Mshasho Productions

Mshasho Productions
Founded	2003
Founder	Martin "The Dogg" Morocky
Genre	kwaito, hip hop
Country of origin	Namibia
Official Website	www.mshashoonline.com, www.mshashoarmy.com

Mshasho Productions, also referred to as, Mshasho Music Productions, and, Mshasho Records is an Namibian record label founded by Namibian musician and producer, Martin "The Dogg" Morocky in 2003. The company is a subsidiary of The Dogg's company Mshasho closed cooperation.^[1] The name Mshasho is derived from its original name Omushasho which is the Oshiwambo name for a shotgun. The label has shaped careers for artists such as Sunny Boy, OmPuff, Tre Van Die Kasie, TeQuila, Karlos Lokos, Chipolopolo, Richie and Kamasutra.^[2] The label has so far released ten albums, making it one of the leading record labels in the country.

History

Mshasho Era

The Dogg's album Take Out Yo Gun was the label's first and only release in 2004. It dominated charts in 2005, with hits such as "The Dogg Is Back", "My life" and "Ngenge Ndasi". In early 2005, the label signed Sunny Boy, soon after departing from GMP Records. The label quickly released Sunny Boy's first single "Balance" which became another hit from the label. Sunny Boy enjoyed more success and became very popular. Soon after Sunny Boy was signed, former Mshasho manager Isack Nyambali signed TeQuila and Karlos Lokos to the label. He also brought Richie Rich, Chipolopolo and Kamasutra close to the label. In mid 2005, Mshasho added other new artist to its roster including Tre Van Die Kasie, Nasti, and surprisingly OmPuff (who was previously signed to GMP). Mshasho released Sunny's second single "serious" followed by his debut album Young, Black en Gifted in December 2005, around the same time The Dogg also released a new single "Baby Don't Go". The album was very successful and was among on of the best selling albums of 2005; it introduced a new sub-genre of kwaito which Sunny describe as Hikwa, a style of music that combines hip hop and kwaito.

In May 2006, The Dogg released Introducing TeeDee. The lead single from the album "Baby Don't Go" became a success beyond Namibian borders. The album was released at a time when the feud between Mshasho vs. GMP/The Dogg vs. Gazza was escalating. The label also released to the radio OmPuff's first Mshasho single "We Taking Over" during the same time.

Departure of Sunny Boy

In October 2006, Sunny Boy left the label claiming financial mismanagement by former-manager Isack Nyambali (this is referenced in "Heat It Up" from The Sleeping Giant). He then made agreement with The Dogg to drop him off the label to go establish his own. Although he left the label, Sunny Boy still considers himself part of Mshasho. All of his albums after Young, Black en Gifted feature production and appearance by The Dogg, and other Mshasho artists.

When Dogg was asked in an interview by Nammusic.com about his reaction to Sunny Boy leaving Mshasho, this is what he had to say; "Personally and professionally I am very happy for Sunny Boy leaving Mshasho to create his own label or production. It shows how much he has grown as an artist and we are still very close. I just don't want anybody to come between us as we are still very good friends and will remain that way."

Sunny Boy's departure made OmPuff the second favorite artist on Mshasho. Other artists such as TeQuila, Karlos Lokos and Richie also left the label after Sunny Boy. Isack Nyambali was fired from the label. The Dogg criticized him in an interview with Nammuic.com claiming "Isack is only in the industry to rip people off" referring to the corruption he committed when he was managing Sunny Boy, Karlos, and TeQuila. Nasti, OmPuff, and Tre were the only artists who remained on the label.

Retaining dominance

In 2007, The label released the lead single to The Dogg's forth album You Can't Ignore. The song became another big success beyond Namibian borders. The album You Can't Ignore was released in October. The label also released OmPuff's debut album Phone Call in December of that year. Tre's debut album Bible and My Music, God & Me was released in 2008 as the only release of the year, and This Is My Time by The Dogg in 2009.

In mid-2009 Mshasho signed Katutura kwait group Magogoz, after being affiliated with the label for almost two years. The group is busy working on their debut album which is due in store in 2011. Singer Ricardo (Cell One Road of Fame winner) was rumoured to have signed to the label in 2010 after being seen around with Mshasho artist wearing Mshasho T-shirts and guest appearing at most of their shows. The singer also accompanied The Dogg to South Africa for his Big Brother Africa 3 house visit and performance and was featured on his hit song "Forget" from This Is My Time.

The label also tried to sign rapper KK. KK later featured on The Dogg's The Power of Seven and have been guest appearing on most Mshasho shows. No comments has been received from either party about the signing. KK made another appearance on Lets Celebrate, a collaboration album between The Dogg and Qonja. Rapper and producer Kanibal signed to the label in late 2010. Kanibal became the second most anticipated artist, and the first hip hop artist, to sign to the label. His long awaited debut album From Windheok With Love is expected in stores in mid-2011.

After seven years in the industry and seven past releases on the roster, Mshasho released its eighth album on the roster by The Dogg. The album titled The Power of Seven - Elevating Elevators is The Dogg's sixth studio album. Its title refers and celebrates the seven years his label has been enjoying success since its establishment in 2003. The power of seven also refers to the letters contained in the name THE DOGG and MSHASHO. The album was well received making it one of the highest selling albums of 2010. Its first single "Take You Home" was a very successful song. Another successful song was "Jabule" which features South African musician Biblos. The album also contain the party song "Mover" and the controversial "Scary Movie", where Dogg retaliate to a diss by GMP trio Streetkids.

