Ogopa Deejays, Calif Records, Homeboyz: Record labels that shaped Kenya's music

The Kenyan music scene has undergone a tremendous change in sound in the last 20 years, and record labels, not even artistes, have had much say in that. Exactly 20 years ago, no studio was producing more songs and the best hits than Homeboyz. 2004 was the year of 'Homeboyz Producshizzle', with Eric Musyoka laying tracks for anyone and everyone who wanted the a fresh sound in town and could afford the studio fees. This budding entertainment organisation was to eventually have an events arm, a radio station, a deejay academy and a weekly TV show. This Homeboyz wave would have its moments, with Prezzo and Bamboo choosing Homeboyz to record Shika Nare, an end-of-a-beef jam that was written for the dancefloor. Musyoka, the Kisima Award for Producer for the Year in 2006, would eventually leave Homeboyz to school before starting his studio and label, Decimal Records. But before that, he would cement a legacy of smash hits that placed Homeboyz at the epitome of Kenyan excellence. This through songs like Nataka Nini (Bamzigi), Nipe Nikupe (AY and Prezzo), Watasema Sana (TID and Nazizi), Leta Wimbo (Sema), Keroro (Nonini), and Furahiday (Nameless and Nonini), Najidai (Nameless and Nyashinski) and that's just between 2003 to 2005. No one else but Musyoka shaped and popularized the Homeboyz sound. But he was not the first, there are a long line of Kenyan producers and sound engineers that have shaped contemporary showbiz in a span of just 30 years. Ogopa DJs While Kalamashaka's Ni Wakati signalled a shift from the safe raps and rhymes of Five Alive, it took the year 1999 for the country to start to embrace the newest sound in the country, the Ogopa sound. Nameless and Amani's Ninanoki was not only a revolutionary track, it was also fresh, loud and hot. Ninanoki was an introduction to one of Kenya's finest record studios and labels, Ogopa DJs. By the time Kleptomaniax was doing Tuendelee in 2004, a response to a never-ending but jealous beef with rappers from other studios, it had been five years of the best run on music charts and performance cycles by any production house. With a style that was to be later known as 'Boomba', about the boom-pap beats that wowed the dancefloor, the studio by Lucas and Francis Bikedo housed the biggest names. There were Mr Googz & Vinnie Banton, Tattuu, Mr Lenny, Wahu, The Longombas, E-sir, Deux Vultures, Redsan, and K-Rupt, working side by side with African giants like Peter Miles, Bebe Cool and Chameleone. While Ogopa had a host of in-house producers, the little-known duo of Lucas and Francis ran the show, where everything was planned to a T, including which artiste released what and when. "There was a lot of professionalism on play," Ogopa's former manager and the face of the label, Emmanuel Banda, was once quoted saying, on what set the label apart. "Our music quality was high, and we had a clear calendar on when to push certain projects and artistes. We also taught our musicians the need to work as a team and pull each other up. It was like living in a family. We moved together. We worked together. We were one." And because of the magnanimity and huge presence of the label, other artistes and producers grew jealous, hence Tuendelee and Kapuka by K South. Samawati Studio Kapuka by K South was an industry review like Jay Z's DOA, an artiste's complaint with a music trend. In this case, the repetitive ka-pu-ka sound that most Ogopa DJs music sounded like. Samawati Studio was an old label that acquired a collection of hardheads in the duo of Bamboo and Doobeez, Mercy Myra and Attitude. Owned by then couple, Gido and Suzzane Kibukosya, the man behind the democratization of the sound was Ennovator, better known as Tim Rimbui, an extremely talented sound engineer who was producing music for older folks with the thick skin to take on labels and hoods. Ennovator created a distinct sound that would forever be attached to him, an experimental repertoire that included Indian neighbours voicing bhangra ad-libs. "We did that album from start to finish, I think in three months," Ennovator said on the CTA podcast, referring to Nairobizm, K South's geographically named album that had hits like Kapuka, Nyama, and The Rhythm. Ennovator would go on to build Gospel Fathers as a rap brand. Blu Zebra By the time Necessary Noize II: Kenyan