King Kanja Releases New Music

King Kanja

THE multi-talented Kenyan artiste, King Kanja, has released a new single titled Cathy featuring the soulful Ava Lov and Big T.


This comes right after his successful showcase at 2016 SXSX (South by South West) festival in Austin, Texas. The harmonious and melodic song is an ode to inspiring young women to keep at success and focus.

It was produced by Grammy-nominated hip hop and R&B producer, Chucky Thompson, who also produced One Mic by Nas, among other hit records.

King Kanja says, “I love Cathy because of the message. To my Africans and East Africans, I want you to know I ride hard for Africa and especially at home in Kenya, the 254. The song is inspired by Cathy Hughes, founder of Radio One, who I met and worked with through his mentor, the late Tony Washington.”

The video wasdirected by 1ST Impressions was shot in Miami, Florida. Cathy shows the musical and personal growth of King Kanja and working with Chucky reinforced his growth as a recording artiste.

Macha Talanta Festival Targets Young Talents

THE Macha Talanta Festival, a new talent search event, is aiming at identifying and nurturing varied young talents.

The festival, to be held on March 27 at the Machakos People's Park, is a collaborative community-based initiative between the county government of Machakos and record house T-Sound Records. 


Says MC Ndama from Machawood: “We came together in this project with a primary aim of identifying and groom young talents in music, dance, spoken word and modeling. We these talents to grow so that they can help eradicating poverty among our communities. We want them to be independent through bringing meaningful benefits out of their many talents.” 

At the talent search show, winners and participants will be awarded with recording deals at T-Sound Records and certificates among other goodies.

Sauti Sol Release Collabo Video With Ali Kiba

EAST African music giants, the award winning acts, Sauti Sol (Kenya) and Ali Kiba (Tanzania) have released the new single/video titled Unconditionally Bae. 

Sauti Sol.

The song is poised to unite fans across East Africa and Africa at large, through dance and its strong message. The video has a surprise twist that will get fans excited. It's a danceable love ballad. In the song Sauti Sol and Ali Kiba sing about the difficulty of finding love in the modern day world. 

Shot in Kenya’s beautiful North Coast of Mombasa at the English Point Marina, the official video was shot by the South African video director Justin Campos of Gorilla Films. The song was written by Sauti Sol and Ali Kiba, and produced by Sauti Sol.

Ali Kiba. Photo: I-View Studios

Sauti Sol said in a statement: “We are thrilled to release this song. Our fans have been waiting for it, even demanding it, and it's time to honour that. Africa, we hope you love our first collaboration with Ali Kiba as much as we do. Ali Kiba is a legend and we are honoured to work with him.”

Ali Kiba said, “From the first time I met Sauti Sol I knew I had to work with them. I admire their style and I found that they loved mine too. It was so much fun and seamless working on this project. My Bongo family and fans across Africa, we present this to you.”

Watch the video here...

 

Lizz and Alex Konstantaras Celebrate Son Hitting One-Month-Old

STAR Kenyan actress Lizz Njagah's son, Apolo, is one-month-old.

Lizz and Alex.

This is the message she shared with the world, as she and hubby Alex Konstantaras, celebrated their first born baby hitting the one-month-old mark.

Baby Apolo.

The photo above of the adorable little boy accompanied Lizz's post on Facebook where she wrote: "My very baby (Alex coined this phrase and I just love it) just turned one month old. The joy he has brought into our lives is beyond measure. I'm awake most of the time while he sleeps just staring at him. (Kinda explains why I am exhausted all the time. LOL) We thank God every day for you, our greatest gift. ‪#‎mommylovesyou‬ ‪#‎daddylovesyou‬ ‪#‎GodBlessYouMyLittleOne‬ ‪#‎HappyOneMonthBirthday‬ ‪#‎MommyToThisLittleAngel‬ ‪#‎YiorgosApolo‬"

Forbes Rates Dangote Richer Than Trump, Abramovich, Oprah Put Together

ALIKO Dangote, president of Dangote Group, is now richer than Donald Trump, Republican front runner; Roman Abramovich, owner of Chealsea FC and Oprah Winfrey, the richest black woman, put together.

Aliko Dangote

Dangote, who came in at the 51st position of the 2016 ranking by Forbes Magazine, is also richer than the combination of all other Nigerians who made the list.

