 Yes, I hope you're having a good time right here on the Isakit, the baddest Saturday morning show and man, I'm so excited. I don't even know if it's excitement but I feel excited because Fuli Focus is in the building and she has brought a beautiful artist by the name Lumie and I'm sure you know her, you have had her songs countless times here on the Isakit because DJ Neshke and I'm making sure he has played them, right? So yeah, he has an album, his first album, he'll be talking about it, he has featured the beautiful artist Lumie and yes, you know, I don't want to talk about it too much, let's just jump straight into the interview. Fuli Focus, welcome to the show. Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me. Yes kindly tell people who you are, I know they know you, maybe they just know Fuli Focus but let's put our face to the name. Absolutely, my name is Fuli Focus, I am a DJ, producer, promoter, all the above from here in Nairobi Kenya, grew up in Atlanta a little bit but I've been spending time back and forth to help push not just Kenyan music but African music on the main stage abroad. Yes, so how is that going? It's been a great journey, you know, spent the last decade and a half you know helping you know push things out there and everything and so the last four years I've been back and forth in Kenya, most people in Nairobi, I think probably some people in Nairobi know me because I've played in several places and I have several events that I do, call, password experience, a shout out to everybody who's been coming for those. Yes, so thank you so much for that introduction, Lumie, can you introduce yourself? Okay, my name is Mi, born and raised in Limuru actually, so I'm a singer-songwriter I'm a singer-songwriter and currently I'm signing a PMG, passport music group. Yes, so welcome to the show. Thank you so much. So before we talk about the songs that you have done together, I have mentioned that you are promoting your debut album currently African ambassador So tell us a bit about that and you have featured quite a number of amazing artists from around the world. Absolutely, I'm around Africa so you know obviously with the growth and explosion of African music outside of Africa, you know there was one or two countries that are getting all the attention right and I think the world needs to see that there's so much more talent across Africa. So I spent the last four years touring in Africa to finding the artists who already big in their countries, but you know need that extra push to go to the next level. So I have artists from about 10 or 11 different countries, so of course we have BN representing Kenya, Yashinsky representing Kenya, Fit for Micah, Uganda, Someday Tanzania, AY Tanzania, Davis D from Rwanda, you have Yaleves from Congo, Mimyo, Shoma Joseph from South Africa, Who else am I forgetting? Slapped B, Yashinsky of course from Kenya, Slapped D representing Zambia, this artist called George from Cape Verde and of course Lumi. Yes, okay, so let's talk about the songs that you have done with Lumi because I mean there are among the first songs that we have is that you have done videos too. Why did you decide to work with Lumi and why did you decide her under PMG? Yeah so pa you know the way we met is three years ago I held a music TV and film conference in Nairobi. I think I should have asked her first. About how you came to meet Fuli Fokas and how that is working for you. Okay, so I met Fuli Fokas through the conference but yeah so I saw this advertisement for this conference, it was a music conference, I'm like wow okay I'm really interested in this so that was around the time when I was really new in the industry and I was trying to you know just get up get my footing so I wanted to network as much as possible as well so I attended the event and I carried a flash disk with my music. I wasn't too familiar Fuli Fokas but I knew that he had made the conference happen it was it was it was really it was an incredible conference so I was like I think this is someone I should talk to so after the conference I went and talked to him I was like hey this is my music tell me what you think and then now later on that's when he reached out he was like oh I really like your music yeah and that's when we started working together he signed here. Yes, what time did you get signed? This was back in 2019 yeah 2019 yeah just before the COVID season right and you did quite a lot during that COVID season with promoting Kenyan music so Lumie coming to the signing you know you were signed under PMG in 2019 Yes. So what have you been able to achieve under PMG? So when I before I was signed under PMG I was doing my sound was quite different but when Fokas reached out he was like okay I would like you to try something just something different just tweak your sound a bit I think you'd sound nice and I was quite deserved because you know me I've grown up with rock rock music so most of my songs were just in English so he's like oh can you have you tried writing in Swahili I'm like I don't know I don't know if I will sound good you know I don't know if I'll make it sound good I was not sure but then he pushed me he was like oh you should do this so I tried and I was like wow this is actually I like this sound this is my sound now yeah and now for the past couple of years we've just been writing recording we've done so many so we've recorded so many songs in Zaint B and right now we're just releasing so it has just been amazing yeah um Fuli Fokas what's your favorite thing working with Lumie? You know everything she said like even from the first day how she presented herself right there was a certain professional way she carried herself there wasn't an entitlement there wasn't a you know because some people approach you like you know you have to do it and that's the wrong way to approach someone it's you know she was she had already packaged herself very professionally from her demo whenever she was polished you know and and she was honest and saying hey this is where I am and this is where I would like to be and she had a clear vision of you know who she wanted to be and how she wanted so I really admired that about her and amazing voice and great