Since 2000

www.phatbuzz.com ROSAROSA

Issue No. 238 NOVEMBER 2020

PHAT!buzz™ is distributed FREE to cafes, cinemas, clubs & pubs in Kisumu, Mombasa, Nairobi and Nakuru.

PHAT!buzz™ is now in its 18th year of telling you Wazup!

To advertise, call: +254 20 238 6060 or E-mail: [email protected] or check out our Website: www.phatbuzz.com

© 2019 PHAT! Music & Entertainment Limited. All Rights Reserved. PB: INTRODUCE YOURSELF: RA: My name is Rosalie Akinyi, TheOnlyRosa. I’ve been a singer and dancer since I was about 8 years old and I started off by choreographing dances in school and then singing for the school and church choirs all through high school till I finally stepped into a studio just before University. I’ve now been professionally singing and writing for the last 7 years. PB: THINKING BACK TO EARLY CHILDHOOD WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH MUSIC? RA: I had a little Luo traditional drum when I was in primary school. I have no clue where it came from by the way but I guess it was one of my parents’ decorations. I started playing around with it singing Catholic songs that I heard at church and apparently it just developed my voice without my knowledge. So the more songs I learnt and played on the drum, the more complex the next song got until I realized that I did enjoy music. I never wrote my first songs though till right after high school when I found a random voice recording software online and started writing. PB: WHAT MUSICAL INFLUENCES DID YOU HAVE A CHILD AND WHAT ARE YOUR INFLUENCES NOW? RA: I listened to a lot of dancehall, rap and R&B. All the way from Chaka Demus & Pliers, 50 Cent to Celine Dion. It was so diverse, but I was a good dancer so that is where the fast tracks came in then the slow tracks really made me understand growing up and what adults like to sing about. My current influence is country music and especially songs from the 80s. I have now gotten to a point where I don’t identify music through genres but based on individual tracks that I consider technically dope. But occasionally I’ll go down the rabbit hole of some artists like Taylor Swift and Kodak Black just for inspiration. PB: HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN FORMAL MUSICAL TRAINING OR ARE YOU SELF TAUGHT? (PLEASE EXPAND ON YOUR EXPERIENCE ) RA: Most of my vocal skills developed when I was singing in church as a teenager. I did not know it then, but I turned out to be amazing at creating harmonies from that. I have had two voice coaches in my life. I met one of them, Keys, when I was still signed to Flag 42 and he was one of the producers there. I was good then, but he taught me why a singer needs a coach at least at some point in their life. Through him I got to understand how I could translate a single song into different versions just by understanding my vocal abilities. I had a year-long break from music when I was finishing my master’s degree and I taught myself how to be a songwriter in that time. I erased everything I ever knew about writing music and started reading books, studying songs I liked word for word and that is how I became such a confident songwriter. It is after that career changing journey that I met my second coach Lydia. I worked with her for a few months especially in picking up the vocal techniques that some of my idols use, Sia specifically. PB: WHAT MADE YOU FIRST REALIZE THAT YOU WANTED TO PURSUE A CAREER IN MUSIC? RA: I was actually studying Aeronautical Engineering, fresh out of high school. About a week before exams, I had just stepped into a music studio for the first time. For some reason, I just knew the moment I stepped back in class that I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life drawing planes and there’s someone who wakes up to sing in front of a crowd and gets paid for it. So I quit, went on to study Marketing and Entrepreneurship and there I always felt like I was working towards being an artist, creating my brand and selling it. PB: CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FIRST EP, TELL US MORE ABOUT IT. RA: WAVES is my secondROSA album but my first EP. It is an 8 track project produced and arranged by some of the most reputable individuals in the Kenyan music industry. The featured producers include Kevin Provoke, Mutoriah, Kdagr8, Dillie and pianist, Kamau Kamikaze. It also includes one collaboration with Luo rapper, Japesa. It’s intimate and laid back with some emotional songwriting just to show the highs and lows of my feelings which are similar to the rise and fall of a wave. The songs range from a heart-wrenching break-up ballad to a drum filled love song garnished with Luo lyrics. The project is highly influenced by my love for both R&B and soulful music. The project was curated by Black Market Africa and is currently available on most streaming platforms. PB: HOW HAS LIFE BEEN DURING THE PANDEMIC? RA: At first, the uncertainty was really draining and the thought of slowing down on studio time but it’s actually turned out to be a blessing because I’ve had time to develop my guitar and piano skills. I also find myself writing about more realistic things now because we have to face every thought now, there’s no way of hiding behind being busy. PB: ANY LIFE LESSONS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE? RA: Know your worth. Know your worth as a human being, a spiritual being, in your career because that’s how you start treating yourself like the gift that you are and everyone else, even life will treat you that way. PB: ANY WORDS OF WISDOM YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE ? RA: Every day and every moment holds a new opportunity. At any given moment, you could be living your dream so do not feel held back by reality or your circumstances because opportunities will always be around you. Just keep working on yourself and your talents so the moment they show up, YOU’RE READY.

