The Kenyan entertainment scene is strewn with music entertainers, actors, comedians and many more but not forgetting the socialites. A socialite in Kenya is defined as a person who participates in numerous social events and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained. On a lighter note, Urban dictionary describes it as a rich unemployed person who must be in active contact with media and other rich unemployed people.

Kenya has had a rise in the number of socialites whose fame is growing at quite an alarming rate. Just to mention a few such as Vera Sidika, Huddah Monroe, Shiro Waruinge, Crystal Achieng and many more. It all has to do with beauty, body, money, fashion and more money. They have been branded as groupies, unemployed, unfocused, but they make life interesting and it gives writers in Kenya such as me, topics to write on.

For those interested in getting into the Kenyan socialite limelight here are some pointers that could boost your rise to fame and popularity in Kenya.   The first step is to obviously get a group of fashionable friends or whatever group of friends that portray the kind of socialite you would like to be. Paint the town red together and always make an impact wherever you go. But always remember to be the one who stands out most. For those who prefer to climb the social ladder on their own.

Secondly, get busy highlighting all events in Kenya relevant to your plight. Be it blankets and wine, The Heineken Mingle, Nairobi fashion market, the circle, and all Fashion events, you name it. Attend them all keeping in mind your Kenyan fashion sense has to be up to standard.

Thirdly, get some media attention in Kenya in any way possible. Most socialites have resorted to nude photos, and rumors of sex scandals. One could also just make friends with media personalities and photo bomb as much as possible. Another option is to just have a well paying job in Kenya and let the money speak for itself. The best form of media advertisement in Kenya, that I have personally seen, is being a twitter or facebook bigwig. Controversial tweets and starting up the ever so popular “beefs” seems to work for most socialites in Kenya.

Finally, if your name does not exactly appease the masses in Kenya change it up. Being a socialite is joining the entertainment industry of Kenya therefore; all the rules of entertainment apply. Talk up your name and let it spread all over Kenya and the rest should fall into place.

The socialite life in Kenya seems a little materialistic, actually quite materialistic but whatever suits ones fancy that’s the bottom line.  The costs are high to be a socialite, one’s life becomes an open book and the scrutiny from the public feels like a cell being observed under the microscope at x 1000. The life comes with its own perks, fame, fashion, money and basically living la vida loca.

The Panari hotel is located near the airport, in Nairobi. This establishment is near this luxury hotel is near Nairobi City Stadium and Nyayo National Stadium. These are two main attractions for the hotel. Another factor is that it is close to Strathmore University and Nairobi Railway Museum.One of the greatest hotel features is that it has outdoor pool and a sauna. The hotel also features a full-service spa and a nightclub. This is a great outlet for the people who want to have fun and to relax. In the rooms the TVs are great and they have very many satellite channels. The guestrooms also have complimentary wireless Internet access, refrigerators, and air conditioning. This gives the guests a great and memorable stay in the hotel. For the health conscious people, there is also a fitness center, a sauna and a steam room on offer. This hotel features an outdoor pool and people will need to carry their swimming costumes and towels. It has a great pool with crystal clear water. For the people who plan to stay for long, there are dry cleaning/laundry services. This means that people do not have to carry dirty clothes when they leave. One on-site winter fun is snowshoeing. The hotel has great staff who assist with tour/ticket assistance, express check-in and express check-out. The other amenities include ATM/banking services, an elevator (lift), laundry facilities and shopping on site.

On the second floor is 1 of 2 equatorial African ice rinks. This is one of the coldest places in Nairobi because it is 12°C and an ice temperature of -25°C The other ice rink is located in Nigeria. The rink measures 32 × 12 meters and has an ice skating surface area of 15,000 square feet and it can hold 200 skaters at a time. The Charges include roller skates though people are required to come armed with clothes and protective wear. The price is Ksh 800 for adults (15 years and above) and Ksh 600 for children for a one hour session. The ice arena is opened through the week and you can check in between 11am and 10pm.  Pick-up hockey matches are organized every Wednesday through the Kenya Ice Hockey League. Sticks, pucks and limited protective gear is provided. Tickets or receipts are delivered at the arena 15-20 minutes prior to the start of a session and are valid for only single sessions. 

