him sing. We gladly gave him the platform to do so,” remembers Makokowe who later left to join the late Safirio “Mukadota” Madzikatire. “I wanted something different and in Mukadota I saw an opportunity to be part of the sketches. We toured the country and when the Real Sounds of Africa came, I joined them because they wanted a guitarist who could play pop music,” says Makokowe.
The group had a contract with Nyamanhindi Hotel in Mutare where Cabs later employed Makokowe as a ledgers clerk. When the war heated up, Makokowe was conscripted into the Rhodesian army where he served as a medic and at Independence, he was drafted into the Zimbabwe National Army until 1994 when he retired into farming.
During his time in the army, Makokowe linked up with the army band called Amagigo and undertook studies of theory and practice in guitar as well as music theory. In 1996, Makokowe returned to mainstream music by forming the Shocks Band, which played at New Royal Hotel in Bulawayo. With him in the group were Zexie Gwaze, Joyce Nkomo, Charles Mutanga, Bee Chiradza and Harry Gwaze.
“In fact, the guys who later formed the Cool Crooners started with us. They came to play and we would back them,” says the 56-year-old Makokowe.
Although he is retired, Makokowe is planing to work with the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe in developmental project aligned to music.
Via The Herald
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Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 |
The new diva of South African music, the remarkable Simphiwe Dana brings her slick, joyful and energetic mix of African rhythms, jazz and choral music to the heart of London at the London Jazz Festival at the Pigalle Club on the 19th of November.
Liezl Maclean
Born in the Transkei, Eastern Cape, her name means ‘gift’ and many of her fans would agree that she is just that, a gift to the South African music scene. In a short period of time this “soul sista” has become one of South Africa’s favourite daughters. Her music has a fresh sound and her unique voice complements it perfectly.
Dana entered South African music mainstream in 2004 with her debut album Zandisile. Notching up numerous live appearances in the new millennium with her outspoken views and unique dress sense, it was her debut album that earned her a South African music award for “Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best Newcomer”. After the debut comes follow-up album The One Love Movement On Bantu Biko Street.
It may sound cliché, because it has been said of so many female vocalists that come on to the scene these days, that they sound so much like the young Miriam Makebas and Dorothy Masukus, but Dana’s voice does transport you to that golden era in South Africa’s history.
On first listen, One Love sounds strikingly familiar. Just like Zandisile, it makes a great deal of contrasting Dana’s lulling tones and rich, sonorous choruses with flicks of streetwise, savvy jazz. Using nothing but her voice as her instrument of composition, Dana has found a unique way of writing material and a formula that works for her.
Being inspired by life her music is mostly influenced by what is going on in people’s daily lives. Her songs deal with issues such as politics, love and family. The political title opens up a sense of hope with regards to the struggle that the oppressed have dealt with in South Africa. ‘Bantu Biko Street is the only street paved with our hopes and dreams, our golden highway that must first exist in our minds,’ she says.
Dana’s music draws strongly on her upbringing in the Transkei, and she sites the powerful singing of her mother as an inspiration for her and her siblings, and ultimately as a key motivator in her resolve to pursue her musical career.
Dana’s father was a preacher who also had a profound love for church choral music. Dana says religion and gospel music have played a paramount role in both her spiritual life and the secular one. The only way to be closer to God is through music, she says. One love, however, is not just gospel. Traditional African sounds, jazz and choral music all fuse together in this CD.
Exceptional visual styling has brought Dana as much attention as her music has. Inspired by the fashion of China, futuristic elements from Outer Space and various other unconventional sources, her dress sense is something that only she can pull off. She is fast becoming a fashion icon in South Africa, with an evolving style which is incomparable and difficult to pin down.
Honest, humble, strong and heartfelt in every way, her songs are monuments, standing tall in the face of flash-in-the-pan trends and musical genres. Dana’s strength comes through strongest when on stage and performing. Prepare yourself for a dynamic performer and original singer who follows her own musical instinct and whose live show is a must see event destined to blow audiences away. Modern African Soul, indeed.
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Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 |
DURING HIS CONCERT AT the Kampala Serena Hotel recently, South African jazz maestro Jonathan Butler, strummed his guitar with abundant energy. It was a show worth of his reputation that when he declared, and declared: “Tonight is a celebration and harmony,” nobody could argue.
His repertoire of hits included Pata Pata, Take Good Care Of Me, This Is Love, Mandela Bay, 7th Avenue and Sing Me Your Love Song.
