something from the vaults... 1998

Hip Hop artists Oteraw, Kama and Johny from Dandora Nairobi, formed Kalamashaka aka K-Shaka in the mid 90's. Kshaka went straight to No1 with this song Songa Hapa and stayed there. The song featured the sweet tones of Natasha Gatabaki. The understated beat, depth and contrasts in this song make it as potent now as it was then.



Artist: Kalamashaka ft Natasha Gatabaki
Song: Songa Hapa
Album: Ni Wakati
Year: 1998
Producer: Tedd Josiah
Record Label: Blu Zebra




 Lyrics:

Chorus [Nikki]

Songa hapa nikuelezee yalo moyoni

tukifika ukingoni

tutarudia mwanzoni

Songa hapa nikuelezee yalo moyoni

tukifika ukingoni

tutarudia mwanzoni

Verse 1

umeni-attract vile mic yu-attract MCs

tunafaa ku-catch breeze kule West Indies

nakutamani, toka zamani

figure yako, mwili yako, sura yako that pretty face

makes me feel so good

kama Mase niaje, sema

ingawa Beemer sina

expensive dinner Steers pesa sina,

lakini nitakupatia satisfaction

tukiwa si wawili, nikupatie action

mi sio amateur, si-need introduction

nikupe Thriller, mpaka usahau Michael Jackson

first things first...

body massage

relax Oteraw sasa yuko in charge

nipe ulimi dondosa

haki huna makosa

unafaa kucheki vile wewe ni kipusa

kila nikikucheki ninataka kukugusa

Chorus [Nikki]

Songa hapa nikuelezee yalo moyoni

tukifika ukingoni

tutarudia mwanzoni

Songa hapa nikuelezee yalo moyoni

tukifika ukingoni

tutarudia mwanzoni

Verse 2

toka zamani nilikuwa nikitafuta

lakini siku moja wewe nilikukuta

ulinipeleka high ni kama... nimevuta

walai, nataka kukubamba wewe kuja

uwe wangu moja namba

nikupeleke kwa yangu keja kule viti tu-get kinky without SWV

niwe nawe mpaka siku nita-meet

Tupac na BIG

ile kitu chanijazz kukuhusu umenicheki kwenye TV

na pia niki-wreck mic yo

na bado wee hujipi

vipi, wataka nini

nikupe three wishes kama genie

lakini mimi binadamu

na nina hamu ya kukudara

kwanza nikiona watabasamu

naitwa na romance kama butler

kuja uwe wangu Cleopatra

niwe wako, Black Julius Caesar

unachohitaji ntahimiza

sikiza, supuu, word is bond

without mavinyu let's get it on

on and on and on

till the break of dawn

Chorus [Nikki]

Songa hapa nikuelezee yalo moyoni

tukifika ukingoni

tutarudia mwanzoni

Songa hapa nikuelezee yalo moyoni

tukifika ukingoni

tutarudia mwanzoni

Verse 3

si siri

wewe ni mzuri mpaka John Pope wa pili

akikuona haki atasema [my, my, my]

kuja hivi tu-get S.E.X

kichwa hivi nitakupa

mpaka utadhani

eti Romeo amefufuka

honey,'kidhani nikikuona natamani

niingize mguu wa tatu huko ndani

kwani, nacheki hiyo booty

nawaza niikute

niivuruge

hadi mbao wee utupe

njoo tuvuke

baby boo, mpaka kule Dandora

phase two kwa paradise

yangu bora

yenye miguu nne na matress kubwa

ya Nakumatt

panda

zima taa

kisha washa mshumaa

kichuma

oh yes

siku hizi mambo yangu yako B to the O-X

word check

kama L to the O-X

wanadhani nina manupaa wa end respect

wanataka S to the E-X

word play

lakini yo ni wewe ninataka nawadia kama vile P to the O-X

Chorus [Nikki]

Songa hapa nikuelezee yalo moyoni

tukifika ukingoni

tutarudia mwanzoni

Songa hapa nikuelezee yalo moyoni

tukifika ukingoni

tutarudia mwanzoni

Lyrics provided by http://www.kenyanlyrics.com/

• at Thursday, April 12, 2012
• Posted by Tedd Josiah

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drumming on the border...

"On one of my trips to Africa I went up into a village on the Kenya Uganda border and recorded a 'jam session' put on for me by a group from the village.


Filming this made me think... What will happen to this generation of drummers in Africa? In Kenya there is no support for cultural projects and very soon players such as these will be no more."


TRIBAL GROOVES from Tedd Josiah on Vimeo.

• at Saturday, April 07, 2012
• Posted by Tedd Josiah

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Hip-Hop has its roots in Africa

The importance of Hip-Hop in Kenya during the last 15 years...

"Hip-Hop has its roots in Africa, we cannot forget that. And African music was all about, especially, I would say Hip-Hop was very much the youth, the warrior, the young person, who's just broken into his youth and discovered that he's such a strong person and so on."

Tedd, Hip-Hop Colony Movie

Interview snippets by Tedd from the award winning Emerge Media Films movie 'Hip-Hop Colony' 2005
(click the play button for player to load)

Hip-Hop Colony Trailer 1
Hip-Hop Colony Trailer 2

Website: Hip-Hop Colony

Hip-Hop Archives for more on the Hip-Hop story...

• at Sunday, March 18, 2012
• Posted by Tedd Josiah

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Archive Radio Interview from 2003

Archive Radio Interview with Daniel Brown 2003

"On Tedd Josiah’s return from a stay in the US he opened his state-of-the-art Blu Zebra studio in Nairobi. We caught up with the mercurial producer there in July 2003 to discuss the state of Kenyan music."  Daniel Brown

Tedd talks on the state of Kenyan music (interview part 1)
2003 interview with Tedd (part 2)
2003 interview with Tedd (part 3)
2003 interview with Tedd (part 4)
2003 interview with Tedd (part 5)
2003 interview with Tedd (part 6)

"It's bizarre because I remember when i grew up, I grew up in the States, but I was listening to all this Kenyan music that my dad had brought with him and it was so beautiful. And I came back and there was none of that music anymore on radio or in the clubs. There were no bands performing it, so when I came back, I came back with that passion of... I wanna do this, I wanna do it right."

• at Friday, March 16, 2012
• Posted by Tedd Josiah

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Welcome

Welcome and thanks for visiting my new site.

This is not just my story but the story of Kenyan and African music; a journey that will carry on.

I also want to take the opportunity over time to share with you some of the new African sounds I am enjoying now - please stay tuned!


... and don't forget to join me on any of my other social channels.

Tedd

• at Thursday, March 15, 2012
• Posted by Tedd Josiah

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