 cha DJ neshe yuu Magik Mic. As promised, amekuja me take time away from his busy busy schedule. Ike ni ka, ma nachocha. But 2019 ya kwa bizi. I will lie or not. I kwa bizi man, ni mihansona high note. Ya man. But that's awesome. That's awesome. Ya man, thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here. Karibu, I like to say where the guests are. I like to say where the guests are. Actually this is my attachment here at KBC after college. Ya, where it's been a while. Then what happened? Man, I decided to pursue music. Ya. So your first love was journalism? Ya, I was always in the newsroom preparing news for... So we would have seen how Magik Mic like... No. Definitely not Swahili. Definitely not Swahili. Ya. But that's awesome though. Ya man. Remember DJ Nesh Bado is just filling in for DJ Talk. So do the necessary. So you requested Zarko Zote on social media platforms that's on Y244 and the East Circuit and the Zingo JAP. Ovipe? Kabi sa. Safi kabi sa. Magik Mic. Ya. That's an interesting fun fact. Zanalizim Kwanzaa. Then we got Tana Naya after attachment. Ya. Then Sound Engineering. Ya. E Lingili ya api? Niksabu, I think the whole time nili kwa... Even before I was always interested in music. So even during my college life, I didn't have friends in college because I was the guy who after college I was in the studio just chilling. And so because I was interested in music I had recorded a few songs, but later we had Kujibamba. But ya. So in the process I learned how to produce just from watching the producer do his thing. I learned how to produce. What produces this? Who's your mentor? A friend of mine is called Tony. Had a studio in Ghidorai. Ya. So guys from Ghidorai know what I'm talking about. So is hudstuff still there? Ah, no, no, no. Ya, guys grew into different things. Different things, guys. Ya. Wainasazilewao na ingyao. So let me get deeper. How I wanna talk. But you started your music career around 2011? Ya. On 2011. 2011 was when I went back to school, I think, or still in school. So that's when I did Sound Engineering. And I did that just to up my game because I don't think anyone can teach ya. I don't think anyone can teach you production production per se. I think that's a talent. But I did Sound Engineering because I wanted to up the quality of my production, which I think is quite important. Can you let us know what that means? Because I know there are some aspiring producers back at home as well. Ya. There's another producer. It goes by the number of Swiss beats. Ya. I believe you have familiar with them. Ya. He likes to say there are two types of producers. Ya. Actually, there's a beat creator and there's a producer. Ya. Because the producer can create the beat mix and master. Ya. So you're the full package. You're the producer. Ya. Do you need to go to school for Sound Engineering so that you become the producer and not just a beat creator? No. A producer is basically a creative. You don't need to go to the studio. Like professionally, a producer is the guy who puts things together. Ya. It's like the same concept with a TV producer. It might not switch in between. But he's the one directing and saying, okay, put this here, put this there. Ya. So it's like Puff Daddy is a producer. So that's what he does. He says take this musician, give them this song. Ya. Sing it like this. We're going to package it like this. Ya. And then there's the beat maker, the guy who makes beats. Ya. So and then there's an engineer. So normally those are two, three completely different people. Ya. So the engineer is the technical guy. So you're the technical guy. Ya. Is the guy setting up for the session. Ya. The guy doing the mixing and mastering and just controlling quality. Ya. That's awesome. Ya. So it's a fun thing because even all these foreign beat makers we know we know the Lex Lugas and the Swiss Beat and the Kanye West. The Timbalands. All these dope beat makers slash producers. Ya. They don't necessarily do their own engineering. They have an engineer in the studio. They just put it together then they leave the mixing and mastering to everyone else. Ya. Do you think that's why maybe they're saying there's some lacking in quality in African music because we're not delegating the way we should. The way the producers just mentioned are. Ya. I think so. People want to do everything themselves and take all the credit. Ya. I think it's a contributing factor but you have to appreciate that we are a growing industry. Ya. And even right now I know some guys locally who don't have their like their beat makers mix and master their projects. Ya. So we are growing. There are guys who like have mixed and mastered for a few guys who I haven't produced for. There are guys who even send their music like abroad for mixing and mastering. Ya. Just to get that quality. Ya. Ya. So we are growing. We are growing industry. I think slowly by slowly guys are getting to recognize the importance of certain processes. And specialize. Ya. Because we are we are setting ourselves up to really compete on an international level. Ya. So you know if you are setting ourselves up for that then we have to be as professional as we can. Talking about international there's a guy ya. It goes by the name of Calligraph Jones who is an Agita Miss International. Ya. You've worked with him before. Yes. You've engineered some songs for him ya. Ya. Produced as well. Produced as well. Ya. Kolabo no no come nezafanya? No. No. We actually knew Kali Bach in the day before. That's not came way too quickly. Way too quickly. Ya. Why is that? Kolabo. I would do a if I was spoken about it if not each other for long actually knew him through his older brother because his older brother was a dope hip-hop head back in the day. Spanwan. He's still a dope hip-hop head though. So I don't know man let's see what the future holds. We never talked about it. But if I may ask you're gospel gospel. Ya. You're not like Esamwain between trying to wadi in the world. Clearline. Clearline. Ya. There can be like an opportunity for you to do a kolabo with a secular artist. I have. Like I have a song with Madrax. But me and him agreed we would never release it. Why? Just because of the because here's how we look at it. And I think a lot of people would share our thoughts. It's a like it's a dope song and it's an honest song. But I think releasing