 But on Balzation, you know we always have to have a guest every single, you know, Tuesday and Thursday and today is no different. We have a very first guest on the show. He is, how do I even introduce him here, let me do this, he's a, you know, he's a songwriter, he's a performing and recording artist, he's a rapper, he's a pastor, he's a man of God, you know, he's a, he's a lot, he has many hearts and of course he had to come through on the show today, he's also a TV host by the way, you might have seen him somewhere and today he made time to come hang out with us on Balzation, like this, let's give it a four. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What's your name? Different mixer. Oh it's a different, uh, an mixer. Okay, so, what's up guys? What's up guys, how are you? Sofai Jane, the show over here. It's a show between Dunbalana, Kamua Leo. Yeah, you have to tell us. I started writing my music with Waire, we're in the same class in high school, so that's why we kind of crafted our penmanship. So, we have it, the A's have it. I told you, Tuesday, you should shake my hand. Tuesday, it only happens in Kofi and Aniz around. Until then. Until then. Until, until then. Yeah, I try. I try. You guessed it right. Anyway, shout out to everybody that is still there and today we have, I don't know if that's what you go with in terms of music, but you can actually just reintroduce yourself. Okay. Hello viewers, my name is Jeff Rokatai. I'm a Christ activist, I'm a hip hop artist, and I'm just a creative, all-round creative, and just a pleasure being here this afternoon. We'd love to see you. Thank you so much for making time to come through today. No doubt, no doubt. Your journey in music did not start today. You started a while back, you were rapping, and then you took like a very long hiatus. Yeah. Yeah, and you are back. Now, that time, you were before Wanzi, and then that long period you took. What was happening? Break from music. I was involved just in the culture. I've been passionate about hip hop since I was pretty much a teenager. And just like in different roles, writing music, performing, going for freestyle challenges, etc. And when I finished fourth form, God opened up for me to leave the country a little bit. Oh. So when, also like in that space, I was involved just in organizing house parties. I used to DJ once upon a time. So when I came back to the country, I remember like I was friends with, you know, like just the hip hop cuts like Akinoko, Flanie, Maumau. That's like around 2004. Yeah. So even I remember like there's an epic album for any hip hop fan, actually maybe watching the Shokilio Chahaki, which happened like around 2004. I was part of a there, a battle katae, the late katae rather, etc. But in the year 2005, I gave my life to Christ. And for two years, I was diligently serving in the church. I was going to just, know who is this Jesus, you know. But two years later, I was like, you know what, for the passion of hip hop is still there. And when I was inviting some of my friends to church, they were not really feeling comfortable in that home. So this idea just came to my mind, you know, like is it possible to have an event that caters for hip hop, spoken word, etc. And guys can just come, not really to be preached at, but they can build relationships over there. And also Christ can be glorified. And just like ruminating on that idea, there's a friend of mine in the U.S. We told me like, Jeffrey, like this thing you're thinking of, there's actually someone who happens to be in Nairobi right now who was doing something similar here in D.C. So you guys can actually get to connect, etc. I connected with another Malawian gentleman called Chico, we started something called Mad Love Launch. That's in the year 2007. Other guys who joined us, there's an artist called Holy Dev. Maybe you guys are familiar with him. And also like DJ Shock, DJ Gigi is also like a host in one of the shows. And Mad Love Launch, by the grace of God, just grew. So it was a platform whereby just artists came and honed their skills. From Akinaheco Didas to Akinamista T. When it comes to gospel, hip hop, in Kenya, Kelele Taka T, for most of them, passed through the school of Mad Love, one or the other. So I really thank God for that privilege and for that opportunity. Also through Mad Love, we were able to get some artists from the States coming to Kenya. So from guys like La Cray, to Andy Mene, or to that show. Oh, you can go on La Cray. He's involved just like in promoting that stuff over here in the country. Absolutely. I absolutely respect him. Good stuff. So I've been involved in that space, been really passionate of communicating the love of God through the arts, through the music. In the year 2013 or so, I felt God calling me to another space whereby just I went to this particular church which was doing amazing work when it came to reaching out to street children. Just like getting them to church where they could get to shower, they could get to be mentored, et cetera. So I joined that church just because of that passion and I rose in the ranks of the church was ordained to be a pastor over there. I really thank God for that, served the people, loved the people. But in the year 2018, I felt my love and my passion for music was being called back as an artist. So during the 2020 corona break I started painting an album called God Life and Hip Hop, an album which took one and a half years to paint. I released it two weeks ago actually. Yeah. And in the album God Life and Hip Hop, that's what I came to speak about today. There's a joint over there called Letter to Year. It's a letter that I wrote to Kanye West with another artist. Yeah, I've listened to that. How did you find the joint? I hope you get to listen to that. Yeah, I hope you get to play it. I hope one day you'll figure it out. I believe it. I believe it. I believe it. I wrote a song for my mother. I wrote that for my mom, but in extension, just for every mother out there. Yeah, because you knew Mother's Day was coming. Did you use it intentionally for Mother's Day? No, actually, not really. I think it's just a song which I was spending from the heart. How can I give my mom flowers so she's