CHICAGO HOSTS AFRICA'S FINEST

At the beginning of the week, the windy city of Chicago, USA had the opportunity of hosting a group of very lively African guests courtesy of one of the worlds biggest music companies:- SONY Music and their affiliate RockStar4000. The African guests were none other than the members of the continent’s biggest super group – One8 who were in town to record some hits for their upcoming album plus to link up with one of the city’s major music names. The 8 acts who are some the best that their countries have produced on the musical map landed on American soil in style and pomp ready to get the work done.

First off, the One8 team arrived in Chicago to scan out the city and get everything rolling African style. They were soon followed by the artists who started flocking in from their countries. First to arrive were Uganda’s Navio with Zambia’s JK. They were followed by DRC’s golden child of song Fally Ipupa before everyone else slowly trickled in. Amani of Kenya and Nigeria’s 2Face were the last to arrive in Chicago where the rest of the group was already bonding and feeding off each others musical vibes. As soon as they were all on the ground, it was time to hit the studio where the music making began.

The vibe in that studio this whole week was so ecstatic it could have woken up great African music icons such as Fela Kuti and Miriam Makeba. Note that this is the first time a conscious effort has been made to bring together top African artists from different countries in one studio to make music that will be marketed all over the globe. Together, these young African artists witnessed and made history all at once. The studio was abuzz with different African vibes – Uganda’s Ugaflow, Ghana’s hip-life franco-hiphop of Gabon, DRC’s Lingala, Bongoflava of Tanzania, Boomba of Kenya and Naija swag.

This was a week for the whole group to learn each other’s music but also to fit in with each others’ vibes and feel each other. Being that that they were on foreign turf this was a perfect opportunity for all these musicians to bring out the best about their individual countries while taking tips from their counterparts. These being some of the best the continent has ever produced musically be prepared for some of the best music the continent has heard in a long time. The bomb video has been shot too. Keep here for more about ONE8, RockStar4000 and get a chance to hear the baddest African song.

www.myone8.com, www.facebook.com/one8, www.twitter.com/myone8, http://buddhablazeworld.blogspot.com, www.youtube.com/one8tv

ONE8: AFRICA’S SUPER GROUP CONTINUES TO GROW WINGS

When SONY affiliate record label ROCK 4000 decided to form an African super group of musicians called One8, they must have had in perspective the enormous appetite of the average African music lover. Since they started signing artists a few weeks ago they have acquired artistes with diverse styles and from totally different countries. The latest catch in the race to form this African super group of artists is a Paris based hip-hop duo from Gabon called Movaizhaleine.



Movaizhaleine affectionately known as MH is a duo influenced by activism for Africa and they are strong believers in the rehabilitation of history. Their debut album Mission and second album Mission Akomplie were great successes all over Gabon proving the duo had what it takes to achieve more across the African continent. Their third album On Detient La Harpe Sacree was a best selling record that put their name firmly on the music map. Their fourth album TOME 2 contained a political track ‘Nous’ which won the Video of the Year at MTV Mama Music Awards 2008. MH hold an annual event in Gabon called Le Show Du Pays (The Show of the Nation) which reaffirms the values of conscious hip-hop. They bring cultural diversity to One8. Check out their video: www.youtube.com/one8tv



They join Uganda’s top hip-hop artist Navio (Daniel Kigozi) who’s been on the scene for ten years with a group of five rappers called Klear Kut. First produced by top producer Steve Jean, Klear Kut made a name for themselves with the single ‘Nothing Wrong Wit A Lil Doe’ winning critical acclaim throughout Uganda. They were the first hip-hop group in Uganda to be accepted into the mainstream and have stayed there ever since. Klear Kut’s first album Klear Kut had major hits including the single ‘All I Wanna Know’ featuring Juliana. The video for this track pioneered earned Klear Kut an award nomination for Most Promising Group at KORA All Music Awards 2002. In 2003 Klear Kut won the Best Hip Hop Group award at Uganda’s Pearl of Africa Music Awards. Navio’s has moved to pursue a solo career to expose his Uga-flow style with a debut album Half the Legend establishing him into the biggest names in the East African hip-hop. Check out his video: www.youtube.com/one8tv


