By Geoffrey Korio and Mkala Mwangesha
On a chilly Tuesday morning, the Pulse crew sets off to the Calif Records studios in Greenfield Estate, Nairobi, on a fact finding mission.
We pitch camp outside the home of genge and as the morning wears out, there is no sign of business at the once busy studio.
Finally, one of the stable’s assistant producer Pararo shows up. He is uncomfortable with our presence. After a little chat, he informs us that the studio has taken a one-week sabbatical to give artistes time to rest. That we find strange. We try to reach out to the stable’s executive director, Clemo, who informs us that he is “out of town”.
About three weeks ago, three of the stable’s artistes Kendi, Vanika and Q-tasi quit as allegations of poor management spiralled.
Symptoms that all was not well at Calif emerged last year as two of its die-hards, Size 8 and Choku (the latter formerly of the Calif Angels) announced their departure. At the time, Calif closed its doors at its traditional Calif Estate before establishing base at Greenfield, in the outskirts of the city. Then dropped the shocker bombshell, Calif was said to be closing down.
Blame games
After 12 years in business, a time during which it gave birth to some of the biggest artistes in the land, including Nonini, Jua Cali, Pili pili, Choku, Mejja and Jimw@t among others, in house squabbles, mistrust and poor artiste management and failure to read the signs of the times are said to be the genesis of the current crisis threatening to bring Calif Records down to its knees.
Besides, cut throat competition from the stable’s old rivals and new stables that have brought with them more versatile sounds credited on new age music technology as well as sprouting fusion genres — now popular among masses — seems to have posed major handles at the genge household, the original home of the colloquial streetwise sheng rhymes. However, the Calif boss and his trusted old guard Paul Nunda aka Jua Cali, as well as the stable’s manager, Thomas Mahondo, seem to be in denial.
“Those (singers) who have left are simply lazy people. The label does not work with lazy people,” Jua Cali told Pulse, sentiments that were echoed by Clemo.
“There is no crisis at all, everything is being blown out of proportion. People have been moving out of Calif since the days of Nonini. Artistes moving out doesn’t amount to a crisis,” Thomas adds.
“Some artistes got ‘better’ offers elsewhere and I wish them all the best,” Clemo remarked, playing down claims that his genge gem was losing its glory.
Size 8’s windfall
When Size 8 left Calif last year after recording her Shamba Boy single, all had not been well and it would appear that her singing potential was not being well tapped last year’s credits are anything to go by. At Jomino Studio — which is also experiencing its own management squabbles — Size 8 recorded her hit single Fire, credited for her current run way music success.
Her fresh windfall, which poured in financial dividends, then saw her move to Homeboyz where she recorded Silali alongside Ally B before moving to Ogopa — where she has pitched to record a number of songs.
“I don’t have any beef with Calif or Clemo. I am a versatile artiste who simply went out to look for a new sound,” notes the sassy booty-shaking singer who won the Zumari Best Female Artiste award late last year, thanks to Fire.
Contract issues
It’s a similar tune with Jibeba singer Vanika, who recorded with Calif for two years before calling it quits. Having received a better deal from a sponsor, she decided it was time to part ways with Calif. Her new bid with her sponsor had several stipulations including change of the music style; a style that was not offered by Calif Records.
But it was a bitter fallout for Kendi and Calif after eight years of courtship. After realising that her music career wasn’t growing, Kendi decided to pack her bags and leave Calif, a move that received a major verbal backlash from the genge housekeepers.
“My contract with Calif was about to expire and I decided to move on and do something different. Unfortunately, Calif took the whole issue personally,” Kendi told Pulse.
“I felt that Calif was a bit unprofessional in the way they handled artistes. Sometimes, I felt that some artistes were neglected as the directors gave more focus to a few individuals,” laments Q-tasi, who is now managed by M-Tech.
Some artistes who did not want to be named alluded that only top artistes like Jua Cali and Mejja were favoured when it came to recording and awarding concerts, hence the fall out.
Verbal deals
A majority of those who departed were signed verbally, with no legal agreement on the terms they were to work with.
“So long as they have no obligations to me, which is not stipulated in any documented contract, they can basically do whatever they want. It was all about hierarchy issues,” states Q-tasi.
One musician said he would come early in the morning only to hit the studio later on in the evening.
Another erstwhile artiste confessed that big artistes often got recording favours as upcoming artistes were ejected from the recording booth.
Unpaid dues
Refuting the claims, Thomas explains that Calif had fundamental structures that have been set up to ensure the continuity of the stable.
“From Clemo to Jua Cali to Nonini to Pilipili to Jimw@t to Mejja, these structures are elementary, as every artiste is supposed to support another one to come up,” he remarks.
“Calif has two producers and two studios, meaning there is enough time for every artiste to have his work done. Jua Cali has his own studio at home. He does not need to record every song at Calif,” added Thomas, also admitting that most of the contracts the stable had with outgoing artistes were verbal.
In addition to the unfolding drama in the stable, others artistes have claimed unpaid fees regarding performance shows as the impetus towards their departure.
“Calif is all about under-cutting and low bidding when it comes to concert deals,” one of the artistes claimed.
Besides, 12 years down the lane, many blame Calif’s current woes on its failure to discover that times have changed and they need to up their game in terms of style, sound and quality of videos to regain their lost glory.