still here? And then also the artist called Daniel Chiquaz. Another amazing artist from Alawi came and he gave an amazing hook. So we released the song. There's a lyric video right now. If you guys go to YouTube, you can find the lyric video over there. It's also a short snippet video, but the music video itself is coming soon. Some guys are interested from the country just to partner with us to bring that to fishing. So yeah, grateful for that. Oh, we love that. But you've been in the game for so long. You've been with Akina Kantai, you've been with Wayre, you've been with all these big names. Why do you think we're not there yet? What do you think? Let's say people who take maybe something different, something that is more commercial. They'll be like way far. Because you've been there for a very long time, more than 10 years in the game. And you're still here, you're still pushing. Why do you think we're not there yet? Because we're not there yet, because we're Kenyan musicians. No, no, no. You specifically, you've been in the game long enough. You're not all these people. You've worked with them, but you're not there yet. I'm sure there's a place you want to get. I know. Why do you think we're hindering that? I think seasons and times. My passion mainly has not really been too much to be a commercial artist. I made a deal with God when I was in my 20s whereby I was like, should I really pursue the money route or should I pursue the impact route? And after battling with him like Jacob for a whole night, I chose to pursue the impact route. And I really feel in my capacity I've been able to impact the gospel industry over here in Kenya. Just behind the scenes, doing Bible studies. I've done caches with over like 50 artists on a consistent, from the Juliani's to I've got that trap with them. I might not be the one in front, but I've got their ear. So I can be like, if I want to treat their masses, I believe it's easier for me to be able to do that. And I'm really grateful for that. I'm not sure if I don't know that, but first of all there's a place behind the scenes. That's where the money is. Maybe the producers know what we are. I just saw my picture coming. I know, I know, I know. Just hold that thought. We're going to take a very short break. We're coming to a 20-later story on multi-match. You know, hashtag Bounce Nation. Let it be. For those who don't know yet, that is Kanye West by the way. He no longer goes by Kanye. He goes by, you know, yeah. So you being a pastor, because we know, like Kanye says, Jesus lives, we had a whole album, Jesus is Lord and everything, but he's still not living the Christian life though. He's still like, you know, involved with so many other things. Don't you think like that's going to be controversial? Do you ever think about that before releasing the song? Yeah, I know. But that's what I'm called. I'm not really called to the charged, but I'm called to the uncharged. And in this generation, you know, like when I was growing up, at least everyone had that reverence for God, or had been introduced to faith one or the other. But in this generation, because of the access to the internet, like there are all these different philosophies, theologies, all these different mindsets and worldviews that are easily to access just by the top of a button, right? So because of that, you'll find like people still have got that gap in them whereby they're seeking God, but all this information, all the information that's around them, if I'm pursuing God, can I still be able to do this? And sometimes you can find like the church that normally just is either black or white. So like my thing is to be able to create the bridge, to be the bridge whereby like not everything in culture is sinful, but also like how can we be able just to communicate like God, every good gift comes from the Father of Light. God created this gift, but there's a purpose for it. So my thing, like I've been following Kanya even like in 2019 when he was doing Sunday service, I really felt it was impactful for the culture. You could find guys over there like two chains, they're not going for the Sunday service, you could find like the Noriega's etc. And Jesus is for everybody. So like by just planting that seed and then there'll be someone else who will come and water the seed, there'll be someone else who will come and so my thing, I might not be the Sunday pastor in church, I've been there before, but right now it's just like how can I engage the culture and be able to show them the light where there's darkness, speak life to the dry bones of the culture, that's my purpose. Alright, so like you being a pastor, you don't mind like, there's a friend of mine, who I've experienced, he was clubbing, woke up in the morning and he's like, yo bro, like me, I feel like I have to go to church, like he just felt like he should go to church and then he went to church. He really was inspired to go to church and then like he was still high, he was heavy, he was like, well bro, nah, I'm going to church. You don't respect the house of God, how dare you come to church drunk. So he's like, I'm never going back to church. Like church is very judgmental. I feel like people are hard exactly, and that's what I want to break, like truthfully, because I really feel like church is not a museum for the saints, but church is a hospital where everybody, none are Mephika. Even the pastor himself, actually the doctor is not the pastor, it's Jesus Christ himself. So when everyone comes into the church, on a different process of just getting healing and restoration, maybe someone hard by their parents, maybe someone hard by their teachers, by an elder before, by a minister. So our thing right now is not just to put the fence to be higher, but to bring down the fence and tell people come, you know, like me I'm just like a beggar telling another beggar where the food is at. And if we can take that approach for the people of hard encounter with God, I really feel we shall be able to be impactful to this generation. Let them know that they've got a place they belong, not by the do's and don'ts. Once they know they belong, they'll get to know the do's and don'ts as time goes by. Alright, and you have