Despite losing $300 million from $15.7 billion (N3.1 trillion) to about $15.4 billion, (N3.05 trillion) in the latest rankings, Dangote remains the richest black billionaire anywhere on the planet.

At $15.4 billion, the 58-year-old is richer than Abramovich ($7.6 billion), Oprah ($6.2 billion) and Trump $4.5 billion.

The Nigerians who made the list are Mike Adenuga ($10 billion), Femi Otedola ($1.8 billion), Folorunsho Alakija ($1.6 billion) and Abdulsamad Rabiu ($1.1 billion), who came in at 103, 1,011, 1,121 and 1,577 respectively.

Bill Gates remains the richest person in the world with a net worth of $75 billion, “despite being $4.2 billion poorer than a year ago. He has been No. 1 one for 3 years in a row and topped the list 17 out of 22 years”.

Amancio Ortega moves up to the second spot for the first time, displacing Mexico’s Carlos Slim, who slips number four, while Warren Buffett remained steady in third position.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg had the best year of all billionaires, the 31-year-old adding $11.2 billion to his fortune and moved up 10 places from 16 to the sixth spot.

The global economic volatility and plunge in commodity prices also affected the billionaires’ list, as the 16 billionaires fell of the list.

“Volatile stock markets, cratering oil prices and a stronger dollar led to a dynamic reshuffling of wealth around the globe and a drop in ten-figure fortunes for the first time since 2009,” Forbes said.

“For our 30th annual guide to the world’s richest, we found 1,810 billionaires, down from a record 1,826 a year ago. Their aggregate net worth was $6.48 trillion, $570 billion less than last year.

“It was also the first time since 2010 that the average net worth of a billionaire dropped – it is now $3.6 billion, $300 million less than last year.”

Alakija was negatively affected by the fall in oil prices, while Dangote took a hit due to a fall in the Nigerian currency, naira.

“Her first company was a fashion label that catered to Nigeria’s elite women, including the wife of former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, who awarded Alakija’s company an oil prospecting license. Alakija’s net worth has fallen in the past year as a result of lower oil prices,” Forbes said.

As Africa’s largest cement producer, Dangote owns about 90 percent of publicly-traded Dangote Cement through a holding company, a percentage that exceeds the 80 percent ownership ceiling set by the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

In 2015, Dangote and 61 others were richer than 3.5 billion people around the world.

Credits: www.thecable.ng

Watch Octopizzo's Brand New Video, PREZIDENTIAL, Here

THIS video for Octo's latest single, Prezidential, was officially released today in Nairobi as the Namba Nane rapper celebrated eight long years in music business.
Watch it here...

The Sawasawa Festival Is On Again!

THE annual Sawasawa Festival is going down on March 18&19 at the Sarakasi Dome.
Great music, great interactions, HUGE benefits!

Aloe Blacc To Perform In Nairobi This April

ALOE Blacc, the American soul artist, vocalist, songwriter, actor, record producer, businessman and musician, will be in Nairobi in a month's time. 

Aloe Blacc

Blacc, 37, who has proved himself as a singer and songwriter with an irresistible power to capture the complexities of human emotion, will enthrall music lovers at the Ngong Racecourse on April 10, 2016, in a show dubbed The Aloe Blacc Show, courtesy of the Blankets and Wine music picnic.

Maurice Okoth Suspended From MCSK!

MUSIC Copyright Society of Kenya has suspended its chief executive officer, Maurice Okoth, with immediate effect.

Maurice Okoth

In a letter dated March 7, 2016, and addressed to Okoth, the MCSK Board stated that his suspension “from employment” was due to his pending criminal cases in court, saying that they were putting the royalty-collecting body in jeopardy.
“There is little progress if any, on the ongoing court cases against MCSK which you are in charge of and no clear updates to the Board,” it read in part.
The Board also added that Okoth's went overboard when he attempted to defraud the society of Sh350,000 by approving an invoice for alleged legal services by Otieno Arum and Co Advocates by a MCSK employer, mispresented the Board, bringing about a “conflict of interest”.

