#MTVMAMA-WHY WAS EAST AFRICA LEFT OUT?!

By Byaruhanga Felix (@TheNinjaFelix) – Dissatisfied Blogger and Music Fanatic & Kyle Duncan Kushaba (@uptownkyle) - Dissatisfied Media Journey man and Recording Artiste.

Last Wednesday (16th April 2014) MTV Base announced the 2014 nominees (see full list here) for the MAMAs after a 3-year break. First of all congratulations to all the sponsors, a big thank you to the sponsors and the team at MTV but we as East Africans, we are not satisfied in the least.

So let’s focus on the nominees; this year has Nigeria with the most nominees, as usual (11 out of the 15categories) including the non-musical categories, and then followed by South Africa. East Africa managed to scoop only four nods (Sauti Sol, Amani, Diamond, Radio and Weasel) which left us with a lot of unanswered questions. What does this mean for East Africa?! What are the chances that East Africa was left out in most categories? Does this mean East Africa isn’t at par with the rest of Africa when it comes to producing quality music and videos that surpass the MTV Base standard or are our artistes not creative/hardworking as we thought? The answer is definitely NO!!!! And a resounding NO.

Look at guys like Navio (Uganda), Octopizzo (Kenya), Victoria Kimani(Kenya), Keko (Uganda), Ruyonga (Uganda), Ommy Dimpoz (Tanzania), Vannessa Mdee (Tanzania) and many more. These guys have worked their asses off but MTV doesn’t recognize that. WHY?

Probably someone reading this is thinking that yeah East Africa had nice music but they considered music between March 20^th 2013-March 19^th 2014 and also airplay of the songs on MTV Base; you are right and we put that into consideration. When you do some digging for example for the artistes we have mentioned above they released some great material within that time frame and amazing stuff at that. As for airplay those artiste’s songs did get some heavy rotation some ended up on the MTV Base countdown, on the MTV Base website. The songs went ahead to get airplay on other Africa’s music channels like Channel O, Sound city and Trace Urban. So why does East Africa have few Nominations?

It’s Business Nothing Personal.

So we dug in and realized MTV is pretty much a business organization that cares where it cashes in the most!

At the end of the day we will have to come down to numbers, are sponsors and the team at MTV getting their worth?! As of 2012 East Africa (Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania) has over 22Million internet users all together while Nigeria has over 48Million users and South Africa over 8million users. MTV boasts of 48.5million viewers in 48 African countries.

So roughly let’s consider (assume) 1/4 of each country’s/region’s internet users contribute to the MTV viewership, they are interested in the awards will vote and contribute to the hash tag ‘#MTVMAMA’ (making it trend/go viral). That will give us over 5million active online viewers in East Africa, 12million active online users in Nigeria and 2million active online users in South Africa. Ideally if you’re not running an NGO like a commercial TV station you will consider different ways of minimizing expenses and ensuring a viral/trending (promo) for your event the fact that it involves voting online. As a result you have to consider the stakeholders (countries) with the numbers and give them first priority, because at the end of the day you have a sponsor (who wants to sell his product as you also achieve your goal) and a large number of people who subscribe to your TV to entertain (giving them a reason to stay tuned in and bring others on board); Thus some countries being left out and some artist’s hard work not being recognized.

But how come Channel O doesn’t follow this theory? How come they balance their nominations? Wait for this year’s nomination list and you will see what we mean here. (And by the way Kudos to Leslie Kasumba and the entire Channel O for their exceptional work and their undying love for African Music)

Don’t get us wrong, we are not saying artistes from West Africa or south Africa don’t work hard, they do in fact every artist who is nominated deserves it and has put in a lot to get there. All we are saying is that East Africa was given little consideration (left out). There is still time MTV, Make some changes.

Connect/Contact Writers:

Facebook:Byaruhanga Felix

Twitter:@TheNinjaFelix

Email:felixbyaruhanga@gmail.com

Facebook: KYLE

Twitter: @UptownKyle

Email: uptownkyle@gmail.com

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#Yansakata-Kyle ft. FlexD'Paper [Song Review + Download]

By @MarriedToKush

I am pretty sure the phrase “Yansakata, yansakata, yansakata kiboko nazimatira” is familiar to most of us from our childhood days. Well, Kyle (@uptownKyle) borrowed that phrase, called up one of his buddies first name Flex, last name D’Papper and made a song about it.

Whaaat?

Hey, relax. The man released a song; he did not bring world peace. As I was saying, Yansakata  is  song telling  a story/ experience/ feelings of  a boy (young man) who is smitten by a girl (young lady) he just met and just like one would expect, it is the ultimate song for people who are drunk in love or working towards achieving that goal.

Kyle has continued to prove to us that he means business in our entertainment industry and is here to stay, as he releases hit after hit. Brother is shaking things up!