Rule and Regulations

The following are the rules for skating at the Panari Centre.

• All skaters must skate in one direction (anti clockwise) and should be considerate of children and beginners to avoid collisions.

• Like any other sports field, there are several rules that should be observed while at the ice rink. Customers must follow the instruction of the ice rink supervisors always to prevent injuries and accidents.

• Children under 9 years, must be in the company of an adult and should wear protective gloves.

• The use of the ice rink is also strictly at the customer’s risk and the management does not accept any responsibility for personal injury and the loss or damage of private property.

• Skaters should wear socks and warm dress to protect them from the cold conditions.

• Skaters are prohibited from entering the ice rink without skating boots, walking on skating boots outside the rubber tile areas or taking skating boots outside the ice arena.

• Stability is required in this sport and as a result, participants who are under the influence of alcohol will not be allowed admission.

• People are not allowed to vandalize the ice surface, sit on the rink board walls, throw objects and cigarettes butts on to the ice surface or consume food and beverage inside the ice arena.

• Tickets are sold on a cash basis and cheques and credits are not accepted.

If you have never tried ice skating on the equator, you can take part in ice skating or ice hockey courses that teach basic skating and skills.

 

 

Kenyan musicians have had a lot of hard times for the last few years and it is something that is connected with problems in the music industry. The government has done little to promote the talents of various artistes in the country making it really hard for them to cope up with the challenges. Among others, the following are some of the major problems affecting the music industry in the country.

Lack of originality

It has been observed that a lot of Kenyan musicians do not have their way of singing and will often try to copy the style of other musicians from the global world making it hard for them to be invited for international shows as they are often described as artistes that copy the style of others in huge efforts trying to do musicians like other countries of the world.

Pirates

The particular groups of people are playing great roles in making the efforts of a respective artiste to be wasted. It has been noted that many of this end up getting the original copy that they go ahead to produce large numbers making it hard for them to sell albums and gain money from their songs. It is important that the music corporate of Kenya goes ahead to punish people that are often found to be having local music in their shops without official receipts.

High Production Costs

The cost of producing music in the country is high making it hard for people to cope up with the price. lot of young talents have been killed as many of them lack the required money to produce music as demanded by the respective producers. Kenya needs to get a way of making sure that artistes have better ways of recording music and gaining from their talents.

Mismanagement of funds

Many young people find it hard to handle their funds at a more stable way and will often use the money for the wrong type of purposes. It is important that more stable ways be formed on how the money can be well distributed so as to avoid falling in the wrong hands of people.

Most Kenyan musicians have never declared their wealth or rather their net-worth for matter, but instincts never lie. When you go through the Music Copyright Society of Kenya Archives, you will most definitely get a great deal of details regarding what every prominent musician in Kenya makes today. In fact, just recently, the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) came up with a list of some of the wealthiest musicians in Kenya.

The criterion used by the MCSK to rank the wealthiest musicians in Kenya is pretty much absurd but in any case you have no option but to take the details down on paper.  Factors such as merchandise and CD sales, live performances and related careers in Kenya are some of the main elements which are used in upgrading or downgrading musicians today.  Some Kenyans might argue that Prezzo and Redsan in Kenya are the wealthiest artistes in Kenya today, but that is not the case.  The details in here will most definitely shock you.

Here now is a look at some of the wealthiest artistes in Kenya;

Jaguar in Kenya

Top on the list of richest musicians in Kenya is Jaguar.  Much as he has been in the limelight ever since the Kenyan music industry was in its infancy, he has never failed to impress. Jaguar is in fact, recognized by many as one of the best hit makers in the East African region. The Kigeugeu singer in Kenya, apart from singing, is an entrepreneur in Kenya with a great portfolio that is comprised of a security company, taxi firm, real estate and even an auto garage all in Kenya. Jaguar is also known to own a collection of several posh cars including a range rover sport, Mercedes Benz, Bentley, and a Lexus in Kenya.