Other bases for his suspension, according to the letter, was his attempt to change the company's lawyers without the Board's authority.
It said: “You colluded with the co-accused staff to change the company lawyer without Board's knowledge or authority.”
In the letter, the Board said that the grounds for Okoth's suspension amounted to gross misconduct, “however, the Board will take reasonable time to carry out further investigations before making a final decision, as per existing Human Resource policy.”
Following the move, Okoth was immediately instructed to surrender all company assets in his possession and that he would not be permitted to transact any business on behalf of MCSK, communicate or deal with any MCSK offices.
   

Did DNG Endorse 'Project X' Party?

YESTERDAY, self-proclaimed Number One Hype Man, DNG, dismissed all those talking against the now "postponed" teenage party dubbed Project X as just "barking dogs".

DNG

In a post on his Facebook page, the former radio presenter and rapper literally endorsed the party as he urged the organizers to proceed with the party.
He wrote: "Idle people are all over social media running their fingers about ‪#‎ProjectX‬! Hahaha...Like it's the 1st time the party's going down. Isn't that what house parties are nowadays anyway? And wait...Hold up...When did Kenyans get morals? I must have missed the memo. To Dero & Crew, get your money up!!! All we have are barking dogs and hypocrites! (sic)"

Miggy Champ's Nyaunyo Video Finally Out!

FAST-rising Kenyan dancehall singer and MC, Miggy Champ, has finally released the awaited video to his hit single, Nyaunyo.

Miggy Champ

The superb crispy video, directed by Mhando Brian, was officially launched at a club party in Nairobi on Friday evening. The vocals were recorded by Ji Lo and the beats expertly done by Babz on the Track.
See the video here...

Amani Drops Single With Congolese Lingala Maestro

SINGER Amani has dropped her first single of 2016 titled Bonbon, where she has featured Congolese Lingala guru, Washington.

Amani

The Lingala-influenced Afro-pop audio -- delivered in a blend of English, Swahili and French -- was produced by the award-winning RKay and the video shot on location in Lagos, Nigeria, by Microd Works.
See it here...

Chidinma "dumps" Clarence Peters For Flavour!

NIGERIAN singer, Chidinma, has dumped Clarence Peters’ Capital Hills Music label.

Chidinma

The 24-year-old Kedike hit-maker had been with the label since she won the MTN Project Fame West Africa in 2010. She signed a five-year contract with Capital Hills and it expired in February and many were waiting for her next move. 
It's now rumoured that she is already joining her alleged lover, Flavour, on his record label, 2Nite Entertainment. 

Chidnma and Flavour

As reported by Naij.com, the two singers have been seen in romantic positions but never open up on dating each other.
Throughout her five-year record, management and publishing contract with Capital Hills Music, Chidinma did not release any album but was dropping singles. 

Clarence Peters

Diana Opoti Partners With Store 66

FASHION trailblazer Diana Opoti has partnered with fashion retailer, Store 66, to sell some of the African designs she showcases.

She wrote on Facebook on Tuesday: "MILESTONES | Diana Opoti PR - ‪#‎FashionBusiness‬. I have officially partnered with a fashion retailer (with 4 stores in Nairobi-Kenya) to make available some of the amazing African brands I showcase. Store 66 - Fashion will host an in-store collective exclusively stocking premium African brands as curated by Diana Opoti The reatiler (Store-66) has a flagship store at the heart of Nairobi's Busines district ‪#‎LonhroHouse‬, a Lavington store at the Valley Arcade shopping Center and the new luxury mall opening soon ‪#‎2Rivers‬ Mall. We have begun sourcing. Criteria - Looking for brands across Africa keen to stock in Nairobi. PREMIUM BRANDS ONLY with Ready-to_wear pieces. Minimum 3-5 years minimum in existence. Send me your last two lookbooks to diana@dianaopotipr.com or diana.opoti@gmail.com."

Pastor Omba Revisits His "Dark" Past...

Look at what the "holy man of God" wrote on his Facebook on Tuesday...
"Sometimes Back this picture was all over in media ,Eti Eric Omba having Affair with these pretty young Ladies Whom I call them my Doughters and they call me Dad ..Am the father and I will never stop being the Father of Many Just because the devil is using someone to ruin people's good Reputation and I will never shy to love and support anyone that God brings on my way"

Pastor Eric Omba with the young pretty beauties.