Kentse Bardiwang’s #Behind the scenes photo shoot

Event: Launch of Kentse Bardiwang’s E-book Kattey’s Arrow.
Venue: Protea Hotel Mmabatho,Palms
Date and Time: 29th March 2013 6:30pm
After experiencing some of the worst things a girl child can encounter including multiple rape, depression, neglect and low self-esteem, her spirit relentlessly fought to keep searching for her truth. In her own words through interviews that capture her pre-launch moments ‘The Arrow that I was born with to guide me through the journey to my destiny, led and guided me out of situations good and bad; its golden sharp end served as a light in my darkest moments telling me that i was different but not less.’

 

 

 
PAYT our sister organizational trust in South Africa, has taken its milestones higher this year by publishing a talented writer Kentse Bardiwang, whose captivating story has been captured in an e-book titled Kattey’s Arrow.
In retrospect January of 2012 PAYT saw the publishing of  our collaborative music project A Dollar a day. This year Kentse’s   e-book that has been published as part of Lerato Mosimane’s ebook Collections http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/GuyPublishing1 is going live on the launch date today .

 

 

 
Here’s a little something about this book by my acquaintance Kentse Bardiwang whom I can tell you is quite a charming being. Despite all trials and tribulations in her life this burgeoning, bubbly, joyful Tswana girl, has defied the odds and stood tall. As I was speaking to Kentse during her photo shoot, she told me, “I have written this book over 3 years and during that period of time I found my healing.” I mentioned looking forward to her reading during the E-book launch, to which replied, “Tshepo I do not think I will be able to ready any excerpt from my book it, the pain is overwhelms me.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The author continues to say, ‘After 37 years following the Arrow, it finally led me to my destiny Dikgabo Village, a place of remarkable creatures.  Just like Tajewo left home with his brother’s Arrow from the village to become a warrior. My arrow is my Spirit.’
Let’s just say this is a bold step in empowering the confident African woman. Kudos PAYT!

Quiditty from Bots to hit KE sooner than you expected!

Every year Maisha Yetu makes a trip to the SADAC region to touch base with its peer organizations namely; Platinum Africa Youth Tourism (SA) and Mouth of Vigilance(Botswana). Run By Trustee Lerato Mosimane and Atmattatva Das respectively.

Quiddity is a magazine that is published in Botswana by Mouth of Vigilance. The man behind the scene is none other than the Soft spoken Attmatatva Das, Formerly known as Archanagel, Fullovit and also Angell.

Really  I won’t be able to put a label or try to define Quiditty but with simple words that are within my reach I will say, Quiditty ‘Puts you  on!’
Quiditty is a two pager that prints articles on events, artists blogs, and also services provided within this region. That means you could easily send a bio of yourself, a description of your services and a review of your event to angell.nthoi@gmail.com  and you will be plugged on to readership across Africa.
In April Quiditty will hit Nairobi!

Who is Tshepo Tebogo?

As Maisha yetu staff, I have to admit this was meant to be a short vacation, am talking 3 days, but with a 30 day visa, it would be a waste not to put to in work for at least 3  weeks. Compared to last year I have done very little, that being said only one recording of my first single from my Solo album (Yet to be named) under my new identity Tshepo Tsebogo. You wanna ask why it is am changing my name?  First it’s symbolism for giving up my definition as a citizen constrained by demarcations and borders. Am also excited to explore the suppressed personality of a jubilant outgoing, bold and outspoken Tshepo!

I am eager to be free from stereotypes that have bound me for years in my land of birth. Yes hoping calm prevails because from what i hear over this end, it’s hectic.  Am just saying it’s only Tshepo that I can use to navigate through the constraints set by my native tongue! Tshepo Tebogo Sestswana for To Hope and to thank!

Lastly the role model tag has never augured well with me,i want to be free and am paying for my freedom by putting down my thoughts and feelings on  MM3rd’s experimental, alternative Hiphop genre. Am talking a Black African rapper, spitting bars and hooks over a production  such as  EL_P’s Cancer for cure, you feel me?
So to execute this plan properly, am hoping to make it back here in September. Then work on my Solo album. If i play by  Bebe Ketchupe’s bid, she could just see me through this project. Oh and by the way that’s Maisha Yetu’s main sponsor.
So yeha Tshepo … I think most won’t like him like they did Muki but you know.. ain’t nothing as stale as an artist or a country that  doesn’t morph!

Apu & Beckz -Monkey barz album dropping soon!

Apu sebekedi and beckz Selalome are working on an album. How does this work? First its definitely a blazing Motswako collab! How do i know? Apu known for his jumpy high impact thermogenic monkey beats, mushing up with fierce verbal tongue lashes from Beckz ( of the reknown baby butt soft hit). Yes you might as well get your work out gear ready, and the best ear and headphones because i guarantee you its a certified head nod.

Last i checked with these two MCs they were in Pretoria recording,mixing and mastering. I have had the priviledge of hanging out with ApU and truth be told his creative spontaneity will awe you! The first time i met Apu in MAftown at Unit 6, he had conjured a hook from the first two lines i had in my convo with him. Hence the track Mad ol.