The performance in Kampala was testimony to the fact that Butler has finally come of age. He started his stage career as a child variety show performer who travelled across South Africa. He managed to ply his trade despite the horrors of apartheid. All he needed was food on the table.
As a young musician, his career was full of contradictions. He would perform at lavish concert halls for Whites-only audiences but was not even allowed to use the bathroom. The very next night he would perform in a deprived Black township, where his own safety would be in doubt.
Born on October 10, 1961 and raised in Cape Town during apartheid, Butler started singing and playing the acoustic guitar quite early in life.
Racial segregation and poverty in the black community during apartheid has been the subject of many of his recordings. His first single, the first by a black artist ever played on white radio stations in the racially segregated South Africa, earned him a Sarie Award, South Africa ‘s equivalent of the Grammys.
“I express love and peace and Africa possesses all these things. Just because a country is poor doesn’t mean it’s poor in spirit. We are rich in spirit. I talk about issues that I see everyday,” Butler said.
Butler, the youngest in a family of 17, began singing publicly in many of the South African townships ravaged and brutalised by apartheid in the late 1960’s.
He first joined his brother Danny’s group, The Golden City Dixies, when he was seven and travelled with them for three years. When the Dixies took a year off from performing, he established a new group with another brother Paul. He later joined a new band, Freedom, and was soon approached by record company Bullet Records to launch a solo career.
By 1978 he was playing with Pacific Express and for a short while he had his own jazz-rock band called The Butler. Two albums were recorded with the Express personnel, and some Pacific Express songs were later released on the 1988 7th Avenue album.
MUSIC MAY HAVE GIVEN him the means to escape from the clutches of apartheid, but time has given him a perspective on his past, and brought him back to Cape Town.
Butler has returned to South Africa on numerous occasions, leading humanitarian and charity efforts for the less fortunate. He also serves on the board of directors of the Acres of Love, a South African non-profit organisation that cares for abandoned, HIV positive infants and children. He performs at numerous benefit concerts for the charity organisation, including the Third Annual Sunset Serenade.
But why did he leave his homeland? “I left because it was God’s plan for my life. I don’t regret it because it was important to bring the spirit of excellence back to the country,” he said.
“I came to the West seeking artistic freedom to express myself,” he added. “While my albums have always offered vocal cuts and instrumentals, for me it was never about creating music for a particular type of audience, but about surrendering to the will of the music and just letting it flow through me, whichever direction it may go.”
Butler says Brazilian music was his biggest influence when he was growing. He wanted to match all its flavours and end up with a sound that is uniquely his.
Before coming for the Ugandan concert, he had given six performances in the US, just in September alone. The curtain raiser for the Butler show was The Aids Support Organisation (Taso) Kids followed by Uganda’s saxophonist, Isaiah Katumwa, and guitarist Maurice Kirya.
Proceeds of the concert will go towards starting an Education Trust Fund to support over 300 Taso orphans currently sponsored by Celtel Uganda staff. Celtel Uganda partnered with Kenya Airways, Kampala Serena and Kfm to sponsor the concert.
“We are proud of Butler’s great achievements in music, which we would like share with Uganda,” said Cesear Mloka, Celtel marketing director.
Taso was founded in 1987 and is today the largest local NGO providing HIV and Aids services in Uganda, having supported over 150,000 children since its inception.
One of Butler’s tracks, Mandela Bay, is a lively instrumental tribute to the legacy of Nelson Mandela. The song exudes optimism — the joy of liberation, the celebration of life.
At 13, Butler’s talents caught the attention of British record producer, Clive Caulder of Jive Records, who eventually signed him on. Jive was headquartered in England, so Butler decided to move to the UK to focus on his recording career for the next 17 years.
He married Barenese Beaton on February 19, 1983. He now resides in Los Angeles.
HIS INTERNATIONAL BRE- akthrough came in 1987 with his Grammy nominated pop single Lies off his self-titled debut album. An instrumental, Going Home, earned him a Grammy nomination as well.
His version of the Staple Singers song If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me), off the Going Home album, which he performed with Ruby Turner introduced him to international audiences as an established singer-songwriter and guitarist.
His music is classified as R&B, jazz fusion or smooth jazz, Christian and tropical.
Being nominated for the Grammy’s once is wonderful but twice means a lot to the musician.
“It means that my peers recognise me and they accept me not as a South African but as an artist,” he said.