Gal, Kenyan Boy was coming out in 2004, Blu Zebra as a label was on its last life, having held the game for almost a decade. A one-man show by the legendary Tedd Josiah, Blu Zebra did the heaviest lifting outside of Ogopa Djs, being the home of hardstone, Necessary Noize, Gidi Gidi Maji Maji, Kalamashaka, and later, Wicky Mosh and Didge. A perfectionist who taught Wyre the ropes, Tedd was always a class act, a man ready to try out different sounds and stand out, taking budding rappers from Dandora and popularising them as K-Shaka, the godfathers who revolutionized Kenyan rap music. Saa Zingine (Didge), Uhiki (Hardstone), Tafsiri Hii (Kalamashaka), Clang Clang (Necessary Noize), Fanya Mambo (Kalamashaka), Kisumu 100 (Suzanna Owiyo) and Unbwogable (Gidi Gidi Maji Maji) are not your ordinary hits; they don't conform to any Kenyan style but Tedd's original style. "I would spend months with an artiste before we recorded; it allowed me to align with their thoughts," Tedd has said of his process. "I also asked them not to mention me in the records because I felt that was their space." While Tedd has stopped making music, choosing other ventures like leather crafts, it's safe to say Blue Zebra wrote and created music, not a sound. Ulopa Ngoma In between the Ogopa hegemony, Homeboyz' freshness and Calif Record's muscle, Gido Kibukosya's nephew Ulopa emerged with another sound. This one was distinct for something that had never been done before - a sound engineer who laced super amazing hooks. "Ningekua jogoo, jogoo eeh',"Ulopa sang on the infamous Jogoo, one of the many racy songs by Wakimbizi. Wakimbizi had picked DJ Stone as a stepping stone to showbiz, but it was under Ulopa that the star sored highest. That Ulopa is talented is not in doubt, having produced and sang hooks for Tatuu, Klepto (minus Nyashinski), Prezzo, and his Side B ensemble, while producing smash shits like Shavy and Slice's Gyal "Using what everyone uses but thinking outside the box," Ulopa explained when asked about the growth of Kenya's studios at BBC1 1xtra. Calif Records While Kapuka showed the frustration of some artistes to the Boomba wave, Calif Record's took Ogopa's popularity head on with a roster of street fighters who came out with an alternative sound. Until Manzi Wa Nairobi came out, local showbiz hadn't cancelled anyone yet. Nonini's ode to the city woman was so iconic and racy, many wondered how a studio would go eelease the song and even shoot a video to it Calif was the opposite of Ogopa and so different that for a year or two, anything from anywhere else was extra. A healthy competition, radio charts and deejay sets were populated with only Ogopa and Calif. Made in the streets for the streets, Calif music was played in matatus and gave budding Eastland artistes hope that they don't have to shed their skin to make it, all from the confines of Clemmo's parents' living room. "He was making the tracks in the living room, all the equipment fit on his parent's dining table," former Calif's CEO Thomas Mahondo once said. Nonini, Jua Cali, Lady S, Ratatat, Flexx, Pilipili, Mejja, Jimwat and others were releasing songs by the week, and supported by an in-house audio-visual production that had found a style so simple and repetitive that it caught on fast. Gandpa Records Just like Calif, another studio that changed the game by inviting an underrepresented demographic was Grandpa Records. Ran by Refigah with a host of producers under his spell, they started a sound which Kenrazy eventually named 'ghipuka', a mishmash of genge (Calif) and kapuka (Ogopa). It's also one of the last studios and labels to introduce a sound, having started operations in 2010. He started Grandpa Records in 2010, and within six months, he says, he had reduced Naija and Bongo music to a few hits. "Within six months, we killed the foreign invasion (Naija and Bongo music) and I honestly achieved more than I set out to do when we started Grandpa," he says. The studio churned out dancefloor hits like Dumbala, Kamua, Fimbo Chapa, Maswali ya Polisi, Hivo Ndio Kunaendanga, Tempo, and Rede, while housing the likes of Dugla Diligon, Visita, DNA, Kenrazy, Gin Ideal, Pizo Dizo, Majirani, and Kidis. "In terms of monetary value, we made money with Grandpa."

Ogopa Deejays, Calif Records, Homeboyz: Record labels that shaped Kenya's music

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