Play Mad Ol‘

Enter Beckz Selalome who according to me doesn’t need any  introduction. When i first heard Baby butt soft in 2010 and it was a heavy rotation anthem that i shared with connects across the globe! The feedback, hectic! Tswana rap was blazing from jeep speakers from Dar-e-salaam Tanzania to Ann Arbor Michigan.

Really i can confirm that yes, the two are working on an album which will be released soon, but i don’t have the dates. Yeha sad to say that because since am close with these two cats i thought i’d have more info, i guess they’ve kept the lid tight shut because of a leakage that occured during their mastering. Well the game is rigged and these young cats are working on their bit to midwife this long awaited Geen Suebat themed album to your ears.

Lastly Geen suebat is a hand throwing resentment attitude towards any form of frustration.. more like saying Yabasta! Enough is enough!

PS : Motswako a way of life – A documentary featuring prominent and upcoming Motswako artists from the Northwest Province of the post apertheid nation was aired this past sunday on South Africa’s EATV.  You’ll definitely notice the presence of these two tswak-ed out Motswakolistas.

Apu shows off his prowess after curtain raising for America’s R&B star Usher during last year’s Pilsner Ansa festival in Mafikeng.

2012 Instrumental Beat tapes from Kenya/SA producers

Dextraw Studio and Ghostchyld entertainment have respectively released instrumental productions in December 2012. I don’t know if they had timed it with the end of the Pisces age. But for sure there is an Aquarian aquatic jazzy trippy souldfoul feel to this bumpy mellow rythms from Naughtywest (Northwest province of the post-apertheid Nation). So as the Kenyan connect, i make a point of  informing you of what is out there that you should Fs with.  In this case we have;

Bonsai Doze by MM3Rd Download 

Bonsai -  (盆栽?, lit. plantings in tray, from bon, a tray or low-sided pot and sai, a planting or plantings,  pronunciation (help·info))[1] 

Bonsai is a  Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers.  How this applies to MM3rD’s beat tape?  perhaps a listen should give you the answer.  Smartly laced with a samurai intro sparking the 20 track session. Produced from the Kitchen of Dextraw studios in Mafikeng am sure this is a proper dose for the summer towards new year aspirations. Not just to rap to but to chill to as well. In my own words and please do not let my abstract self loose you, it exceeds the height of  your expectations in respect to the Bonsai’s tree’s length!

Ghostchyld- Infuzion by Ghostchyld Entertainment    Download

Werewolf K9 from GC  and Bongo Muffin are Keys fiends. I know them, they produced self  titled track on my music project A Dollar a day featuring Akili Blaq.  Yeha these are not your average Hiphop producers!  you know the ones who just lace keys without any method. Well with GC there is a method to their soulful madness for most part K9 built his musical ear on the C -note.  Recently he’s been working alot with TLS from his Jason Adams Ep and now as the world ends with the age of Pisces becoming a past The Infuzion Instrumental edition  ushers in a new age of creativity with no boundaries.

Both productions are available for download and if you decide you wanna mess with these beats am just saying credits are in order.

Sharp, enjoy your festive season peace am out 1000. Miss Maftown loads from these tunes! Hola!

Copyright Intellectual property event recap

Haki Za Msanii is gradually growing and reaching out to young artists and art lovers alike. The informal set up allows artists to engage with panelists and exhaust topics on copyrights and Intellectual property which otherwise may be perceived as  ’difficult’ by the average artist. This year’s event coincided with the Kenya Music week. The proffesionals invited break down the concepts in very palatable formats of presentations for the artists to digest. In attendance as presenters on the 8th of December 2012 were; Mwafrika & Rapcha (Raiyaa NTV) Paul Nzeveka ( Legal Counsel,Kenya copyright Board) Irene Kariuki (Perfomer’s rights society of Kenya) Photos from the event are  also available below.

Irene Kariuki of Perfomer’s Rights Society of Kenya engaging audience on contracts

Download presentation from;  Irene Kariuki of Perfomer’s Rights Society of Kenya  -PRISK

Paul Nzeveka Representative of the Kenya Copyright Board doing his presentation

Download presentation from: Paul Nzeveka Kenya Copyright Board KECOBO

Paying attention costs nothing! Audience engaged

Interaction hour

Guest appearances by Mwafrika and Rapcha of  NTV’s Raiyaa.

We’d like to thank each and everyone of you who managed to attend and those of you who made it possible.

Seasons greetings,2 Rap albums in your christmas package – all that good stuff!

Haaita Daar!  Seasons greetings from our staff at Maisha yetu,Payt & Dextraw Studio

Exactly 11 months ago on 12th of January 2012 we released A Dollar a day. A Pan-African collaborative music project that featured artists from Kenya,SA,Zim,Zambia,Bots,Naija and the states  just to mention but a few.  Now 12,007 free downloads down the line, here’s our appreciation for showing us so much support. To all our fans,critiques,supporters music,art lovers,sponsors we present to you an end-year musical bonus for your christmas package.

Yes ladies and gentlemen we at Dextraw Studio,Payt and Maisha Yetu send you warm tidings during this festive season. For your loyatly and continous suppport we’d like to present you with a christmas musical bonus package i.e A Dollar a day deluxe edition and Cruz Control Vol.1.