In December 2010, The Dogg teamed up with Qonja for a collaboration project. The two artist released an 8 track album titled Lets Celebrate. The album was describe as a Christmas gift, contains gospel material and spreads the massage of celebrating Christmas. It feature Mshasho artist Chesta Mshasho and other artist such as KK, Lil' D and TeQuila.^{[3] [4]}

Ongwediva and Oshakati based kwaito group Fresh Family signed to Mshasho in May 2011. This was confirmed by both parties on facebook. The group and the label has a long standing history of controversy. In 2008 The Dogg invited to perform at his 25th birthday bash. The group would later claim that they did not receive any money from The Dogg as promised.^[5] The two parties would later reach agreement and in 2010, Fresh Family opened for The Dogg at a concert in Ongwediva. The Dogg started showing interest in the group after releasing their first number one chartting song "Super Star".^[6]

OmPuff and Tre Van Die Kasie are both working on their sophomore studio albums to be released in 2011 respectively.

Producers

Although Mshasho did not sign producers, it can clearly be seen that The Dogg act as the in-house producer for the label. He has produced on every Mshasho release. Elvo and DJ Kboz also work close with the label when it comes to productions. Elvo entirely produced The Dogg's Take Out Yo Gun, with a few songs co-produced by The Dogg himself. Elvo and DJ Kboz contributed a significant amount of beats to the debut albums of Sunny, Tre and OmPuff respectively. DJ Kboz also produced The Dogg's biggest hit of 2007/8 "Can U Feel It". Producers like Morgan, Bu², Becoming Phil, and Fredro has also associated themselves with label by producing on OmPuff's debut album. But the fact still stand that the three producers (Dogg, Elvo & Kboz), are the main producers when it comes to Mshasho projects. Hip hop producer Kanibal joined Mshasho in 2010, he could possibly be involved with production.

Mshasho vs. GMP Records

The Dogg and Gazza developed quick success after releasing their first albums, which help them into establish their own record label, Mshasho Productions and Gazza Music Productions (GMP) respectively. They led and dominated the commercial music scene between 2004 and 2005. GMP signed new and upcoming Sunny Boy, who served on the label for less than two months before signing with Mshasho. Tensions between the two labels were heightened when Sunny Boy switched labels from GMP to Mshasho. More fuel was added to the fire when some music fans began taking sides between The Dogg and Gazza, Mshasho and GMP. Also after a while OmPuff who was affiliated with GMP, joined Mshasho. The two labels are still in deep competition which is heavily driven by the feud between Gazza and The Dogg.

Roster

Current artists

Act	Year signed	# Albums released under Mshasho
The Dogg	2003	7
OmPuff	2006	1
Tre Van Die Kasie	2006	1
Magogoz	2009	—
KaniBal	2010	1
Fresh Family	2011	—

Former artists

Act	Year signed	# Albums released under Mshasho
Sunny Boy	2005	1
Nasti	2005	—
TeQuila	2005	—
Karlos Lokos	2005	—
Richie Rich	2007	—

Dancers

Act	Year signed
Chesta Mshasho	2007
Kabeli	2007
Stansi	2007

Frequent guest producers

• The Dogg
• DJ Kboz
• Elvo

Affiliated

• Sunny Boy
• Qonja
• Tate Buti
• Jericho
• Chipolopolo
• Richie Rich
• Karlos Lokos
• Kamasutra
• Fidel O'del

Discography

Past releases

Year	Artist	Album
2004	The Dogg	Take Out Yo Gun
2005	Sunny Boy	Young, Black en Gifted
2006	The Dogg	Introducing TeeDee
2007	The Dogg	You Can't Ignore
	OmPuff	Phone Call
2008	Tre Van Die Kasie	Bible and My Music, God & Me
2009	The Dogg	This Is My Time
2010	The Dogg	The Power of 7 - Elevating Elevators
	The Dogg & Qonja	Lets Celebrate
2011	The Dogg	The Deception[7]
	Kanibal	Dreamer EP

Upcoming releases

• 2011: The Big 4: by Magogoz
• 2011: From Windhoek With Love: by KaniBal
• 2011: 1st Studio Album: by Fresh Family
• 2011: 2nd Studio Album: by OmPuff
• 2011: 2nd Studio Album: by Tre Van Die Kasie
• 2011: The Deception 2^[8]: by The Dogg

See also

• Mshasho Clothing

See related articles

• List of Record Labels
• Yaziza Entertainment
• Gazza Music Productions

References

1. ^ Mshasho is a company retrieved on 14/10/2011
2. ^ The Dogg going on top with the launch of his new label, The Namibian news paper, September 2004
3. ^ http://allafrica.com/stories/201012160223.html Namibia: Dogg and Qonja Get Festive
4. ^ http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-244643365/dogg-and-qonja-get.html Dogg and Qonja Get Festive
5. ^ Fresh Family allegedly mistreated at The Dogg's birthday bash
6. ^ http://www.informante.web.na/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5187&Itemid=1&PHPSESSID=9310a5d505856b4f256064fcbf11b50d Mshasho interested in Fresh Family]
7. ^ Kwaito Superstar Launches “The Deception”
8. ^ The Dogg announce Deception part 2 and new single

Footnotes

• Mshasho launches trust fund
• Mshasho Opens Its own Stores!