‘Atooti’ kings here!
Last year Gidi Gidi Maji Maji, a Kenyan Luo rap duo, unleashed two major hits, Atooti and Un-Bwogable, into a politically charged (Kenyan presidential elections campaigns) atmosphere.
Last year Gidi Gidi Maji Maji, a Kenyan Luo rap duo, unleashed two major hits, Atooti and Un-Bwogable, into a politically charged (Kenyan presidential elections campaigns) atmosphere.
They took the whole nation and eventually the whole East African region by storm.
In September last year, the song Un-Bwogable was banned from national radio station KBC for containing political lyrics. ‘Un-Bwogable’ means ‘unstoppable’ in a concoction of Luo and English and that’s exactly what Gidi Gidi Maji Maji have proven to be, writes Sebidde Kiryowa.
Critics have argued that Un-Bwogable — the infectious hard-edged anthem that is rocking dance floors in Uganda as well as getting massive rotation on radio — is a hit because of the very nature of it’s rebellion and that Gidi Gidi-Maji Maji were perfectly in rhyme with Kenya’s rebellious mood when they released the song to a public that had been dying to have its defiance put to song. The song was used by Mwai Kibaki and his NARC in their campaign.
How then do we explain the success of the highly catchy and danceable sing-along track Atooti (a far bigger hit in Uganda than Un-Bwogable)? Whichever way you look at it, Gidi Maji, like their countrymen Ogopa DJs, have reigned on the Ugandan music scene. They have taken Luo music to the mainstream and across the Kenyan border.
To compound it all, the guys flew into the country Wednesday, together with Nairobi’s famed DJ Pinye and their manager Ronald Ajengo and will be performing at the ‘Reunion 2003 –– Most Fire’ show with Chameleon, Bobi Wine and Bebe Cool tonight at the Nile Gardens. The show starts at 7.00pm for sh10,000.
The concert will feature other local talents like Menton Krono and General Mega Dee, Mad Tiger (Obulamu Bwensi), Robert Slay, Armarula Family, Ragga Dee, Moses Kays (Ekidongo) and DJ Danny Yo among others.
Gidi Gidi Maji Maji are part of a new wave of young Kenyan artists that have emerged in the last ten years with musical energy that’s influenced by styles from all over the world. The duo has been on the scene for at least four years after winning several talent search competitions in Nairobi.
Joseph Ogidi, aka Gidi Gidi and Jahd Adonijah, aka Maji Maji, originate from the ghetto of Dandora on the Eastlands of Nairobi. Their interest in rap goes back to their high school days. However, they have always wanted to add some African flavour to it. They first met at jam sessions organised by Nairobi night-clubs. They admired each other’s styles and decided to become a unit.
Their style of music is a fusion of contemporary rap and African music in their vernacular Luo language. During their days of participating in competitions, they became so untouchable that they caught the attention of Kenya’s top producer, Tedd Josiah of Audio Vault Studios, who offered to support them in recording.
They first hit Kenya with their smash hit Ting Badi Malo, released on Audio Vault’s compilation: Kenya The Second Chapter. This song was so popular that it maintained a top ten position on all Kenyan radio charts for several months. Apart from extensively playing on Kenyan radio, Ting Badi Malo also received airplay on international radio such as BBC World Service and VOA.
In June 2000, Gidi and Maji released their first album, Ismarwa and embarked on a campaign to have Kenyan artists portraying their cultural heritage and music. They were the first Kenyan artists to release an album that had no age limit in appeal. The album had songs that people from the whole country, both young and old, could enjoy.
In 2001, Gidi and Maji took a break from music to concentrate on their education; Gidi (22) is a talented graphic artist and a second year Information Technology student at the Jomo Kenyatta University, while Maji is also pursuing Graphic Art at Kul Graphics. They returned to the music scene in 2002 with major hits Atooti and Un-Bwogable.
Due to their popularity all over Kenya, Gidi Gidi Maji Maji have been invited to various places to perform. With a performance scheduled for the 2003 Festival Mundial in Tilburg in the Netherlands, Gidi Gidi Maji Maji are indeed unstoppable.