it and pushing it would seem like we are chasing the controversy and the numbers. Looking for the clout. Ya. But in order if we ever release the song it would probably just be featured on the album. So that it can have the intended effect. Because the intended effect is what it talks about. So if someone would listen to it just as an album track then they wouldn't overthink it. It wouldn't be overrun by the hype and the controversy. Like we would take the controversy out of the song by not releasing it. By just having it on the album. And if someone found it online cool but we didn't Ya, we didn't push it. Ya. So I would Speaking as an artist and a producer I think in Kenya that distinction gospel, gospel, secular, secular in a hoge na sumboa wa sanee weingisana they're not comfortable because I think as someone like Willipo he's been trying to he's not really trying to become secular. He's just singing about love. You can't say Christians don't love each other. We love each other. Ya. What do you think can happen so that that distinction is not that clear as in that line I think it's a bit too thick for now. Yes. I think the issue that we have is that guys are too harsh without considering all the facts. Because if you say gospel like the one gospel we know is the word of God everything we sing about is inspired and if you look at the word of God in its entirety it addresses so many things it addresses love it addresses betrayal it addresses money so even your proper church does not always talk about salvation it addresses so many things like there are guys out there who preach about biblical principles on finances because the Bible addresses that doing your marriage counseling and talking about love holistically then the teachings are coming from the Bible so if you look at that I think the thing that guys just need to accept is that when you say gospel and this is our biggest problem is that we have to stop limiting it otherwise the more we continue to limit it the lesser effect it has on our daily lives because gospel to me and what it actually is is daily living. Because I would think it's actually freedom because it's not really rules and guidelines it's just a way of life guide guide that's awesome we're about to take you guys to church on the east side Kitovipi praise Jesus ladies and gentlemen can I get a amen amen brother amen now there's the Koch Studio thing before we get into the new track tuna featuring DJ Ruff Koch Studio the invite when you got it how did it feel to be part of it it was dope man it had been a dream of mine since let me be honest since I think last year because I was there before engineering for mud trucks and mud trucks was producing so I think after that the dream just stuck in the head you envisioned yourself there because I think for I think for Africa there are very few platforms that get you on that level if you're talking about Africa I think Koch Studio is one of the big ones because it's very inclusive and the exposure is amazing the kind of people you get to work with are amazing they're on a different level so it was a really exciting phone call to so far who have you worked with within Koch Studio I've produced two projects one is a collaboration between Caligraf and Root Boy from P-Square and the other one is a collaboration between Moji Shot Baba and Bistrat from Ethiopia and so far what hints can you give us is it fire or is it fire fire hey yo you know how we do it because my head gets big yo you know how we do it we don't know anything else other than fire no actually you're supposed to add an accent now you know when you some pigeon yeah man I don't know man I hope people love what we did two tracks are completely different you know that's one of the things I try to do as a producer I don't want to be the producer of that like if you hit magic mic you already know it's magic regardless of the artist like you already know what the sound is going to be so I think it's predictable I like that you said that a lot of producers sometimes I'm afraid to ask that because let's just be honest though most African producers they stick to a certain sound I was talking to my producer earlier tia ni hip-hop na tia ni maju I know a madabit track by the 808 and I think that's unfortunate people need to like expand evolve I think the only way you guarantee longevity is if you're willing to evolve that's the only way otherwise you'll become the guy who was really big at some point you guys come with some new sound and some new vibe and you become extinct you can't compete because you're not ready to compete you have to keep evolving it's tough but you have to find a way in terms of production what's the plan for 2019 in terms of production I don't know man do more music push new sound more in Kenya it's really hard to push new sound because even the song we played earlier it took a while it has everything it has jazz, it's afro pop but it took a while for guys to catch up but once they did sometimes it can be a bit discouraging when you're trying to push the envelope and contribute to the evolution of the Kenyan sound but I think that's what I'm going to do more sometimes that hurts the business but I think we need guys who are willing to push the industry forward even when guys are having conversations like play ke music but listen man there are some guys in the industry who are really pushing the envelope and they're doing some amazing job work so I want to be part of that contribution so I think this year the main goal is to just push the envelope as much as I can as it's a question of tuna Khabisa I think I follow DJ Ruff on Instagram that's when I was first acquainted to that song and I was like oh this is going to be a banger it is a banger it's an awesome song let's talk about it for a minute the collaboration between you and DJ Ruff how did that come about so Ruff and I have been friends for a while and I feel like that's always important we have done a collaboration we have always been friends before and I think it just makes the process easier told Ruff Kitambo there is a jam and you are going to come on it and I don't want you to rap I want you to hype it I want you to be like the old school MC what the old school MCs did and Ruff was just the perfect fit just because of who he is and the kind of music he does and then he can hype the