Kenya’s fastest rising and Coke Studio Africa featured producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter, Mutoriah is set to launch his self-produced debut album ‘Dive In’ in a star-studded live concert on Saturday at the Sands Club (Ad Life Plaza). 

Speaking ahead of the launch, Mutoriah shared,

“Dive In is all about inspiring people, myself included, to stop being afraid, get out of their shells and share their light with the world.”

The live concert promises to showcase Mutoriah in his full element as a performer as he presents his Afro-electric pop-inspired sound to the world.

Guest acts confirmed to perform at the launch include SERRO, Ayrosh, Tha Movement, Bensoul, Njerae as well as Steph Kapela.

Anticipation for the album is already building up after Mutoriah made available a free-to-download acoustic version of the album just to give fans a taste of what to expect.

The acoustic version is available for download on http://bit.ly/DiveIn-Acoustic  

Mutoriah has built an appellation as a multi-instrumentalist having played for a host of top African acts including his current regular - Tha Movement band and Sautisol.

Fans also recently got to discover his production finesse thanks to the#IMadeKenyaChallenge and subsequent recruitment unto Coke Studio Africa 2019 as the first Big Break Producer.

However, ‘Dive In’ encompasses Mutoriah’s musical exploits under the different hats he wears as an all-round creative and aims to marry that with his singer-songwriter persona.

The 10-track album also features the sultry vocals of Xenia Manasseh, rap prowess of Steph Kapela, the raspy mugithi resonance of Ayrosh, heartfelt expressions of Njerae, charming lyrics of the crooner Bensoul and eccentric sounds of Tha Movement Band.

Ace Nigerian music producer and entertainment business executive GospelOnDeBeatz has released his anticipated debut album titled “Flux” (June2019).

The “Flux” album features African music heavyweights.

GospelOnDeBeatz is taking us to East Africa with the album’s second single “Ready” featuring Kenyan hitmaker Naiboi and talented singer Kemunto.

The music video of the mid-tempo Afrobeat jam produced by GospelOnDeBeatz was filmed in Nairobi, Kenya.

“Ready” follows the success of album’s first single “Blessings” which featured Peruzzi, Praiz, Kholi & Alternate Sound.

Other Africa acts featured on “Flux” the album include Sauti Sol, Rayvanny, Skales, Reekado Banks, Victoria Kimani, Mi Casa, Anselmo Ralph, MoonChild Sanelly, Falz, Iyanya, Timaya, Tekno, Stonebwoy, Davido, Okiemute and Kholi. Gospel also collaborates with music producers: DJ Khayleb, Brainz and instrumentalists: Fiokee and Alternate Sound on the album.

GospelOnDeBeatz touts his album as “a life changing and defining moment” for his career, from the time he embarked on its making in 2016.

Featuring 23 celebrated African artistes from Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Angola and Ghana.

“Flux” album shows the power of African collaborations and the strength in diversity of embracing African languages, cultures and sounds.

“Flux” album is exclusively available on Boomplay Music since June 6th and will be available on other digital stores from June 21st 2019.

GospelOnDeBeatz will be embarking on an African media tour of the album and host a listening party in Kenya. He will also be releasing more videos from the album.

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta has urged the youth to fully utilize their talents in the arts and culture as an economic activity.

The First Lady observed that the arts and culture present vast opportunities for the youth to apply their creativity and generate income.

“We must encourage our youth to pursue the arts and culture as a new frontier towards economic development for the future,” she said.

The First Lady was speaking today when she officially opened a photo exhibition by diplomats based in the country dubbed, ‘Kenya Through the Diplomats Lens'.

“This Exhibition celebrates our country's diversity and also provides appreciation of culture, heritage and harmony through photographs" the first lady said.

Adding "As a result of its empowerment and mentorship projects, it will also have great social impact that will inspire and nurture the talents our youth in photo-art,”.

The photo exhibition showcased a unique collection of photographs taken by members of the diplomatic community in Kenya illustrating the nation's beauty and diversity.

It also featured photographs taken by students from Kibera sponsored by the Nikon Photo School, who through pictures, communicated their thoughts, imagination and passion. 

“We are also here to appreciate the remarkable talents of our youth who have participated by showcasing their creative work through images presented at this event,” the First Lady said.

Proceeds from the sale of the photographs will go towards supporting Destiny Children’s Centre which caters for orphaned children in Kibera and Karika Care Giving Centre for the elderly in Kawangware, Nairobi.

On environmental conservation, the First Lady said the photo exhibition depicted different aspects of the country and reminded all Kenyans of the need to pay special attention to the environment.

“Land, air and water are all central to our survival. We must be deliberate in our actions to protect and preserve it for future generations. We are all custodians of this planet,” she said.

Sports, Culture and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed said the exhibition was a step in the right direction as it promoted the preservation of the country’s cultural and national heritage.

The CS pointed out that the event created a new watermark in the recognition of photography as form of art with immense economic potential. 

“We will collectively work to see the expansion of this space as a source of livelihood for many,” the CS said noting that the cultural and creative sector is increasingly being recognised as an engine that powers job creation.