phenomenal songwriting which I think is the biggest key of music in general making music in general um and also the what I really enjoyed about she's very coachable like she said there's a certain sound she had but I was like wait in Africa you know and then African music is exploding everywhere so we still have to have that African identity and so it was a process growing into as much as she was hesitant about it she was flexible about it and that allowed the working process to be you know to be better she's very hardworking like she said we've done you know a lot of records that everybody's going to be able to be awaiting for that yes they're coming you know so it's just this whole conversation about you know having uh uh Kenyan artists that are pushing the boundaries and and can make music that kind of put you globally I think she's a phenomenal artist I think she's going to be one of the biggest artists out of Kenya East Africa and everything I claim it yes so speaking about Kenyan music you know you haven't been in you you come and go come and go and you're taking tours around the world so what people's take of Kenyan music out there because you know we every time we are talking about Kenyan music we are always told you know you like playing Kenyan Nigerian music and when our artists go to these other countries they are not as received as we receive um yes so yeah what's your take about that now that you have been around absolutely um so I think we do need to understand that there's there's always going to be two types of you know music there's music that's made for the local audience and then there's music that's made for we can't make everything try to be global onona so and so because of that uh we have to remember the artists that we are all the music that we are trying to make global will be compared to the biggest artists the the burner boys the whiz kids and and that kind of thing and so we have to package it in a way that it does that I think the biggest thing is production we have to understand production is the biggest thing because as you know the beat is what gets your attention first and then you go into the melodies and everything and uh the beauty of it is there's so many references now that you can borrow different ideas from here and there and then give it your own unique sound and that's what like you know kind of we did with uh even with dimension with bn it was like it's afro beats kind of but still it has its own identity right and everything but you know like yes yes so you know shout out to bn that was that was you know a you know a great situation and everything so I feel like uh it's two things one we can package it better but I will also say this we need to move fast you have to understand speed is very important and the rate of which kenyan artists produce and release music is too slow because let's face it you're ready we're ready a far smaller population like like we said in Nigeria and so they already have 50 artists who are putting out music three four times here you talk to an artist somebody takes you two three months to you know send you one song and after that song even if it's big you're you're not able to get something else out of it so we have to work faster and harder to understand that you you know for every ten songs you put out one will be a major hit so the more you put out the more likely you are to get more so like be active be active you know be take that initiative you know and everything and and be proactive right go out there network and everything you see like she said she came to a conference it was actually Easter weekend right so some people had you know Easter to go holiday listen look at look at her situation by her coming out there and everything you know that first song you know he played earlier we actually were able to get it on one of my major laser mixtapes you know so it helps open an audience whatever for her so I think the first time I had that song I if it was not for the swahili I would have thought that this is an international artist yeah exactly because she actually played hiya loads baby yeah nice nice nice first of all shout out to the DJ we've been playing the music but yeah so we have to you have to understand it's it's it's it's like right now everybody's watching the world cup in order for you to be on that world stage you have to play on a world level so no matter how great you are let's say in in Africa when you're there it doesn't matter it's like you're on the world stage that's the same thing with music we have to understand no one cares how you feel no one cares make music find a way to figure it out put in extra work hard work hustle hustle hustle hustle and you know results will come yes that's true so um why did you pick you know the songs that you have done with her to be among the first songs that you do videos for yeah yeah so you know we have to move with the times and what's appealing and and you always have to you know that's part of music marketing is you know where things are and what's the sound as you see music the sounds change so much every six months now music is changing so much and you have to be in tune with okay this is what's this is what's happened yeah so she gets to have a cheat code because i'm a DJ who's in the scene to know okay this is what it is and this is you know that what is but again the best part about it is she has the capability of just having so much range she can make ballads she can make clubs on she can make every kind of thing and so this girl is phenomenal yeah salumi other than you know working with fully focus who else would you want to work with Kenyan industry first yes the Kenyan industry right now it has so many talented artists a lot but okay just to name a few calligraph okay calligraph because when i first when i first started releasing music he actually sent me at the end he was like keep doing what you're doing so the first person that comes to mind is definitely calligraph yani he's so dope right now so obviously everyone would like to have a song with so and it could actually happen i know i mean and the connection is right here and brandy my nation is incredible so yeah i would love to amazing people