Another member of the group is Zambia’s biggest super star JK also known as Jordan Katembula. He has single handedly changed the way changed the way Zambian music is viewed. Starting out in professionally in 1997 performing for several bands, he eventually dropped his self-titled solo album in the year 2000. Containing hits such as ‘Nkafikilisha’ and ‘Balekuzembeleka’ he stamped his name firmly as Zambia’s number one young artist. JK has released another three more albums which have a rhumba meet reggae and Rn’B feel to it and appealing to both older and young fans. He continues to pack sold out concert halls in Zambia. Check out his video: www.youtube.com/one8tv


Another member of One8 is Tanzanian heartthrob Ali Kiba, a major singer at the top of the food chain of a genre called Bongo Flava (combination of hip-hop and Tanzanian Rn’B). In east Africa Ali Kiba is known everywhere and his music plays widely amongst the youth and the wazees (elders). Bongo Flava is an easy to dance to genre which sounds much like RnB or slow hip-hop and highly influenced by Zouk. Bongo Flava contains mostly of romantic lyrics but some songs have a positive message to society. Some Bongo Flava is just plain naughty and has an extreme party vibe to it. Bongo Flava is Tanzania’s youth expression and one artist that fully embodies the spirit of Tanzania is Ali Kiba. His debut album Cindarella hit the stores in 2008 and contained widely selling hit ‘Cinderella’ which put him firmly on the map of the East African music scene. This album saw him performing all over East Africa and he performed to east African crowds in UK and United States. In 2009 he released his second album Ali K 4 Real that has seen him earn plenty of awards locally and internationally including Best East African Artist at the African Music Awards in London, UK. With a career on the rise, Alikiba brings a unique style and flair to the ONE8 music project.

Ghanaian hip-life trio 4×4 is another member of the One8 group, they released their first album Siklitele in 2003, followed by a second album Contestant Number 1 in 2007. 4×4 has made a massive name for themselves in the Ghanaian music scene because the combine raga, rap and hip-life. They are great role models to the youth in Ghana, 4x4 have worked extremely hard to get where they are today. Their latest album, Hotgirls.com is a blend of foreign touch (hip hop style) but with a local dialect and dancehall flavour. Speaking to Ghanaian media, they stated that “we have introduced this new blend of foreign touch (hip hop style) with local dialect and dancehall to sound different, more productive and very hot.” It is evident these black stars are very passionate about music and the youth; they seem to perfectly fit into the One8 project.



Those are five artists that form One8 currently and the search is on for three more artists to complete the total number of eight. It is said that One8 producers were spotted in Kenya and Nigeria scouting for talent and it has yet to be proven who joins this prestigious group. In Kenya my guess would be Wyre and Nigeria it would be 2Face Idibia but that’s just me guessing. Once the group is complete they combine genres, sounds, voices and audiences to record a super hit with a top American producer based in Chicago this will be the most memorable recording venture ever embarked on in Africa. The track drop in November courtesy of SONY and Rock 4000 Records, who will be next to join this group? Watch this space.

www.myone8.com, www.facebook.com/one8, www.twitter.com/myone8, http://buddhablazeworld.blogspot.com, www.youtube.com/one8tv

One8 - African Music Supper Group

Over the last decade or so, the African music industry has been on an upward rise; never before has there been such promise in the said form of expression. Individual countries such as South Africa, Tanzania, Angola, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana have produced numerous stars but we haven't witnessed that many inter-border collaborations. Because the scene is still young in pretty much every one of these African countries, the scene has been developing on its own without fiscal support from any major. No one has been able to step to the game to unite it.

At least 10 years in the music and arts industry and I've just realized that the only one holding us back is the inability to work together as an African industry. They say that sometimes when you don't expect a thing to happen that's when things actually start happening. So when I heard that SONY affiliate music label Rock 4000 was putting together a super African music group called One8 I was so elated beyond words because this should've happened a few years back. To make it even better is that one of my favorite artists Navio from Uganda was on that list.

Navio is joined by R&B star JK from Zambia, Bongo Flava King Ali Kiba from Tanzania and Ghana's 4 by 4. All these artists who are very talented and popular in their home countries will come together to form the super group One8 for more info visit: www.myone8.com It's about to go down proper! The word is that they are all working some major collaborations and in the next few hours their producer will be annouunced. He is none other than a mysterious producer from the windy city of Chicago. Ur guess is as good as mine. Keep it here for more info as I get it.