Calif Records

infobox record label
parent = Genge Entertainment
founded = 2000
founder = Clement Rapudo & Paul Nunda
distributor = Calif Music Group (KE)
genre = Genge
other Acts = LUCH PRODUCTION
Video Director = Charles Luche
country = Kenya
contact =

Calif Records is a Kenyan record label based in Nairobi's California estate. Its known to be home to Genge, a genre of music popular with the youth. It was founded in the 2000 by Record Executive & producer Clement "Clemo" Rapudo together with his childhood friend Paul Nunda a.k.a. Juacali (currently a top selling artist in Kenya). It is among two leading music production houses in Kenya, the other being Ogopa DJs [Daily Nation, Buzz Magazine, July 20, 2008: [http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/downloads/buzz20072008.pdf Calif v/s Ogopa] ] .

History

JimW@t

The upcoming Genge rapper who celebrates his birthday in May was born James Wathiga and Jimwat is brought out from the two names. He was brought up in Kabete and went to Musa Gitau Primary and Chinga High School Nyeri. After his O levels he did Computer course and later did Graphic design in 2005.He started rapping while he was in class 7. In 2004, he went to Calif and recorded his first song “sema nami sweetie”while he was in form 4 but did not release it until he completed his O levels. In the early 2004, he released it and he was shocked to hear it on Capital FM a few days after its release and later the other stations followed suit. Later the same year, he was featured by Raptaz in”Paulina” which became famous and was used in the close up dance o mania competition . He also did videos for the songs the same year.Later on, he featured in the song “Adila” by Riziki and Pararo. In the early 2005 he was featured in Juacali’s ”Kwa album yangu” and ”wanakimbia” songs which are in “Juacalisekta”,the mini album. He then went on to pursue a solo career. In the same year, he released a hugely popular song ”UNDER18” in which he featured Meg C. The song no doubt catapulted him to the top of charts and built a name for him in the music industry. It also scooped an award in the 2006 Chaguo la teenies and was nominated for several awards in the Kisima.

Flexx

Brought up in Jerusalem, Nairobi, Michael Mwangi who celebrates his birthday on 11th August every year completed Schooling in Nairobi. He is the most musically flexible artist under the sun. Having successfully done reggae, ragga, benga and now genge, he definitely fits the name Flexx, which was given to him by Clemo. He got interested in music when he was in class five and could do battles in F2 when he was still in Primary School. It was not long before he recorded a Reggae/Ragga album at Hills Media studio South B with his cousin Saji under the name Yardman Crue. After the album "cool down", they parted ways with his cousin who went to open up his studio. Flexx’s dream was to become a full time ragga artist and was inspired by Buju Banton, Pintious e.t.c and up to date listens to a lot of Jamaican music.The smart self styled dreadlocked artist joined Calif in the year 2000 and the producer upon hearing his great talent, sighned him. He did his first song ,’Kama wanitaka” the same year and went silent on a recording spree. Most of the songs he did are yet to be released. In the late 2004, he featured Juacali in the hit song “Nyundo” which hit the hearts of his fans like a real hammer. This was the greatest moment of his career as he established a fan base, something that he had worked so hard to do. Up to date the song is yet to come out of the minds of many people and its video is one of the most creative.It kept him on toes as fans were eagerly waiting for more and so in the early 2006, he released “Amejibeba” which as the year ends, still leads the chart, play in every matatu and the media.In August 2006 Flexx married Salma Mugure, a college student living in Sweden.To all this success, the talented singer owes it to God. Seeing the light of day is a great blessing which he must thank him. To the Calif crue, he thanks all those who helped him and will continue to work harder till Genge touches the sky.Flexx is looking forward to remixing his reggae album in Genge style though he does not very much rely on it, he is also working on other hit songs. The further backward you look the further forward you see, that’s why Mr. Nyundo cannot forget how far he has come, the support of his fans and awards nominations which makes him work even harder.

Mahatma

Galib Juma was born and brought up in California estate Eastleigh in Nairobi. He attended Pumwani primary and Muslim Madrasa Secondary. The joyous Mahatma ventured into the music industry in the tear 1999 and he was confident and determined to do better than Kalamashaka who were a hit by then. He formed a five member group called Gazab squad and recorded the song “Gazab Anthem” in Scratch Records. After the song the group broke up in the year 2000 because the rest of the members were not interested in music. That was when he joined Calif Records, a newly formed studio that was steadily rising. though at first he went silent for a while, he exploded with a hit song ”Pande zote mbili” in the year 2002.The song received considerable airplay and subsequent shows all over the country. After then, he was yet to be involved in another deadly hit in 2003,a trio collabo,”Mtu Saba” which up to date floats like a kite and whose lyrics and common are a form of communication among the youth. Though he was active in studio duties which mainly involved recruiting of new artists and helping them as they record, he lay low to musically to concentrate on and manage private business.Early this year, he proved that he was still musically tough when he was featured by the king of Genge in the heat song,”Bidii yangu”.It clearly showed without reasonable doubt that Mahatma is one of the most Talented singers under the sun and his voice can attract fans from any corner of this planet. It made one of his happiest moments and at one time Fans in Nakuru ran wild when they realized the he was around. He was so amazed to know how much his fans cherished him especially because of that song yet it had not been declared that he was the voice behind the chorus.The virtuous God fearing Mahatma has returned to the music scene with a big bang and has currently released the song”Msha ambiwa”.Very soon, he will release his album”Fikra zangu”then disappear to manage private business.Though he has had such great achievements, he has undergone trying moments and met people who only want to take advantage of him i.e. in the year 2000, he was approached by an anther artist to perform in Burundi but for the whole journey and performance, he only got 2000 shillings. He could not give up despite the many obstacles and as the wise say,” When the going gets tough, only the tough get going” he fought harder and became stronger. He owes great respect to the Calif clue especially Juacali.He is in the game, whatever the surprise he has, it’s for his fans.