There are many things that contribute to a good song for example; a great beat, catchy lyrics, great production, well thought & selected out artists to be featured and a unique voice. Yansakata is what we call a breath of fresh air as it combines all the above aspects. It is because of this that I can confidently request you to go ahead and DOWNLOAD it.

Producer:Dreign

Length: 3:40

Genre: RnB   
Watch Behind The Scenes Of The Yet To Be Released Yansakata Video Here.
Connect with Kyle;
Twitter: @UptownKlye
Facebook: KYLE LIVE ON SMASH
.reverbnation.com/iamuptown 
Connect With @MarriedToKush (twitter) 

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SANTANA RELEASES DANGEROUS SONG : LULIBA OLWO

By Mubanza Haggai (@mubanza)

Okay, now that you're here, the song is not dangerous but Santana features fellow 100 Acres member Glen Fame and it is produced by K.Wills at Speed Moja Productions.

The song has a catchy relaxed feel to it as Santana delivers with witty lines while Glen Fame does justice to the hook.

Download link below.

Luliba Olwo - Santana ft. Glen Fame

Connect With Santana.

Facebook : Santana Karma

Twitter : @SantanaKarma

Contact Writer.

Facebook : Mubanza Haggai

Twitter : @mubanza

Instagram : @mubanza

Email : mubanza@gmail.com

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NO OTHER-SONNY [Song Review]

By Byaruhanga Felix (@TheNinjaFelix)

If you follow the Ugandan urban music then Sonny(@Sonny_Soweez) isn't new to you and your play-list. She has three singles (including No Other) and she appears on a number of hip-hop songs like St.Nelly Sade's  'love Story' where she lends her vocals. In case it's your first time to listen to her music then  relax, you will be hooked  after listening to 'No Other'.

 NO OTHER  produced by JohnieBeats of BigTune studios gives Sonny ample empty space and time to to exercise her vocal powers. No Other is one of those songs that will make you think of that one person that has been there for you through the ups and downs. Ciddy (@CiddyThaillest) jumps on to express his love side along the lines 'You give me all the strength to get up when I'm falling for you/If true love really waits, i don't know patience payments'. No Other is set to be released today.

Connect with Sonny:
Facebook: Sonny Soweez
Twitter: @Sonny_Soweez
Music Download: http://www.hulkshare.com/SO-NNY
Instagram: @SonnySoweez

Contact Writer:
Facebook:Byaruhanaga Felix
Twitter: @TheNinjaFelix 
Email: felixbyaruhanaga@gmail.com

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GO HARD - The-Mith [Song Review]

By Byaruhanga Felix (@TheNinjaFelix)

In my last blog-post I introduced Mr.So UG's 'Go Hard' with a snippet; in case you're just getting to know "Go Hard" it's the the second official single off The-Mith's Sophomore album 'Destination:Africa'.

It's packed with heavy lines that The-Mith accurately delivers  on a chilled trap-ish hard beat produced by one of the top UG hip-hop producers, Aethan and Samurae. On this track he gives a reason to his rivals why he is at  the top level and he is not there to claim the spot but to own it.

"Here’s a track for my rivals/

I’m taking all of their titles/

So clear the track for my arrival/

I came, I conquered/

Run the game without no sponsors/

Topped the game from all 4 corners/

Bruce Wayne/ no Joker/"

 

 

As you go ahead to listen to the track you notice that The-Mith has mastered the art and his craft is on point. With tracks like Winner and Go Hard being released it shows you a clear picture of what to expect on the entire album. 

Listen To GO HARD here.

Get GO HARD Lyrics here.

Connect With The-Mith:
Twitter: @TheMithMusic
Facebook: TheMithMusic
www.road2destinationafrica.blogspot.com

Contact Writer:
Twitter: @TheNinjaFelix
Facebook: Byaruhanaga Felix
Email: felixbyaruhanga@gmail.com

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GO HARD - The-Mith [Destination:Africa]

By Byaruhanga Felix (@TheNinjaFelix)

Earlier this month, The-Mith launched a blog “Road2DestinationAfrica” dedicated to his sophomore album Destination:Africa, through this blog he has been giving updates about the album and other projects he happens to feature on like the “UG Cypher”.

This week he announced the release of his second single “Go Hard” off the album followed up by the snippet of the song. Go Hard is produced by Aethan one of the UG TopHip-Hop producers and mastered by Samurae. In an interview via The-Mith’s blog Aethan says the song was partially inspired by Wonder Wall a 1995 song by the English band Oasis. (read full interview here)

Mr.So UG is set to perform the single for the first time tonight at kwivuga and it will be officially released on 01.03.14.

Listen to Go Hard Snippet Here.

Connect with The-Mith

Twitter: @TheMithMusic
Facebook: TheMithMusic

www.road2destinationafrica.blogspot.com

Contact Writer:
Twitter: @TheNinjaFelix
Facebook: Byaruhanga Felix
felixbyaruhanga@gmail.com

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