Their performance outside Kenya highlights include: April 2001 at the Zanzibar Film Festival; Zanzibar and at the annual Tanzanian Summer Jam as well as in Dar Es Salaam. It is their first time to visit Uganda.
They took the whole nation and eventually the whole East African region by storm.
In September last year, the song Un-Bwogable was banned from national radio station KBC for containing political lyrics. ‘Un-Bwogable’ means ‘unstoppable’ in a concoction of Luo and English and that’s exactly what Gidi Gidi Maji Maji have proven to be, writes Sebidde Kiryowa.
Critics have argued that Un-Bwogable — the infectious hard-edged anthem that is rocking dance floors in Uganda as well as getting massive rotation on radio — is a hit because of the very nature of it’s rebellion and that Gidi Gidi-Maji Maji were perfectly in rhyme with Kenya’s rebellious mood when they released the song to a public that had been dying to have its defiance put to song. The song was used by Mwai Kibaki and his NARC in their campaign.
How then do we explain the success of the highly catchy and danceable sing-along track Atooti (a far bigger hit in Uganda than Un-Bwogable)? Whichever way you look at it, Gidi Maji, like their countrymen Ogopa DJs, have reigned on the Ugandan music scene. They have taken Luo music to the mainstream and across the Kenyan border.
To compound it all, the guys flew into the country Wednesday, together with Nairobi’s famed DJ Pinye and their manager Ronald Ajengo and will be performing at the ‘Reunion 2003 –– Most Fire’ show with Chameleon, Bobi Wine and Bebe Cool tonight at the Nile Gardens. The show starts at 7.00pm for sh10,000.
The concert will feature other local talents like Menton Krono and General Mega Dee, Mad Tiger (Obulamu Bwensi), Robert Slay, Armarula Family, Ragga Dee, Moses Kays (Ekidongo) and DJ Danny Yo among others.
Gidi Gidi Maji Maji are part of a new wave of young Kenyan artists that have emerged in the last ten years with musical energy that’s influenced by styles from all over the world. The duo has been on the scene for at least four years after winning several talent search competitions in Nairobi.
Joseph Ogidi, aka Gidi Gidi and Jahd Adonijah, aka Maji Maji, originate from the ghetto of Dandora on the Eastlands of Nairobi. Their interest in rap goes back to their high school days. However, they have always wanted to add some African flavour to it. They first met at jam sessions organised by Nairobi night-clubs. They admired each other’s styles and decided to become a unit.
Their style of music is a fusion of contemporary rap and African music in their vernacular Luo language. During their days of participating in competitions, they became so untouchable that they caught the attention of Kenya’s top producer, Tedd Josiah of Audio Vault Studios, who offered to support them in recording.
They first hit Kenya with their smash hit Ting Badi Malo, released on Audio Vault’s compilation: Kenya The Second Chapter. This song was so popular that it maintained a top ten position on all Kenyan radio charts for several months. Apart from extensively playing on Kenyan radio, Ting Badi Malo also received airplay on international radio such as BBC World Service and VOA.
In June 2000, Gidi and Maji released their first album, Ismarwa and embarked on a campaign to have Kenyan artists portraying their cultural heritage and music. They were the first Kenyan artists to release an album that had no age limit in appeal. The album had songs that people from the whole country, both young and old, could enjoy.
In 2001, Gidi and Maji took a break from music to concentrate on their education; Gidi (22) is a talented graphic artist and a second year Information Technology student at the Jomo Kenyatta University, while Maji is also pursuing Graphic Art at Kul Graphics. They returned to the music scene in 2002 with major hits Atooti and Un-Bwogable.
Due to their popularity all over Kenya, Gidi Gidi Maji Maji have been invited to various places to perform. With a performance scheduled for the 2003 Festival Mundial in Tilburg in the Netherlands, Gidi Gidi Maji Maji are indeed unstoppable.
Their performance outside Kenya highlights include: April 2001 at the Zanzibar Film Festival; Zanzibar and at the annual Tanzanian Summer Jam as well as in Dar Es Salaam. It is their first time to visit Uganda.