that you know could take your music to the next level yeah international than everything um fully focus how did you arrive at the selection of the people that you wanted to be on your album yeah um so i started actually this journey four five years ago and the thing that was again i i've always been uh researching a lot of different like not just what everyone else is playing like what is everyone missing what needs to be known about you know local music and everything and so i started reaching out to as many artists as possible who i thought okay these are the right people however i reached out to them after i had already supported them okay okay this is very important uh every artist who's who's who's featured i have put the music on some of my past major laser mixtapes uh you know send it to you know other different countries and everything so when i'm reaching out to someone i'm not asking them for something without giving fast so a lot of people reach out and say give me give me give me give me but it's much easier to get when you've already given somebody something when you've supported someone they feel okay you know what i feel you believed in me before it was convenient for everyone else to believe in me so i i i i respect the relationship most people wait till someone blows up until that's when they're starting supporting no look for the next people people who have potential people who could be every relationship i've ever had is because i supported people before whether it's with kid whether it's you know like i said whether it's major laser it's acorn all these different people i've worked with shown paul is because it was before they blew up and that's the time to support someone when they're not getting views when they're not getting light when someone will remember you more yeah and it's so unfortunate that we support people when they blow up yeah it's it's always you know it's it's human most human beings are it's like followers it's like when something is popular that's when you do it yes but the problem with that is you just become part of the crowd yeah right you stand out more when you do this so all the artists who have featured on i i did not pay for a single feature and i'll pay anyone for it was basically based on relationships hey and they believe in that kind of thing and so you know yeah so that's how what it that's how it was and then we started you know working together and here we are now okay so um you know we we're always talking about you know connections you need to know this person you need to know this person does that work the same in music you need to know somebody for you to make a certain step well other than in a few cases like you know in your case when you want to see him you talk to him and you are able to make a connection does does it work like that in music like i need to know so and so i need to know full focus i need to know lumi i need to know bn i need to know so and so so that i can make it yeah so so in the past it used to be you need those people for your music to get heard i think now it's more you need those people to understand how to navigate through the industry right because nowadays you can make music put it out on youtube soundcloud whatever it is on your own you don't need anybody to you know to validate your music to get out there but it it only makes sense to work with people who have already been in that those spaces to understand oh actually this is how you maximize on this this is how you're able to get this down and get this done so i think networking is extremely important it has been very helpful for my you know my life and everything and again some of these people uh end up people who are working in certain levels end up running big organizations later on that you could benefit from right that kind of thing but again you know there's a principle that says follow the person not the position right so for instance right now you're you know your host of whatever this show most people if you left or got fired god forbid and everything they'll try to follow i rebuke that they'll try to follow the person who'll be sitting on that chair next as opposed to you the individual who already believed and not knowing if you had the capability to get this position you can get that position anywhere you go and so instead of following you and maintaining a relationship with you the individual they're following the position and so what i always try to do is follow the people wherever the people are you believe and you start with maintain those relationships wherever they go wherever they go so that you're not a cloud chaser you're not just trying to be there for just the opportunity have loyalty i'm substance that's you know loyalty exactly so yeah so lumie you've been able to perform in stages where he is having his shows you know the pxp is how how has that experience been for you honestly uh my first performance before png i was definitely not ready it was it was such a horrible experience what do you mean what happened i didn't like it like i my knees were shaky like it was just terrible yeah but then performing to the songs that have done with him performing the songs that have done with him it just feels natural it feels nice like you're just vibing on stage yeah you just you know with the crowd the crowd is as it is just it's just nice yes it's just nice yeah it's not as nervous as yeah i really am more confident as i'm a more confident performance yes that's nice so what's next for lumie whoa oh first of all we are waiting for those um songs that you are working on together yeah because then you know there are artists who do staff together and it's always a hit so i feel like it's the same way with you too yeah so what's next yeah hopefully this coming year 2023 we'll be able to release more songs because we have worked on a lot of songs right so um we are asking our audience back at home you know if your parent or guardian was offered five million shillings to watch your life as a movie would you want them to take the money save that again if your guardian or your parent was offered five million shillings to watch your life as a movie like they sit down they see all the things that