jam he is just a true guy and I know he is Christian stand because we serve in the same church so that also makes it a bit easier in terms of working with people the Christianity part is important to you it's extremely important because I feel like if I work with someone which is always limiting is they have to we have to have the same mindset in terms of why are we doing this music how are we going to push it we are not doing it for the numbers so it's music with the purpose not just to create for the sake of creating and it has to be people who are also they also want to push the envelope and do amazing music it has to have content there are some aspects of the music that we cannot compromise on and we cannot get carried away by hype if we decide this is the direction then we have to stick to that direction and the purpose has to be clear because music is a really powerful tool and I think we mess up society when we misuse it because music is super influential and people look at and the guys who listen to our music especially the young ins they are not only fans of the music they are fans of the people as well so they look at what we do music is also a big deal so having someone who is not a borderline Christian like someone you are sure about their stand I think it helps the process and it gives confidence I like the conversations I've had today because even with Kerji the donor was having an interview with him earlier he was telling me for him to work with anyone or sign him to his label first and foremost it's the character he's going to look at the character it's not just about the music it's about the friendship the bond that you can build I think yours is through faith we'll get deeper into that later but I like these conversations that I'm having today I think you're the real OGs these are the guys they're not even trying to mentor the young kids I will be honest for a minute these are the guys Ness they're not really telling these young guys get yourself right then go back to the music and get this bag yes and it's something interesting you know how they used to do it back in the day with the record labels it's like when someone got signed they used to be an artist development process you didn't get signed and then it was straight into the studio and some guys even used to complain but it's taking too long like you got signed 2 years ago but you haven't put music out but even through that whole time it was always to prepare and there's something that I learned from mud trucks as well because mud trucks would sign an artist and tell them listen you know you can come to the studio we hang out we don't have to be making music we can not only be hanging out when we are making music just come let's chill let's know each other let's figure out how you're doing figure out how I'm doing it has to be more than just about the music and I think that it creates a nice environment to make really good music because music is very much music is the relationship influences the music a lot and so what let's say when an artist comes to the studio and producing for them what stands in place of the relationship is the character sometimes an artist will come through and their attitude will just put you off on the first day and you can make amazing music with someone whose attitude is off because you'll always be because the first impression was something off about this guy you always have friction and you can't make music in such an environment so character is key even all these youngins who want to make it we were all there we were youngins we wanted to make it we knew nothing about the industry but character is a big deal because it opened a lot of doors for us social media Instagram magic.mic on Facebook it's just magic mic and it's magic with a J selfie MAJIC MAJIC people so we wish you all the best thanks man thanks for having me and actually it was more of an inspirational talk than an interview I hope you got inspired man because this is an edutainment show we are teaching some kids out there edutainment edutainment it's a mixture of education and entertainment speaking of which we had a topic Kaliya on it's actually the topic of the day we have that I'm trying to look at the preview for him we were asking this if you were to go back to high school like Keshaw but unfortunately we had a topic we had a topic itujwe itujwe from mathematics to English just one because many of you want to other ones I did which one now I think geography why geography I don't know why I'd spend a whole month studying rocks it's just dumb and that was one of the toughest because you have to cram names metamorphic I remember that it's so dumb man I don't even want to be a farmer even if I'm a farmer I don't need to know rocks I think geography is probably one of the most I remember that part I think there are some aspects of it that are dope but come on man majority of it you can cover that in university even when people are in the army they get PTSD I just got flashbacks right now I feel traumatized remember the types of rocks the practicals that you have to go and look for rocks and then you why are you doing this to us I was thinking chemistry I'm like no chemistry we actually need chemistry you really need physics even physics for me was super irrelevant because the last topic in my syllabus it was waves and waves is the basis of sound you know what producer is telling me that the architects, the contractors they use stones but they probably don't know what stone that is they probably don't know what stone that is what I don't know in Imawea 9 the big stone in Imawea 9 they probably don't know the type of stones only stones come from quarries but probably if you ask so which type of stone is the best to build my house bro, actually I don't know what stone that is that's the best they would do for you Imawea 9 Imawea 8 Imawea 8 is a decoration I don't know what stone is I'm not sure but this type of stone I've had so much fun thank you so much for coming through we appreciate you what's up we have a lot of things we'll do it yes just play it play it for the people it has a dance guys need to learn apparently we are going to dance Eve is still in the building so Eve is going to join us myself and magic mic and DJ Neishke on the deck we're about to play tuna by magic mic featuring DJ Ruff Mwazin mwazin mwazin.