Lady S

The Genge fast rapping iron lady, Sharon Wangwe was born in November 8th in Dandora estate where she was also brought up. After her O levels, she was inspired by Kalamashaka to start rapping although she initially loved dancing. The ever blazing artist joined Calif in 2002 and recorder her first song,” lovely ladies” the same year. By then Genge music was beginning to find way through the veins of the fans ands so it received considerable airplay. She then went underground but continued to record some of the many songs she is yet to release. In early 2005,she featured Pilipili in the hit,”ukimwona”which proved her the most daring artist in the south of Sahara and diffused through the fans like ammonia. Many of her female fans longed to see her coz the song basically means that they should not entertain players. It led in the local charts and was nominated for the best video and best collabo in the 2005 Kisima awards.The tough, lovely rapper owes her success to Calif artists and her family which has supported her greatly. She has undergone trying moments though she says she had to as part of life. Being armed with the great art of rapping and fabulous dancing styles, she was still fighting on and was currently working on her album which will be out very soon. She was determined to give her fans the best and though she had interests in further studying for an air hostess course, she’s never leaving the music scene ever. She died on Sept. 3rd of 2007 in a road accident on thika road while enroute to the airport for a flight to the U.K where she was scheduled to perform.

Pilipili

Born on November 4th in Nairobi and brought up in both Nairobi and Mombasa, Peter Gatonye started his literacy journey in Embakasi and completed his O levels in Kiagotho Secondary in Murang’a before he did Business Management.He developed love for music while he was still in Primary School and would not miss a choir session. He held the microphone for the first time in class seven and would entertain his schoolmates crazily. He would later perform at jam sessions in F2, double double.By then he used to do rap music and while still in Secondary School he joined hands with an artist who made it big in the music scene but due to academic commitment, he could not make the pace.He recorded his first song,”dhiki”,which was produced by Chris Adwal at Brick house/next level studio in Makini School, while he was in form three. His studio buddies were Vinnie Banton, Mr Googs, and Wyre among other artists. In 2002, he went to Ted Josiah’s studio which was then known as Audio volt and recorded songs, some of them in Kikuyu, which are still rib breaking and high requests in local stations. It was his mentor, Ted Josiah, who advised him to change from rapping to singing.Later, he moved to Ogopa and did a collabo,”nampenda” with Gun-B in 2003 with whom they later parted ways. In August 2004,the mellow voiced pepper joined Calif Records and recorded “Papasa”,a hit whose super beats were later used in the hit song “vile tafanya”.He then immediately stated working on a song that would become a talent inflation evidence,”Kamata dame” This song proved him a self styled flavour which he featured the king of Genge,Juacali.It also won awards in the Kisima 2005 for Best Boomba,best collabo,artist of the year and also went along with the best dressed artist’s award. This was one of his greatest moments and he was not ready to rest coz he also joined with Rat A Tat to do “Morale”, featured in Lady S’s “Ukimwona” and on the gospel, he as featured by Mr. Boo in the same year. In the early 2006, he was the first artist to welcome the year with “Toto” a song that gained a lot of popularity before he left for London where he entertained thousands fans alongside Juacali, in a show that made him one of the most sought after artist in Kenya.When he came back, he released the song“Mpaka che”alongside Jimwat and also released his album,”FUNGUA MLANGO”which is one of the best selling albums in the land.Chilli, as he is commonly known as, has also performed in Uganda, Tanzania, and in the USA.Alongside his music career, he has also a clothing line called “Chilli wear” which include t-shirt labels; Mpaka che, among other related labels. Others include, a pair of trousers, shoes, bandanas, etcHaving been inspired by many people especially R.Kelly and Usher, Chilli does music coz he loves it and he has done courses to help him manage it. He doesn’t choose the kind of music to listen to and only death will separate him from it. Having come one of the longest ways one can ever hustle, the now established artist believes that nothing is impossible and currently helps recording artists during his free time. You cannot know how his flavour tastes unless you buy his album.

Charles Luche

Younger brother to Clemo, he is the Founder and Director of LUCH PRODUCTIONS, a subsidiary of Calif Records. He has Written, Directed and Edited all Calif's major hit videos. He lives a simple life and has managed to keep himself away from the public.

References

External links

* [http://www.califrecords.co.ke Calif records official website]