you've been doing all the things that you'll be like a movie like you know it's a movie yes would you want them to take that money not only would they take it they'll put like that and the reason i'll say that is my life has not been perfect it's been full of ups and downs but you know the the thing about it is i've learned that this thing is not there's no destination it's a constant yeah it's ups and downs and the top of one heel is the bottom of the next and that's the joy of life it's enjoying these moments it's enjoying these different things every stage and everywhere don't it's not just about oh that place you know there's something called destination happiness where you're thinking i won't be happy until i get i get this yeah no i learned that no along the way this is the whatever it is so i'm very grateful for everything that's happened with and for me i think uh my uh folks would be my mother would be okay with the watch yes there's nothing embarrassing that you wouldn't want her to see it's not caught on tape no we're catching everything everything like from everything i've had some embarrassing moments i've been evicted from my place uh you know i've slept on floors i've had you know moments where you know my bank accounts were closed because i couldn't be able to pay for anything um you know uh i've been fired from jobs i've had jobs before where i was i was unsweeping the parking lot i've been uncooking i was a watchman i've had all these moments yeah i was i was a makanga here at some point really yes so you know so to at that stage it felt embarrassing but i didn't know it was building my character and it's i'm now proud to say it's part of my story it's true you see what i'm saying if it was just those moments you would feel like oh the world is ending so anybody who may be down who've had some embarrassing moments who've had failures uh i put out i've put out projects where no one no one liked no one enjoyed in everything i'll give you a quick story for instance a song like dimension right dimension is getting amazing plays uh it was you know when i first released that song after you finished with beyond i used to go to clubs three four nights like like three four clubs in a night and go to the dj's and please play please play even if the dj's no wait before dimension no no no this is dimension may of this year june of this year july of this year when we were done recording this song i would go friday saturday sunday to clubs three four clubs to go to the dj can you please play my song and everything even though this dj's know me and of course most of them would you know oblige and everything but i was out there working it like that going three four whatever it is even last night i was out promoting our song and everything um till four a.m. you know that's actually my has arrived you know anyway and then after that i would get on tiktok make like five six tiktoks these tiktoks i was getting two views one like that kind of thing and everything get you know do instagram rails and that kind of thing but it was like trying to create any kind of momentum because no one is going to come save me no one is going to come help me and even if you do a song with a big artist they are more uh uh their objective is to promote their music not yours so but they will respond based on how much you are putting into it and so and so when i was on tiktok making tiktoks and no one is liking no one is whatever it is i also had looked like a fool at that time but fast forward to now it is the second song it's actually this year on apple top 100 the longest charting kenyan song on apple top 100 100 music you know this year you know um other than the other song bien did um you know mind everything so my point in all that is to say this when you're going through these moments where you're hustling and and whether you have a you know like i said what come on you watch man whatever it is doesn't matter or when you're putting out your content and no one is liking and no one is viewing and no one is talking about it it may seem embarrassing but keep going keep going keep going and you know the end result will show for itself yeah sorry i went off topic it's okay i i think that was important as well yeah lumie what about you if your parents your guardian was offered five million shillings to watch your life as a movie would you want them to take them money okay at first i'd have said no no no no but i'm sure like i'm sure the movie will be really long so at some point at a dose you know so you just hope at the point at a dose those are the most embarrassing i can't but i just be too poor you know so yes the good part yes the good part yeah and no questions after yeah so thank you so much guys for coming through i appreciate your time so maybe we can tell people in very few words where they can find the album and move your music and for lumie as well so we start with you lumie yeah so you can find me on social media at lumie music k e instagram twitter and yeah you can stream on music on all platforms it's all available yeah keep jamming yes like she said the album is called african ambassador it is available on all platforms right now everywhere apple spotify youtube boom play shout out to boom play recently hit a million streams i hit a million streams on boom play as an artist producer and everything so it's on it's available all platforms please support it please you know share it with your friends and everything make sure you support this amazing amazing amazing artist she's gonna be big like i said support her before she blows up true okay so so for instance we will always whatever you need from us we will always be here because you've believed in us before thank you yes so thank you so much for coming through we do appreciate your time and we wish you all the best in your as you continue with your journey and as you go on to as well for the exp i mean thank you thank you yes yes there is a lot coming in the month of december and shout out to everyone who's gonna be in diani for new years okay okay me patatlanya annu yes mapema mapema mapema and the best right yeah so um what are you playing no all right so let's listen to you know sababu by lumi and