With the eyes and ears of the world currently on Africa, Apple Music is celebrating Africa Month this May with a campaign themed around Umoja and a message of unity and togetherness.

The campaign also shines a spotlight on the new generation of African artists who are changing the narrative in the music industry locally and abroad.

The campaign features an exclusive Africa Month Umoja playlist which includes some of the best cross-continental collaborations in recent memory, with music from Focalistic & Davido, Naira Marley & Busiswa, Gyakie feat. Omah Lay as well as AKA feat. Burna Boy.

Also included are 12 exclusive guest playlists from artists including Omah Lay (Nigeria), Manu Worldstar (DR Congo/SA), Tems (Nigeria) and Amaarae (Ghana), all alumni of Apple Music’s emerging-artist spotlight program Africa Rising. 

Representing Lusophone Africa is Nenny (Cape Verde) and Calema (São Tomé and Príncipe), from East Africa is Zuchu (Tanzania) and Nviiri The Storyteller (Kenya).

For Francophone Africa is Suspect 95 (Ivory Coast) and Tayc (Cameroon), and lastly representing Southern Africa, we have Focalistic (South Africa) and BET award-winner Sha Sha (Zimbabwe).

The playlists are made up of songs that make the artists proud to be African, or that have changed the landscape of music in Africa.

Africa Month will also be supported across Apple Music Radio.

Africa Now Radio with Cuppy will be hosting a special Africa Month ‘Umoja’ special on Sunday 30th May to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the show and pay tribute to some of the best collaborations on the continent.

On Apple Music 1’s The Ebro Show, each week Ebro will interview a guest artist from a different region to talk about their exclusive Africa Month playlist, as well as featuring a weekly Motivation Mix from prominent DJs from across the continent playing the best in Amapiano, Afrobeats and more. 

Nadeska will also be featuring her Africa Rising artist of the week slot on The Nadeska show each week during the month of May.

The featured artists had this to say about their playlists:

“I picked these songs because they easily represent the growth of Afrobeats over the years, showing how diverse the genre’s sound is. I curated this playlist to display that diversity in sound and each song has its own impact story on Afrobeats,” Omah Lay tells Apple Music.

"These songs transport me to different times in my life and remind me of how music is able to take you back to a particular place and feeling." - Tems

“What I love most about these songs is their Afrocentric nuance. There’s a rhythm and energy about Africa that’s probably best expressed through our music.” - Sha Sha

"These songs make me proud to be African! The pure and exciting creative genius from these African artists makes me proud and sure that Africa to the world is an important mission.” Focalistic

“This collection of songs explores the politically charged and psychedelic grooves and lyrics of the 70s, the slick sexual innuendos and western R&B/hip hop adjacent production of mid to late 90s highlife and hip life and finally the Afrobeats explosion of the 2010s that charted a new path for African music all together.” - Amaarae

“We find different music genres of my Cape Verdean roots like Funana, and Morna. And other African flavours like Souk and Gqom that have been keeping me company. When I listen to this playlist I wouldn’t choose anything but to be African.” - Nenny 

"Music has been the one consistent voice for us all - uniting, uplifting and entertaining across generations. It has been an unceasing vessel used to tell our untold stories.” - Nviiri The Storyteller

"These are my all time favorite songs as they inspire me to write songs that will live through generations.” - Zuchu

"This playlist is what I define as the New Africa. The vibrant Africa. The unstoppable Africa. These sounds have not just inspired me but have also built me into the artist that I am today. Enjoy." - Manu Worldstar

"We chose these songs for our playlist especially because they represent our childhood, growing up as little boys into our journey back home in Africa. Our soul and African background is what made us who we are in terms of the creativity we have for music.” - Calema 

Tanzanian musician Benard Paul Mnyang’anga aka Ben Pol has officially confirmed that he is divorcing his Kenyan wife Anerlisa Muigai.

Through an official statement posted on his instagram page, without mentioning Arnelisa, the artist revealed that the divorce proceedings are in progress at a primary court in Daresalaam, Tanzania.

"At this time, Ben Pol would like to confirm that his divorce proceedings are in progress at the primary court but have not yet been finalised" reads the statement.

