• View all from Jua Cali
  Artistes Jua Cali, Sanaipei Tande
  Album Juacali Sekta
  Year 2007
  Writer Paul Nunda
  Language Swahili
  Runtime 4:04
  Video URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klChb3hrCqg

During the fall of 2004, a Kenyan friend sent me some Kenyan CDs. I had requested Nameless' On fire since I had fell in love with his music that year. She also sent me Naleta Action by Prezzo and Necessary Noize's NN II. I knew about these artistes but I didn't know of the group called Sema (mwewe). Their CD grew on me and even though I couldn't hear much about them other than they had won the Coca-Cola pop stars, I felt they were one of the better Kenyan groups. How were they able to remain invisible in the music scene? One of their members Pam Waithaka had some singles that were popular last year. What happened to Sema? And what are their members up to?

We've been trying to bring you some Kwaheri lyrics but while we wait, you should get to know Paul Nunda, popularly known to music fans as Jua Cali.

Jua Cali is a genge/kapuka musician from Kenya. He formed Calif Records with producer Clemo in 2000 and the label has turned out to be one of the best in Kenya. Their original intention was to produce artistes but after some difficulty, Jua Cali took up the mic himself. Jua Cali has become a huge star and is even seen as one of the most influential Kenyans. he was also nominated for British Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards and the MTV Europe Music Awards, both in 2007.

Taarab music is a popular genre in East Africa which was developed from Islamic roots, using instruments from Africa (percussion), Europe (guitar), Arab Middle East (oud and qanum) and East Asia (taishokoto). Its roots in the melting pot of coastal Africa are reason for its varied influences. It is a fusion of tunes sung in rhythmic poetry with Arabic and Swahili influences and are a feature of wedding music. It is popular in the coastal areas of East Africa, especially in Zanzibar, Tanga, and Lamu. Taarab is also said to have an Egyptian origin, due to the long-term popularity of the Ikhwani Safaa Musical Club. Wherever the Swahili speaking people travelled, Tarabu culture moved with them.

If you haven't heard that Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania are planning to become one political entity soon, make sure to google it or ask someone from those countries. With the unrest in Kenya, right now, it may take a while but the plan is in the works. Maybe a new government, Raila Odinga's, would come into power and put that proposition that Mwai Kibaki championed to rest, but in the meantime, we can have some unity in music. Various East African musicians have been pushing the unity for awhile and it is working.

After weeks of debating and voting for the MTV Best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards, we finally have a winner. D'Banj, da koko master from Nigeria, edged out Samini (Ghana), Jose Chameleone (Uganda), Hip Hop Pantsula (South Africa) and Jua Cali (Kenya) for the award at the ceremony held at OlympiaHalle in Munich, Germany on Novermber 1. He succeeds South Africa's Freshlyground in what may be the biggest award an African musician could win these days and countryman Tuface Idibia who won the maiden edition in 2005. Congratulations to Oladapo Oyebanjo aka Skibanj.

So the Channel O Spirit of Africa music video awards came on last night and there are a lot of surprises!
First among them is that none of the winners are from South Africa, which hosted the awards at the Johannesburg City Hall.

The Channel O awards are pretty much Africa's version of the MTV Video Music Awards so it is kind of a big deal. It features videos and musicians from all over Africa (especially younger ones) but Francophone Africa, Northern Africa and Central Africa did not get much love this year. Hmm.

For now, fans of the following winners can celebrate :-)

Commentary coming soon - see comments below.

And the winners in bold are...
Best Male Video
Nameless - Sinzia
(Kenya)
Other nominees, Samini - African Lady, D'Banj - Why me, Don Kikas - Miss U, HHP - Tlhabane to Maftown, Tay Grin - Stand up

Best Female Video
Dama Do Bling - Danca Do Remexe
(Mozambique)
Other nominees, Chomee - Jiva Sexy, Ida - Make it hot, Lira - Feel good, Neyma - Mbilo Yang, Weird MC - Ready to party

Best Newcomer
The Dogg - Baby Don't Go
(Namibia)
Other nominees, Faze - Kolomental, Gumshev - Hosh, L'vovo - Banyang Sukela, Sanchez - Pick it up, Scar - Metlholo

What a difference a month makes in what constitutes the best African music videos?
Sasha aka Nigeria's Missy Elliott has good staying power, as she has been on the countdown for over a month without much progress though. It seems Southern Africa continues to dominate on the countdown, with South Africa replacing Angola as the nation with the most music videos. Freshlyground is already on the countdown with their first single of the Ma'cheri album called Pot belly.

It seems South African men are taking to the rhythm and blues genre pretty well. After being dominated by Kwaito, House, Afro-pop and Reggae, Loyiso and Tumi are leading the surge of male crooners.

See the previous countdown here for the Adara music video by Sasha.

To the countdown,
10 Siphokazi (South Africa) - Amacala

9 Tumi (South Africa) - Give me you

8 Buraka Som Sistema ft Petty (Angola) - Wawaba (V1.8)