The Deluxe edition is a final rendition from a labor love from our producer MM3rD. After remastering all the tracks on the previous release of  the A Dollar a Day album. MM3rd has included  two more tracks i.e. Sunrays by Attmattva Das and fuss test by Akili Blaq ought to make it even heavier for your speakers to deliver. A Dollar a day Deluxe edition gives you the professional aura that sound engineers seek in production. To rappers,poets, and hiphop fans at large, then knowledge inbound suffice to say, is timeless! cuts across all the borders through Sub-saharan Africa and the Diaspora.

After all that seriousness from ADAD, Cruz Control Vol.1 ensures you unwind with High spirits during this festive seasons and beyond. No matter where your are, Summer or winter, day or night, drunk or sober, we strike a balance because all work and no plays….. we need music for any good day!. So think before you shoot… get your fingers off the trigger and go ahead download our music… share with all and Sundry this christmas! A Dollar a day Deluxe edition & Cruz control vol.1

This is a continued effort of collaboration between Kenya  and South Africa in empowering young people to use their talent. To encourage Sub-Saharan African youth to to view themselves as a resource and not a marginalized community.

Aweeee …

Haki Za Msanii -Training workshop

On 8th Of December 2012 The kenya Copyright Board, Maisha Yetu (Kenya) and PAYT  & Dextraw Studio (South Africa) will organize a training for artists in the audio visual category at the Sarakasi Dome. The event kicks off from 11am to 2pm. Kenya’s renown Hiphop artist Mwafrika will be the main artist presenting at the Haki za msanii workshop.  Mwafrika will be presenting on his experience as a TV producer exhibiting productions never seen on TV before. Mwafrika currently a presenter on the TV show Raiyaa will engage the audience on TV production and why he uses comedy to pass social messages.

If you are an artist or art lover and would like to interact with peers from East and Southern Africa this is a forum where you could build your networks and learn more about Intellectual propertly laws. You will also engage with legal representatives from the Kenya copyright board.

Kenya is growing into an advanced society where the information age has set the pace for development in various economic industries. Though overlooked the Creative economy in In Kenya is not yet established in comparison to those of Botswana and South Africa. Nonetheless Kenyan artists have raised their concerns to the civil society to protect their art through organizations such as KAMP and MCSK. In retrospect Kecobo continues to show its resolve in empowering both established and upcoming artists by its continued support to Maisha Yetu,

In its mandate Platinum Africa Youth Trust (PAYT) shares the same objective with Maisha Yetu. Both organizations focus on empowering upcoming performance artists in Kenya by equipping them with knowledge on IP thus giving them an economic edge safeguarding their creative work.

Dextraw studios from Mafikeng,SA continues to record upcoming and established artists releasing albums and mixtapes which are in turn distributed for free download on the internet. Maisha Yetu and Dextraw have shown and exemplified the use of collective ownership of rights in their production with projects such as; A dollar a day and Cruz control.

This is a good opportunity not only to mingle and chill but learn much on how to protect your neck as an artist!

We’ll pen off leave you with some press below from recent weeks;

PAYT’s Lerato Mosimane  honored at the Business Women Association South Africa (BWASA) Regional Business Achievers Awards for her contribution through PAYT as a Social Entrepreneur

PAYT’s Lerato Mosimane Africa Unbound interview

Dextraw Studio executive producer Akili Blaq aka MM#rd at the studio during an interview.

One on one with K9 -The Jason Adams Ep

While in Mafikeng South Africa recently Maisha Yetu Program’s officer Bra Muki  caught up with the producer of the banger joint A Dollar a day from the self titled album,Werewolf K9.  K9 Born Riyaad Askin a resident of Maftown which is host to notable names such as HHP, Khuli chana,Morafe  just to mention but a few.

Cruz Control vol.1 -Produced by MM3RD Hosted by Apu Sebekedi

In the post-apartheid Nation of South Africa, in the Northwest province of Mafikeng, poets and rappers from different part of Africa usher in 2012 rapping, speaking in poetic tongues and an array of  native idioms ranging from Sheng, Swahili, isiZulu, Setswana, Pidgin, Motswako.  This project was called A Dollar a Day, the theme urging responsible leadership, and including youth in political decision-making.

Fast forward to the summer of 2012 inside Dextraw studio here resides  MM3rd aka Akili Blaq who is putting the final touches to the sequel of the 2011 production.  As a beat maker his acceptance is a resounding nod from the global Hiphop community. His following is a dedicated audience safeguarded by an artistry that spits gems on his versatile compositions. Listening to 3rd one easily concludes porosity to a large array of music; Bhangra, Fela Kuti, T.P. O.K Jazz, Dilla ! This is why Cruz Control vol.1 his latest production released today  on the 29th of October 2012 is generating a buzz in the social media with thumbs already clikcking on the download button.

Lefoko abbreviates to LFK,  a Hip-hop Movement from Mafikeng, in the North West Province of South Africa, otherwise known as the Motswako republic. LFK continues to dominate the Hiphop culture in the region following the creation of performance spaces since 2003.