a new album. I think we only talked about two songs from the inspiration behind it. So the whole album, as I said, is called God, Life and Hip-Hop and pretty much it's just having conversations, engaging the culture. There's a song over there called Drive on Sleep Again. With an artist I'm sure many of us may be familiar with called Kevo Yut. Yeah, I know Kevo Yut. He's been in the game for a minute. I brought him out of retirement because Kevo Yut when Red Sun was doing his thing, Kevo Yut was not doing his thing in the gospel, you know, when he comes to dance. So I was like, you're Kevo Yut, it's also a groovy word, Hip-Hop Artist of the Year Malouda in the same song, Drive on Sleep Again, produced by Othole. There's a song over there featuring Tana P himself from Malawi, a really dope producer. Like actually like one day I hope even he comes to visit your show. I believe he's one of the dopest producers in Africa, but really undiscovered. He's also part of the album. I want to big up everyone. One by Mimshak, another minister also like a really dope emcee. One of the line he has is like, it's a mix of Swahili, English, but at the end of the day there's something over there for everybody. Whether you're elderly, there's something called Song for Mama. I hope I'll get to maybe perform that before the end of the day. There's something for the young people trap, drill, but also if you're someone who was raised in the old school by the 90s Hip-Hop also you'll find some good stuff over there for sure. Ah, Malouda, like how many tracks? 12 tracks. I recorded around 19 tracks, but I put 12 to check it. At least, yeah, because I consider myself a newbie in the game right now. I haven't been in the game for a while, so I come to with humility. But towards the end of the year, the tracks which are not able to make it, I'm planning to do a Christmas AP around maybe the last quarter of the year. So I'll put maybe some of the tracks record, maybe three Christmas tracks and just like give it to the people. Alright, so what's the plan, bro? Are we going mainstream? We are here to push this. I'm like, what are you planning? Like moving forward. The album has dropped you here, we are pushing the album and everything. I want to see because I really believe like the urban artists in Nairobi, sometimes we just try like the usual ways, you know, take the music to the radio, take the music to the TV stations but when you look right now in this we're in a global village. And if it's urban music, it might not be mainstream over here, but there's someone in Malawi who can be able to listen to the music. There's someone in Zambian, Cape Town, in Lagos and even the diaspora in Toronto, NY. So my main thing right now with this particular album is those 12 songs to see how I can take each and every song like a baby and see how I can push it to the demographic that's supposed and meant to listen to that music. So like right now just making phone calls, sending emails to different people, seeing if I can get airplay in the radio stations over there because I really believe once that's possible, once I'm able to create the path for Jafro, I can get other artists, other newbie artists also like Noshikili, Kononwambie, this is the path, at least because music, there's an audience out there, my people. But right now I think sometimes we limit ourselves. Come on, in this generation of the streaming services, it's really tough because 10 years ago I could create the music, print 3,000 CDs, give myself maybe three months. Right now it has to be available in the streaming services, but now how do you create awareness? So right now it's Nini, I thank God even for you guys opening the doors over here. This is part of the awareness, and I like to tell everyone actually watching this, how can you help me? Go to YouTube, at least just like subscribe to my channel, Jeff Frokati, J-E-F-R-O-K-A-T-A-I. Go over there, you know, hit subscribe, hit the bell, and so I'll be able at least to let you know once new music is popping up. And you can also go to any streaming services, just look for Jeff Frokati, Godlife and Hip-Hop, I really appreciate that. Okay, and we appreciate that. Of course we wish you the best of luck in everything. Now before you perform for us, I have a Bible trivia for you. You are winning. We're going to have that Bible trivia we see. But I'm going to ask very simple ones. You ready? Okay, let's go. The 8th commandment. What's the 8th commandment? Hey man, it's a feeling. I shall not be guessing, truthfully. I'm confused. Is it kill? Is it kill? No, you actually, that shall not be fair. That shall not bear false witness. Okay, question number two. In which city was Jesus born? Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Bethlehem. The people who brought gifts when he was born, it's just Jesus oriented. Who brought him gifts? The wise men. Five fruits of the Holy Spirit. Let's go. One. Wow, joy, patience, long suffering. Calmness? Feeling the way she's looking at me. I said joy, patience, long suffering. It's okay. Effort, effort. Remove, remove, alright. Now, which angel, the last one, the last one, which angel told Mary shall give birth? Gabriel. We can go on. The Holy Spirit is over here. Thank you so much for making time now, your specials. Where do people connect with you? Because there's someone right here is on the hip hop. Actually, let me just read you this comment. It's all about you. The rapper is amazing. He's on the rap to Nadai, Kenya. Subscribe, man. Jefrokatai, YouTube. Jefrokatai pretty much everywhere. So when you go to Facebook, Jefrokatai just add me friend when you go to Twitter over there I can be a little bit political, international relations but Jefrokatai, IG also Jefrokatai. Alright, we love it. Thank you so much for stopping by. So we're going to let you perform. Which song are you performing for us? Song For Mama, is it possible? Do you have it? Yeah, we have it. For all the mothers and all the women out of respect for the women in our lives. This dedicated to all the mothers out there. The ones who are with us, the ones who have left us. Thank you for raising us. We truly, truly appreciate you. Song For Mama featuring Daniel Chiquaza. Okay.