His records include: Introducing Jonathan Butler (Jive Records, 1985), Jonathan Butler (1987), Inspirations (1987), 7th Avenue (Mountain Records, 1988), More Than Friends (1988), More Than Friends (1990), Heal Our Land (1990), Best of Jonathan Butler (1993), Gospel Days (Mountain Records, 1993), Head To Head (1994), Do You Love Me? (1997), Story Of Life (1999), The Source (2000), Surrender (Warner Brothers, 2003), Ultimate Butler (2002), Worship Project (2004), Jonathan (2005), Gospel Goes Classical (2006) (with Juanita Bynum), Going Home and Brand New Day (2007).
Butler’s ability to blend his roots in African music with Western pop sensibilities was a trademark of many albums, though never more refined than in his latest release. For example, the first single from his latest album is a rendition of the folk-rock classic Fire and Rain. He breathes new life into this classic, infusing the vocals with intensity, as subtle as it is powerful. The musical arrangement is lively and soulful.
With a career spanning 28 years, 15 albums and over one million records sold, Butler is undeniably one of the most successful jazz musicians of his generation. However, this he disputes, success is measured on a higher plane, he says.
A religious and spiritual man, Butler has devoted his life to being a better husband to his wife of 20 years, a better father to his three teenage children, and a better citizen of his homeland, South Africa.
He is an inspiration to many and acknowledges the challenges of growing up in a nation still recovering from decades of subjugation, but believes in the potential of his people to overcome. He is a product of the stage.
From his early days as an entertainer in South Africa to his numerous world tours, one thing is for certain; he is meant to perform.
Being an idol to many up-coming musicians his advice to them is: “To the young musicians I say practice.”
By BAMUTURAKI MUSINGUZI
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Saturday, October 27th, 2007 |
The songbird will celebrate 10 years in the music industry in a concert at Kati Kati this evening. She took us through her musical journey and her future prospects….
It is two years since her last hit, Nabikoowa but when she dropped Kibaluma, it was worth the long wait. When asked how she felt about her comeback, she perfectly put it; “It was like being reborn! The fact that I had taken cover, coming back with a new album made me feel new.”
Without mincing words, Juliana Kanyomozi is back to reclaim her place as Uganda’s top female artiste, an accolade she once held. And she will be unveiling what she has been preparing for the last two years at a concert dubbed Kibaluma- Unleashed at Kati Kati Restaurant at Lugogo By-Pass.
At the concert - sponsored by Club beer and MTN- the songbird will unveil her nine-track album. Coincidentally, this concert is on, only a week to the Pearl of Africa Music (Pam) awards gala night that takes place next Saturday. She stands a chance to walk home with awards in the Best Gospel Single, Video of the Year, Best Rn’ B artiste/Group and Best Female artiste categories.
Kanyimbe, her gospel track tells a thing or two about her long kept detonations on the negative publicity she has suffered in her career. The video scores with her borrowing from her icon Whitney Houston, putting up a good stage performance with choir back up.
Kanyimbe has sunk deep down in many people’s hearts due to its lyrical content captured from daily experiences. Juliana reveals that Kanyimbe is a tell-all about some of the experiences she has gone through.
“It is about experiences I have come across. As a child, I saw people stab their own (friends) in the back. Personally I haven’t got here easily. I have had my huddles. I have experienced it all. However, I take it as an experience. Bad experiences make me strong, they keep me going,” she says.
Kanyimbe fades into Kibaluma, in which she hits at the cynics who have tried hard to bring her down. Kibaluma has become an overnight anthem on FM stations as it brings out the callous habits of people who don’t wish others well.
She resonates into Malaika Wange, a reason for lovers to pick the C.D off the shelf. It is a love ballad of assurance, which will most likely earn her airplay during the Valentine season, come next February.
The 26-year-old diva finds her roots in Enkwanzi Yange, for some footwork dance, blended with local instrumentation. Henry Kiwuwa and Romeo Akiiki did the production work to the track. Enkwanzi Yange, her pride of heritage, is a folk song from Toro.
In Mundeke, she assures us that she is no longer searching and tells of her newfound love. On the contrary, she keeps you guessing in Nkyanoonya in which she shares her mental pictures of her ideal soul mate. Other songs on the album include Tomboowa Mukwano, Wesigame Kunze and Yiga Empisa.
Juliana is also working on collaborations with the likes of Kenya’s Nameless and Tanzania’s Bushoke, which will probably guarantee her a musical entry into Kenya and Tanzania. Also on her to do list is her entry into the Ugandan movie industry.
She ends speculation by the rumourmill. She says she will be starring in scribe Henry Ssali’s forth coming film, Kiwani: The Movie, in which she’s expected to take on a major role. It is something she has wanted to do for long.
