Issue: No. 249
OCT 2021
Since 2000
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ACH13NG’ PB: INTRODUCE YOURSELF A: I’m Ach13ng’, a singer-songwriter based in Nairobi who’s passionate about storytelling in form of lyrics and melodies. PB: WHY ACH13NG’? A: My birth name is Achieng’. I added the 13 because I’ve always been in love with everything out of the ordinary. I was also born on the 13th and since I was a kid, the number and the essence behind it has always appealed to me. PB: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE OF MUSIC? A: A mix of genres and a wide variety of expressions. Initially, I called it ‘ folk reggae soul but now, it’s more of whatever vibe wants to come out of me that day. It amazes me, the limitlessness of expression that were freely exposed to. PB: THINKING BACK TO EARLY CHILDHOOD WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH MUSIC AND WHO ARE YOUR INFLUENCES NOW? A: My grandfather would always play me amazing rhumba music and Lingala (I even used to dance to lingala music quite well. Haha) and my uncles introduced me to a lot of reggae. My grandma played a lot of Catholic songs and the musicality and harmonies stuck with me. My mum and aunties introduced me to RnB, the early ‘stretch your hand out into nothingness’ type of RnB and I loved every new sound I explored. My musical influences right now are so so many but the few that come to mind are Asa, Lauryn Hill, Saba, Xenia, Cleo Sol, Bensoul, Sanaipei Tande...to name a few. PB: DO YOU HAVE FORMAL MUSICAL TRAINING OR ARE YOU SELF-TAUGHT? A: I’ve been singing all my life but got formally trained through high school and after. I took guitar and voice lessons at the conservatoire and an artist development programme at the now-closed Sauti Academy. I’m currently taking more writing lessons and loving it. There’s always something new to learn, you know! I think artists must sharpen their skills as often as possible. The only way out is through so we can’t escape growth. PB: WHAT MADE YOU FIRST REALIZE THAT YOU WANTED TO PURSUE A CAREER IN MUSIC? A: I’ve always known I want to be a musician and a good one. I remember a conversation I had with my class 4 music teacher who said you can make a living out of singing and writing music and that blew my mind. I knew that was it for me. PB: TELL US ABOUT YOUR MUSIC AND YOUR LATEST RELEASE WITH KING KAKA A: The song is called Falling. A sonic example of the extent we go to get some ‘love’. I find it funny when someone hits on me with the same old cliché lines so lately, I’ve been entertaining some of it and this is what inspired the song. How far are we willing to go to ‘clown for love’? Working with King Kaka has been such a smooth, efficient and professional moment. He dropped the verse after hearing Provoke the Producer playing it and it caught his attention and he wrote something to it. When they sent it my way, I lost it! He understood the assignment! PB: HOW HAS LIFE BEEN DURING THE PANDEMIC? A: Strange. It’s like one moment the sun was shining and the next, the sun just didn’t rise. It was hard initially because my identity was so tied to performances and travelling and when the world ‘stopped’, I had to re-evaluate my relationship with everything, you know. After a while, the clouds lifted and I realized all I can, have and want to do is write. Express. Let it all out in song and that’s how I’ve been staying sane during this strange season. PB: AWAY FROM MUSIC, WHAT ELSE DO YOU DO? A: I facilitate mindful sessions for people using colourful beads. It started as a bonding session with my daughter and some of the children in my neighbourhood but I started to see how much they came alive whenever we practised and it became a regular thing that brought us together. I call it ‘beaditation’ and it’s open to everyone. Children and adults. PB: ANY LAST WORDS? A: Stay true to yourself because people can copy your name and style but they can never copy your essence. That’s the most beautiful thing we can do for and to ourselves.
Interview by Njeri Kimani | Photo courtesy of Ach13ng’
Ach13ng’
@Ach13ng
ach13ng
ZAHARA Zahara was born as ‘Bulelwa Mkutukana’ in the Phumlani Informal Settlement outside of East London in Eastern Cape, South Africa, where she lived with her parents Nokhaya and Mlamli Mkutukana. She is the sixth of seven children. Zahara started singing in her school’s choir when she was six years old, and at the age of nine she was told to join the senior choir because of her strong voice. Her stage name means “blooming flower”; as a child she was known by the nickname “Spinach”. Her music is classified loosely as “Afrosoul” and she sings in her native language, Xhosa, as well as in English. Her music has been described as a mixture of styles that have been popularized by Tracy Chapman and India.Arie. Zahara started her career busking on the streets of East London. She was spotted by TK Nciza of TS Records, who signed her to his label. Zahara’s debut album Loliwe was released in 2011. The first issue sold out within 72 hours, and 19 days later, the album reached double platinum status in South Africa by surpassing the 100,000 sales mark.This made her the second musician after Brenda Fassie, who was also a Xhosa native, to reach this figure in such record time. Zahara released her first live DVD which featured X-Factor USA contestant LeRoy Bell. The DVD reached platinum, according to the standards set by the Recording Industry of South Africa, in one day. On 1 May 2012, at the annual South African Music Awards, Zahara won eight awards, including “Best Female Artist” and “Album of the Year”. In 2013, Zahara released her second studio album, Phendula which won three South African Music Awards for Best Selling Album, Best R&B, Soul and Reggae Album and Best Female Artist of the Year. The same year, Nelson Mandela invited her to his home to perform a private bedside concert. She then composed “Nelson Mandela” in his honor and released it as an EP. In July 2014, Zahara’s younger brother was murdered in East London. According to Zahara, she went through a period of depression after his death but recovered enough for the 2015 release of Country Girl. In 2015 at the Eastern Cape Music Awards, she won two awards include; Best Female, Best Artists. In early 2017, Zahara signed with Warner Music South Africa. On October 13, 2017, her Fourth Studio Album, Mgodi, was released. The album went gold after only six hours. At the 2018 Next Generation Entertainment Award, her album Mgodi won Best Female Act award. On 5 May 2021, she announced a new single titled Nyamezela on Facebook. The song was released on 7 May 2021. Her fifth album titled Nqaba Yam was set to be released on 9 July 2021. On 30 July 2021, she released a second single Nqaba Yam. On 13 August 2021, Nqaba Yam was released in South Africa.
Zahara
@zaharasa
@ZaharaSA
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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Since 2000
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