PHAT!buzz December2021 Issue #251

Issue: No. 251

DEC 2021

Since 2000

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WANAVOKALI

PHAT!BUZZ: INTRODUCE YOURSELVES. WANAVOKALI: We are Wanavokali. This translates to “Those with the vocals” in Swahili. Individually, our names are: Sam, Riki, Mellah, Lena, Chep and Ythera.

PHAT!BUZZ: HOW DID YOU GUYS MEET AND END UP AS WANAVOKALI?* WANAVOKALI: We met in 2018 while doing background vocals for artists at a national tour called Twaweza live that had been organized by Safaricom. We auditioned for the task and the six of us were selected to work with two bands that toured various counties all year round. During this time, we hanged out a lot and at the end of it all our bond had really grown. Thereafter, we decided to extend our friendship by singing covers together just to keep being active and also to try and create opportunities for ourselves after the experience we’d shared together. The rest, is now history PHAT!BUZZ: TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM. WANAVOKALI: The Album encompasses wholly who we are us Wanavokali. We were very intent on our diversity being seen and heard for our debut project as that is what makes us Wanavokali. The Album is as diverse in genre, theme and sound as we are.

Our audiences get to experience each of us in our individual performance styles in six of the songs in the album and then we have 5 songs that we have put our collective voices on.

It’s a project that we are very proud of and that we all love. Our only hope is that audiences feel the same and can relate in one way or another. The Album is available on all audio streaming platforms!

PHAT!BUZZ: WHICH IS EACH OF YOUR FAVORITE AND WHY WANAVOKALI: We love ALL the songs in the album! We also love the fact that we all got to show a bit of ourselves in this project and our audiences get to have a glimpse of each our musical abilities and styles. As we’ve said, this is a project that we’re immensely proud of. It’s a body of work that we’ve been working on for the past year and a half and seeing it come to fruition has been one of our best achievements yet.

PHAT!BUZZ: HOW WAS IT WORKING AS A GROUP ON THIS ALBUM ?

WANAVOKALI: It was amazing. We got to learn more on each other’s strengths in creating. Before writing for the album it had been a bit challenging to come up with full songs that we loved but when we secluded ourselves for a week to go create our music everything just flowed. We had no pressure of other commitments and so it was so easy.

PHAT!BUZZ: WHERE CAN YOUR FANS BUY YOUR ALBUM? Wanavokali: Our album is out on all streaming platforms and fans can buy it on iTunes, Deezer and Boomplay.

PHAT!BUZZ: WHAT INFLUENCED YOU TO WRITE THE ALBUM? WANAVOKALI: It was the obvious “Next step” for Wanavokali after our win in South Africa(Old Mutuals Amazing Voices). During and after the competition, we had decided that we want Wanavokali to be Recording and Performing Artist . So with the money we got from our win, we invested in the long and laborious process that was writing, recording and releasing WANAVOKALI: THE ALBUM. PHAT!BUZZ: WHO WROTE YOUR MUSIC? WANAVOKALI: We are proud to say that we are the ones who wrote our music. We each came up with an idea that translated into a song be it a beat, chorus or line and then developed it from there. However, Mordecai of H_art the band ,best known as Dex was with us during the writing camp and helped us with the writing process. Not only did he write Reasons and Amani but also Co-wrote Trying by Chep and Love is in the air by Lena.

PHAT!BUZZ: WHAT ROLE DOES EACH MEMBER OF THE GROUP PLAY? WANAVOKALI: Wow! Wanavokali is simply built on team work and that is what makes us stand, the power of six .We believe in bringing out the best in each other and nurturing each others unique gifts and so everyone plays a role in Wanavokali.

Unity in diversity is a mantra that we strongly believe in.

Ythera with a Y is our administrator and deals with all things leadership in Wanavokali, Lena is our financial and marketing manager, Chep is our social media manager, Mela is our brand manager, Sam is our communications manager and Riki is our music director and deals with all things music PHAT!BUZZ: WHERE CAN WE SEE YOU PERFORM? WANAVOKALI: Now that we have finally released our album, we now have a solid repertoire to perform. We have a series of gigs lined up. Check our social media pages for these and more updates.

PHAT!BUZZ: ANY LAST WORDS? WANAVOKALI: Be consistent and be authentic. Be true to yourself. That will always resonate with everyone.

@wanavokali

@wanavokali

@wanavokali

Interview by Njeri Kimani | Photo courtesy of Wanavokali

YEMI Alade

Yemi Eberechi Alade (born 13 March 1989), is a Nigerian Afropop singer, songwriter, actress and activist. She won the Peak Talent Show in 2009 after which she signed to Effyzzie Music Group, and had a hit with her single “Johnny” in 2014. Since then Yemi has gained prominence in the music industry and considered one of the biggest artistes in Africa.Following the releases of her albums King of Queens and Mama Africa with huge commercial success recorded for both albums, this made her embark on world tours consecutively.

She won the MTV African Music Awards for Best female in 2015 and 2016 consecutively and was nominated for Artiste of the Year in 2015, making her the first female to win the MAMAs for Best female consecutively twice and nominated for Artiste of the Year. In 2015, Alade was the first Nigerian female to be nominated for the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) for Best African Act and was nominated for the BET awards for Best International Act: Africa in 2015 and 2016. Yemi is also applauded for her creative and overwhelming stage performances, fashion and music videos, She has won The Headies Award for Best Performer twice, 2018 and 2019. The slot was initiated at The Headies 2018 and she was the first artiste to win the category.

Alade sings in English, Igbo, Pidgin, Yoruba, French, Swahili and Portuguese. Her music has been of influence in many African countries and the world as she is acclaimed “Mama Africa” for her versatility in using different African languages and attires in her songs and music videos. Alade’s father was a police commissioner of Yoruba descent, while her mother is of Igbo descent.

On 9 June 2020, Alade was mentioned to be among the forefront artists/musicians from across the world to perform at The Global Goal: Unite for our future sponsored by the Global Citizen aimed to highlight the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic especially in the most remote places in Africa and across the world. On 27 June 2020, Yemi Alade performed in the Global Goal: Unite for Our future alongside Miley Cyrus, Shakira, J Balvin, Jennifer Hudson, Coldplay, Usher, Justin Bieber, Quavo, Christine and the Queens and Chloe X Halle.

Yemi Alade

@yemialade

@yemialadee

Deejay Gogez

ON THE DECKS

DJ kals

MY REAL NAME IS: Emanuel Kasyoka I GOT MY STAGE NAME DEEJAY KALS:

In High School from a classmate.

I STUDIED AT:

B Sounds Entertainment and in the streets too.

I USUALLY PLAY:

Every kind of music, I do every type of event,i.e, house parties, launches, baby showers, graduations, weddings and every type of event.

I GOT INTO DEEJAYING:

In 2019 January, thats when I finished my Schooling and joined the field of entertainment in full force, so i can say I have 3 years of experience in the field.

MY BIGGEST CHALLENGE WHEN STARTING:

First, raising the fees. But also the misunderstanding about Deejaying is not a respectable profession.

MY BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT:

Is to be able to deliver all my best of me and beyond even the client’s expectations, nothing sounds great than a client being satisfied with your work IF I WASN’T A DEEJAY:

I would have been an interior designer LAST WORDS:

To everyone, who wants to be a Professional join, just grind hard, it’s never easy and it’s never hard, it’s either you go hard or go home, but why go home when you can trust in God? Accept yourself first then do your best.

deejay kals

@deejay kals

@kals dj

www.deejaykals.ke

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