theonlyrosa TheOnlyRosa Interview by Njeri Kimani | Photo courtesy of Rosa @TheOnlyRosa theonlyrosa

With his fusion of dancehall, reggae, Afrobeat, and pop, Burna Boy emerged in the early part of the 2010s as one of ’s fastest rising stars. The LeriQ-produced 2012 single, “Like to Party,” proved to be his breakout track and paved the way for his full-length debut, L.I.F.E., a year later. Over the next five years, Burna Boy released two more albums and collaborated with a variety of artists including from J Jus and Skales to Fall Out Boy and Lilly Allen. His international exposure widened with 2018’s Outside with hit #3 on the Billboard Reggae chart which won the Nigeria Entertainment Award for Album of the Year. In advance of his next LP, 2019’s African Giant, Burna has made his first appearance atCalifornia’s Coachella Festival.

Burna Boy was born Damini Ogulu in Lagos in 1991. He began making music when he was just ten years old, and at school, a fellow classmate gave him a copy of the production software FruityLoops. Armed with these means, he began to create his own beats on an old computer. After he graduated, he moved to London to attend university, but dropped out after two years and moved back to Nigeria. In 2010, the 19-year-old Ogulu traveled to Nigeria’s southern coast where a mutual acquaintance, producer LeriQ, had some studio space. This marked a period when he began to connect to the music of his native country, having spent most of his youth immersed in American acts like DMX. He delved into the dancehall and reggae music his father listened to, and the Afrobeat music that his grandfather preferred (he’d also been Fela Kuti’s first manager). As a result of his new discoveries, Ogulu created a confluence of genres that would become his signature sound.

Alongside LeriQ, they created “Like to Party,” which marked his rise to prominence, and created a local buzz along the way. 2013 saw the release of his debut studio album. L.I.F.E., which featured guest slots from , , 2face, and M.I., drew favorable reviews from the music press. For his sophomore effort, 2015’s On a Spaceship, he parted ways with both his record company and LeriQ, and delivered a record even more diverse than his first. In 2017, he teamed up with producer Juls for the single “Rock Your Body” A host of singles followed throughout the year, including “GBA,” “Streets of Africa,” “Koni Baje,” and “Sekkle Down,” featuring J Hus. Dropping the Lily Allen-aided single “Heaven’s Gate” in early January 2018, Ogulu delivered his third album, Outside, later that month. He returned a year later with the single “Killin Dem,” a collaboration with Zlatan. Along with additional singles like “Dangote” and “On the Low,” it was later included on his fourth album, African Giant, which saw release in July 2019.

@Officialburnaboy @burnaboygram

@burnaboy Burna Boy DJ ARNOLD

Pb: INTRODUCE YOURSELF. Deejay Arnold: I go by the name Arnold Morgan Mulweye and my Stage Name: DJ Arnold. An Entertainer, Photographer and Videographer.

Pb: HOW HAS LIFE BEEN DURING THE COVID-19? Deejay Arnold: COVID-19 has generally & rapidly affected our day to day life, businesses, disrupted the Kenyan economy hence making a lot of people going jobless and many more challenges. Life hasn’t been really easy. It was really bad and still is, but we will catch up step by step and come back to where we were back in the days

Pb: HOW HAVE YOU BEEN HANDLING POSTPONEMENTS AND RESCHEDULING? Deejay Arnold: Personally, that thing of being postponed or rescheduled sickens a lot though it’s party of this journey coz not every plan every goal will be achieved as planned we have to go through struggles and during COVID-19. It isn’t easy like we all had to take a break from this entertainment field, and I know it wasn’t targeting a specific field but everyone in there different hustle field was affected. We all suffered & the game had to be changed and opt for the next nearest surviving ways.

Pb: ANY LIFE LESSONS LEARNT DURING THE PANDEMIC AND WOULD LIKE TO SHARE Deejay Arnold: Equality!!! This situation has shown us that we are all the same regardless of our religion, culture, customs, whether we are poor or rich. The virus simply does not choose. It connected us in a way, it showed us that we should all stick together. During this chaos, while many of us in a panic, it showed us the weight of humanity. It reminded us who we are. Maybe the world will finally change. I also learnt that We humans are fragile by ourselves. Our strength lies in being part of a community.*

Pb: ANY LAST WORD? Deejay Arnold: Enjoy your life and appreciate what you have. Be happy and positive for everything around you and you will become a stronger person.

@DJARNOLDKENYA1 @djarnoldkenyaofficial @DJ_ARNOLD_KENYA djarnoldkenya

Interview by Njeri Kimani | Photo courtesy of Dj Arnold

Since 2000

www.phatbuzz.com