“It is more of an adventure for me. It’s something that came up abruptly. Somehow I bumped into someone who had a brilliant movie idea coming out. I have never acted before and I can’t wait to try. I have always wanted to act. If I try and I like it, I’ll continue acting,” she says.
On the other hand, the tabloids have had a field day speculating on the men in the diva’s life, particularly her affair with international boxer Kassim Ouma. It was said that she went on to change religion - becoming Jalia, a Muslim. Well, she comes clean about her private life.
“When you meet someone, it doesn’t mean you are going to suddenly change everything about you. Changing one’s religion is not a simple thing anyone can just do. It would take a lot of convincing to change my name. I am still Juliana. Even Kassim calls me Juliana,” the artiste who thinks people make something big out of something that’s meant to be personal and would prefer they kept to her career, added.
Juliana who is inspired by divas like Whitney Houston, Black Box and Madonna has big plans of staging major shows in her home area (Toro). For now she prefers to keep most her future plans under wraps. She wants it to be a surprise and is focusing all her energies on this evening’s launch.
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Friday, October 5th, 2007 |
IN hip-hop music, there is no such thing as upcoming. You are either there or you die trying. For that reason, there are not many finished hip-hop products to brag about locally.
However, one artiste who is fast on the track to becoming one of Uganda’s few hip-hop finished products is multi-faceted GNL Zamba (Ernest Nsimbi).
At 24, GNL is a respected lyricist among Ugandan hip-hop loving audiences and critics alike; his forte being his ability to fuse his native Luganda with English to express himself, while still making sense.
Zamba, whose initials GNL are drawn from the Aztec civilisation meaning, “At the highest degree of self-expression, you achieve Greatness of No Limits” is one who loves philosophy.
It is apparent in his songs, Ekikufuula Omusajja (What makes you a man) and Luka taken off his six-track Koyi Koyi (Riddles of life) album. In the first song, he argues that patience and perseverance make a man. He further argues that in life, there is nothing like a poor man.
He views complaining about poverty as a sign of laziness which he strongly despises.
A songwriter and poet with a desire to get into the feature film industry; Zamba also adopts a signature poetic style in Luka, where he employs rich imagery and rhyme.
The keen critic will, however, point out that in Luka; Zamba tries hard to rhyme without as much as sounding meaningful in the protracted message.
Where Luka and Ekikufuula Omusajja are better listened to, Go Get ‘Em, a collabo with Papito from (Klear Kut), sounds belligerent.
Zamba sings about deeds of valour, borrowing the characters of Solomon and Samson from the bible. This is a song that will get you grooving on the dance floor.
“Zamba expresses African pride and love for African culture in his carefully woven stories. His lyrics are not only humourous, but they also evoke social consciousness and the spirit of Pan-Africanism,” producer Sam Lamawa of Roota Records says.
Besides featuring on the hip hop all stars’ Mother Africa hit, he has emerged the best free style rapper in Kampala, performed on the hip-hop canvass project, (music and message) and had a hand in a song about modern slavery with Klear Kut, Sylvester and Abramz, Emma Katya and Lyrical G, which will be released soon.
[Via New Vision]
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Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 |
THE Congolese rhumba group Diamond Musica died a little each time the outfit released a new album.
About 10 years ago, Diamond Musica, who originated from the Democratic Republic of Congo, came to Zimbabwe, fell in love with the country and fans and decided to stay put. After a while, they recruited local musicians to widen their music’s appeal.
Although Diamond Musica faced stiff competition from the likes of Bana Des As, College Musica and New Stars Musica, the group enjoyed unprecedented popularity.
Comprised of Jacko Pirence, Suncet Lofaba, Tipo Tipo, Rams Mambo, Bao Mokonzi, Tina Titanic, Cecilia Meteo, Kamuke Sukula, Shoushuna Econet 091, Lipati Zabwadi, Depitshou, Allan Mulumba Kashama, Lyva Hasson and Alyston Angay Shaka Zulu and Aripage, the group was founded in Kinshasa (then Zaire) in 1996.
Like other groups before them, Diamond Musica played in Nairobi before finding their way to Zimbabwe where they recorded their debut album in 1998.
In subsequent years, Diamond Musica became a regular fixture at several festivals including the popular Jenaguru Arts Festival at Gwanzura Stadium where the song Amaule was a hit. In 2002 a second album, This is Good, that carried songs in Lingala, Shona, Swahili and French hit the streets.