Adding "These proceedings are a very private matter and he will not discuss any details out of respect for all parties involved".

The 'Moyo Mashine' hitmaker asked for privacy and space as the proceedings continue thanking his family, friends and fans for their support.

http://ommydalla.co.ke/gossip/item/2130-ben-pol-reportedly-files-for-divorce-from-wife-arnelisa-muigai

His statement comes just a day after Arnelisa hinted that the divorce process is done.

In an Instagram story, Anerlisa said what was needed to be done was done.

"I would like to make it clear that I signed whatever needed to be signed and I do not wish to be associated with anyone. My focus right now is my career and peace." she wrote.

 The Keroche heiress has since dropped Ben Pol’s official name 'Mnyang’anga' from her social media platforms, where she used to identify herself as 'Anerlisa Muigai Mnyang’anga', and no longer wears her wedding ring.

The two tied the knot in May 2020 at St Gaspar Catholic Church in Mbezi Beach, Tanzania, in an event that was attended by close friends and family. 

By Agnes Nonsizi

We all know of the phrase ‘Any publicity is good publicity’ but is it? Well there are two sides to it; it is a yes and no situation.

Controversies and scandals have been a part of musicians' careers since time immemorial, and sometimes in a musician's career they are inevitable because of the nature of the job which gives them little or no privacy at all despite them trying to remain private.

There are two types of controversies, created ones, where an artiste and his/her team formulate a controversy so as to drive traction towards the brand; most of the time it is when the artiste has a project on the way and then there is the second one which we can call an organic one; those that just stem from activities in the artiste’s career or personal life.

In the case of the created controversy, the team needs to weigh the pros and the cons. Will it affect brand partnerships that the musician has in any way? Will it affect the brand in the future in any way? Because the musician could gain the numbers, get the traction and make music sales but lose on other areas which basically that is how life is, but if the losses are more than the gain then the musician's team might need to reconsider that option. 

Most upcoming musicians might think that it only takes a scandal or controversy to elevate their careers but these cannot replace work. If anything, if the much craved fame comes fast without learning the key lessons in their journey, maintaining it will be hard.

Almost every musician attracts attention at one point in their career. Being in the public eye isn't easy, and the fame and fortune does not make them immune to some crazy controversies.

It could be as small as a statement gone wrong in an interview to a wardrobe malfunction on stage, violence, murder, couple feud, theft etc. The list is endless. Some controversies have cost musicians brand partnerships, corporate deals and brand ambassadorships.

Since controversies seem to be a part of the job, the best thing a musician can do is invest in a good public relations team that will assist handle the crisis. We have seen musicians who have tried to handle their own controversies and it has not gone down well and we have seen big controversies being handled so well making the negative impact in the brand less. 

Even if you don’t have full time PR teams consider consulting one in times of scandal, to handle the situation in a professional manner.

What's definite when there is a controversy in a musician's career is the attention; which is usually a good time to do something meaningful with it. 

It is not what happens to us; it is how we respond to it and this also applies to a musician's career. 

Nonsizi is a publicist, co-founder of Terazo New Media

Mombasa based singer Sai has converted to Islam and changed her name to Aila.

Speaking to Ommy Dallah, the young talented vocalist revealed that she converted on Sunday.

"I have always wanted to become a Muslim it's just that I was not ready." said Sai.

Adding "No one forced me to become a Muslim, it was just a personal decision. All my family members are also Muslims."

Sai currently signed under Shirko media started her musical journey last year (2020) when she started doing covers of bongo artistes such as Harmonize, Zuchu and Mario, all of which won her a huge following before she released her first single Pambana in July.

Kenyan Dancehall singer and Radio presenter Nazizi Hirji has opened up about her struggle with identity.

In a long facebook post, Nazizi revealed that she is half Indian half Tanzania and that she has always been struggling with identity.

"My Father @firozhirji is half Indian and half Tanzanian. His father came from Kolkata and his mother from Mbozi which is in Mbeya , Southern Tanzania. He named me after his grandmother." she said.

Adding "Being mixed race I always struggled with identity and never felt like I fit in anywhere but I always sought to connect with all the cultures I come from."

In the post Nazizi also explained the meaning of her name.