Other speakers included National Museums of Kenya Director General Mzalendo Kibunjia and Iraqi Amb. Burhan Al-Jaf who is also the chairman of the ‘Kenya Through the Diplomat’s Lens’ photo exhibition.

Earlier at State House Nairobi, the First Lady hosted the Chief Executive Officer of Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) Ms Rina Attias at a meeting where they discussed the challenges facing children from poor families born with heart conditions. 

SACH is an international non-profit organization that works to save lives by improving the quality and accessibility of cardiac care for children. 

The First Lady, who is the patron of the Kenyan chapter of SACH, was briefed on the progress made by the organization in helping 48 Kenyan children to undergo complex heart surgeries in Israel. 

The organization also runs a training programme for Kenyan paediatric cardiologist and cardiac surgeons in Israel. 

First Lady Margaret Kenyatta commended the organization for its outstanding charitable work and promised to continue to supporting the its programmes.

Adelle Onyango, through her initiative, has unveiled a podcast series titled PursePective.

As the name suggests, the podcast is a space where women can talk about their experiences as they relate to gender equality, and men can objectively respond with their perspective.

PursePective will be a podcast to drive gender equality, women empowerment and inclusion.

During each show, Adelle Onyango and a panel of three guests will tackle different ways in which we can all promote a more equitable society. 

“The narrative of the podcast is based on the premise that in the patriarchal nature of society, men have a privileged hand and many times do not even realise it,” Adelle noted.

“The aim of this podcast is to bring this to light, highlighting for men the privilege they may take for granted,” she added.

“The podcast is a platform to not just tell the African woman’s story but to get men to understand what it takes to be the modern African woman and the social intricacies involved.”

On Tuesday June 25th, PursePective will premiere at a two-hour live viewing which will be held at K1 Klub house.

The viewing will feature a 60-minute panel discussion followed by a 60-minute Q&A between the guests and the show's panel members. 

The premiere and all future episodes of PursePective will be posted on Adelle’s social media channels in both podcast and video form, where she will encourage women to watch or listen with a man or with men.

Adelle further explained, “The podcast is based on the understanding that women are not the problem; the obstacle and hindrance to gender equality and sexual abuse, is not fellow women; and that if men know and do what’s right, we live in a society as equals.  The podcast is really for men.”

Hip Hop artist, poet and philanthropist King Kaka yesterday kicked off auditions for  Maneno, a poetry and spoken word competition that will give poets their much needed platform.  

King Kaka set off Maneno by holding auditions set to find finalists who will ultimately perform at the Maneno event slated for July 12^th. The auditions that were held at Kenya National Theatre were set out to look for 20 promising poetry and spoken word artistes.

According to the rules, only the first 200 were be auditioned, however the tryouts were a monumental success with almost 400 hopefuls showing up.

The participants were judged by King Kaka himself, Mufasa Poet, and Sheila Mwanyigha.

Speaking about the auditions, King Kaka said:

“The vision for Maneno is more than just a platform for these artistes, it is a way for people to create a safe environment where we can get to learn about how the African youth think and view certain issues.

We as the judges got to hear issues about crime, depression, unemployment, love, friendship, so much more that we can learn. It was humbling to get participants all the way from Kakuma, Lamu, Webuye, Kisii, Garissa and Kitale, I can safely say every region was represented

Now we looking forward to the next phase on July 12th, where the top 20 from the auditions will perform at the Maneno event alongside established poets.”

Popular sensational music group Ethic Entertainment has enlisted the talent and onscreen pizazz of media personality Kamene Goro.

She will debut on the music video for their latest release, Figa  set to e released this Friday.

The new jam is being unveiled under–AI records a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Figa is a song that talks about the beauty of a well-endowed woman. The audio has been produced by super producer Motif.

The visual for “Figa” was choreographed by award-winning Director Extraordinaire-VJ One and features media personality – Kamene Goro as the video vixen. 

A snippet of the Figa music videos behind the scene has been leaked online ahead of the June 13 launch.

ABOUT

Ethic Entertainment is a music group consisting of four young talented entertainers from Nairobi’s Eastland’s area of Umoja. Boniface Mwangi (SWAT) 19, Peter Njau (ZILLA) 24, Thomas Otieno (REKLESS) 24 & Leroy Miwa (SESKA) 25 were born and raised in Umoja Estate. The group’s love for music brought them together in their hit song Lamba Lolo, considered the biggest song in Kenya and the general East Africa region in 2018.

The group has curtain raised for international artistes – Nasty C (SA), Wizkid (Nigeria) among other local acts.

To date they have released 5 Songs, Lamba Lolo, Saba, Instagram, Position & Pandana which have received massive airplay in clubs and local radio stations.

AI Records

AI Records is a recording, publishing and distribution music company. It was formed in the late 1950’s and has worked with artists such as Super Mazembe famed for Kassongo, Fadhili Williams, Slim Ali, D. O Misiani and Moipei quartet for their debut album “In The Land of The Lion”.

Tanzania RnB artist Ben Pol has just released his latest video.

The video is titled 'Wapo'.

Watch it below