The plug song was Shumba Inogara Yega Musango and remixes of Sina Makosa, the 1979 classic by Les Wanyika, whose band members were drawn from Kenya and Tanzania.
A year later the group was invited to play at the Standard Bank Jazz Festival in South Africa before recording a third album titled Prisons.
But for all its fame and scintillating performances, Diamond Musica resembled a tablet of soap that withers away with each bath.
Just after its debut album, Tipo Tipo, Pirence and Lofaba decided to go their own way and formed Diamond Madowadowa and in 2002 Mambo and Mokonzi left to form College Musica which recorded One Kilometre Peg and Nyiragongo.
Two years later, dancers Titanic, Meteo and Sukula left for Zambia a few months before Depitshou relocated to South Africa where he remains to this day.
In 2005 Kashama retraced his footsteps to Kenya leaving Shaka Zulu, Hasson, Aripage and others in the group but even though they were committed to soldier on, Shaka Zulu’s departure killed their hopes.
The rest of the diamonds are still in the country trying hard to rediscover the glitter that made them a household name.
[Via The Herald]
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Monday, October 1st, 2007 |
Thierno Gaye , a young Senegambian mbalax star has bounced back once again as he prepares to drop his fourth album in the music market very soon. In this album he dedicates a song for President Jammeh breakthrough in the cure of HIV/AIDS. The young talented artist started his career at the age of 16 with Canal de Cayor band of Youssou N’Dure.
Eight months later he joined the Senegalese Army Band called Asfa. In 1987, he went on first tour with his Finish friends to Ivory Coast and Finland.In an Interview with What’s On, the young sprouting talented musician said his inspiration came through his achietectural drawings which he used to extract his songs during his childhood, adding that he joined Abdul Kabir (Lai Ngum) in 1988 , who trained him during their nationwide musical tour.
Mr Gaye further revealed that he travelled to Holland in 1989, and Upon his return he formed his Band in 1992, he then recorded and released his first debut album entitled Mbisin which comprises six tracks. This young melodious singer first album earned him a good market in his music industry and further gave him the courage to release his second album in 1994.
” my first clip was shot at the Senegambia Beach Hotel in 1995 and sponsored by Gamtel, Pa Njie of globe Travel Agency, Sanna Jaiteh and Thierno Domino. Though my third Album was not so good as expected and had to stop the trade for sometime,” he revealed.
“President Jammeh is a great man who has done a lot in the socio-economic development of this country,” he commended.
The young Senegambian Mbalax star further pledged to stage a special live concert for President Jammeh at the July Square as a show of appreciation and support President Jammeh rendered to him. He finally urged Gambian business tycoons to support Gambian artists to display their talents.
[Via The Daily Observer]
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Monday, October 1st, 2007 |
After going missing from the action for close to one year, what fans expected from Okomfo Kwadee was yet another album of music full of stories told through his trademark powerful traditional lyrics.
But no, when Kwadee re-surfaced it was on the wings of a bizarre story of drug addiction and subsequent mental illness followed by denials from Kwadee`s managers and family. His fans waited.
However, few weeks ago, Kwadee was back in the news not with a new album but with a confession that indeed he had suffered drug addiction, proclaiming the healing powers of Christ and admonishing the devil to go far away from him.
Kwadee, who says he has been healed of his drug addiction through the cleansing of the blood of Jesus, declared that he will steer clear of drugs.
Following this confession, deep throat sources close to the Kwadee camp have hinted GO that he (Kwadee) is currently working on a new album in the studio and will soon come out more ever than before.
Declining to comment further, the sources confided in GO that the new album of Kwadee will be as surprising as the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Okomfo Kwadee, who could be best be described as a story teller in the hiplife industry, was born Jerry Anaba.
He came onto the Ghanaian music scene about six years ago when he released his debut Kwadee. He wooed music lovers with his story-telling style while using powerful and traditional lyrics.
Okomfoo Kwadee who hails from Navrongo in the Upper East Region, attended Martyrs of Uganda Preparatory School in Kumasi after which he proceeded to Navrongo Secondary School.
Okomfoo has since birth dreamt of becoming a musician. His dreams came to reality when he was discovered by Vybetown Records, a subsidiary of Vybetown Entertainment Consult, an entertainment consultancy based in Kumasi.
He has four albums to his credit- Kwaadee, Metoaso, Okomfo Se Koo and Nsem Pi.
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Saturday, September 22nd, 2007 |
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
Check out his page on Myspace