"Na is the title for the first born daughter followed by their mother's name. The literal meaning of my name is Na ( first born daughter of..) zizi ( root in kiswahili) . Hence I am the first born daughter of root. That's why I'm super proud to be the ROOTS DAUGHTER."

She further went on to reveal why she is  expanding her earlobes.

"So many people have asked me why I'm Expanding my ears. My answer CULTURE. My grandmother and my great grandma Nazizi had theirs ears expanded traditionally.I will soon share the story on my double nose piercing."

Parents and guardians from Nyali constituency who had turned up for the official launch of bursary distribution by their area Mp Mohammed Ali were today forced to stay away from the constituency office as police manned the entrance in the pretext of enforcing Covid-19 protocols.

Ali had invited 30 headteachers from the neighbouring schools for the launch of sh 35 Million bursary distribution exercise at the CDF office but police officers stormed the area and blocked the parents, teachers and guardians from entering the gate.

The area Mp read mischief from the police action arguing that those invited to the function were less than the required number of 100.

He was forced to plead with the parents to come on a later date to confirm the list of beneficiaries.

"The president gave a directive that not more than 100 people are required to attend a meeting. I had only invited 30 people. This is just political." said Ali.

Adding " They are just out to frustrate me. You cannot frustrate me from carrying out developements  just because am a close ally of the deputy president William Ruto or for your own political reasons."

A total of 13,842 had applied for the bursaries but only 5,049 are set to benefit from the kitty.

 Ali charged "Some students had applied for the bursaries but are not from this constituency that's why they were not included in the list of beneficiaries, there are some who applied but did not return the forms."

last week Ali clashed with the county government of Mombasa over the rehabiliation of the Frere Town Primary School grounds. http://ommydalla.co.ke/politics/item/2177-mp-ali-county-government-clash-over-playing-ground

President Uhuru Kenyatta has reiterated the importance of public-private partnerships (PPP) in advancing the Government’s manufacturing pillar of the Big 4 Agenda.

Speaking on Monday when he opened a nanotechnology and semiconductor manufacturing facility at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology in Nyeri County, President Kenyatta said such factories form the foundation of making Kenya an industrialised nation.

The nanotechnology and semiconductor manufacturing facility was established by Semiconductor Technologies Limited (STL) on the 177-acre Dedan Kimathi University of Technology's Science and Technology Park (DeST-Park) on a public-private partnership arrangement.

The company, which is the only one of its kind in Africa, produces integrated circuits, sensors and related nanotechnology products for the world market. Its products have a high global demand and are used in electronic gadgets such as mobile phones, televisions and laptop computers.

“This is the dream some of us have for this country, our ability to become an industrialised nation, to be able to create good quality and well paying jobs for our young people,” the President said.

He noted that it was unique companies established by Kenyans like STL that will transform Kenya from a country that consumes products from other parts of the world to one that exports not only its products but also its technology across the globe.

The Head of State recalled that recently he launched a weapons factory which will save the country millions of tax-payers money every year as part of the Government’s effort to produce and consume locally manufactured goods.

“By producing locally, we are not only saving money but also creating well-paying jobs for our young people,” President Kenyatta said.

In this regard, the President disclosed that he will soon launch a ship-building enterprise in Mombasa, adding that the country is also getting back to assembling motor vehicles locally as used to happen in the past.

“I believe this is the vision that we all need to work on as we work on all the infrastructure, generating sufficient power, building roads and putting fibre networks.

“We are doing all this so that we can attract industries such as this one in order to create employment, create hope and give opportunity especially to the young people of this country,” the President said.

The University’s collaboration with STL in this manufacturing venture is geared towards supporting the Government’s policy of “Buy Kenya, Build Kenya” initiative.

On his way to Nyeri County for the official opening of the factory at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, President Kenyatta made several inspection stopovers along the 84km Kenol-Nyeri-Marua highway which is being expanded to a dual carriageway.

The President expressed satisfaction with the progress of the Shs 14 billion road and instructed the contractors to ensure that the project is completed on time.

STL CEO Anthony Githinji also spoke at the event that was attended by Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga, Deputy Governor Caroline Karugu, ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru and area MP Ngunjiri Wambugu among others.