Nonini in Kenya

Nonini, One FM morning show presenter comes second in the list of the wealthiest artistes in Kenya today. It is necessary to appreciate the fact that Nonini also doubles up as a co-pioneer of Genge music in Kenya.  Many Kenyans in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya love to call him the God Father of Genge in Kenya. Currently, Nonini has got three albums which receive lots of airplay on the local media stations in Kenya. The Color kwa Face Foundation in Kenya which helps to champion the rights of albinos in the country is another job that Nonini has done during his career and done it well for that matter.  The Color Kwa Face Foundation has received lots of support from various corporate entities in Kenya such as Standard Group and Safaricom and definitely things look bright for the GOD FATHER in future.

Wyre in Kenya

There is no doubt that Wyre’s new song Nakupenda Pia in Kenya which features Alaine is a big hit for the year 2013 in Kenya.  One thing that is for sure is that Wyre’s style of doing music in Kenya is pretty much unique. He loves to fuse reggae with R&B in Kenya in order to create hits on a consistent basis.  To date, Wayre has released two albums and also features in various songs by other well established artists in Kenya and beyond. Wayre is also a Sakata judge in Kenya who loves to incorporate choreographed dance moves in his moves and definitely his charisma has earned him lots of accolades from across the world.

Now you know the richest Kenyan artists in Music industry in Kenya.

The Maasai represents Africa traditional culture despite the modern western culture which is being adopted by most African countries, the Maasai tribe has remained firm. The tribe is famous worldwide because of keeping their tradition. They produce art and craft products including the beading and jewelry. The Maasai beading design is popular that many cultures many producers have used it to make shoes and even hand bags.

Most of the Maasai people live in the Southern part of Kenya, the tribe occupied a wide land in the past and they lived in southern and Central Kenya practicing their culture. The Maasai language relates to Samburu and Njemps and the tribe’s culture is also related because they are nomadic cattle herders but they are now involving themselves in farming. Their culture is related to their belief that one day their God called Enkai sent them gifts of cattle through a tree which was left attached between the earth and the sky after both were separated. They believe that cattle are God given therefore a sacred gift, the grass is also considered as sacred meant to support the life of their gifts.

The lion is seen as an enemy to the cattle, they guard themselves from this enemy through protecting their homes with thorny branches which make the fence. They have also formed a ceremony for young morani who they call the worriors. The moran have to prove their courage by killing the lions in the jungle. They hold traditional parties and arm themselves with spears and hides of other animals then go to the forest to kill lions. The moran wore grass on their legs then approach the lion silently.

If the warriors accomplish their mission by killing a lion then they would go home celebrating and dance engilakinoto dance which has a style of thrusting their chest and leaping up to almost four feet up the ground. The tribe also has a dance of blessing their cattle. They have other famous parties when the boys are being circumcised and another ceremony after they are circumcised called the convalescence, the boys decorate their faces with powder and wear black. After the two ceremonies the young men are now called the moran, they pierce their hear lobes like women do and they let their hair grow and color it with red ochre. They consider red as their sacred color, this is also demonstrated by their blankets shukka and they use.

They wear wear beadings which have been made by the women, the beading has red, blue and green colors, Blue color symbolize their God, the color of the sky, the red color is their sacred color while the green is the color of the grass which is also sacred in their culture. The women wear a necklace which is disc shaped. The unmarried women also wear these necklaces and perform their traditional dance called the Olamal. Maasai women perform this dance in order to pray for blessings in their community. As the maasai girl grows older the decorations especially in her hears are increased, during the wedding day a lot of decoration is put around her body this is in form of necklaces and other jewelry’s.

 

Back in the day, there was only one television station that broadcasted all over Kenya. The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation was established during the colonial era. KCB was the only television station in Kenya then. It was renamed the Voice of Kenya and was the mouthpiece of the Kenyan government at the time. The station was later renamed to The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation as it had been initially, to show its linkage to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

During that era, there were many local programs aired on KBC such as “Vitimbi” and “Vioja”. Soap operas such as “No one but you”, “The Bold and the beautiful” and “Tropical Heat” were enjoyed by the adults in Kenya. Then there was “Wrestling” an all-time favourite for all and sundry. Most school kids in Kenya at the time would discuss these television programs aired then in Kenya over their breaks from class.

During the reign of Mwai Kibaki as president, many other broadcasting networks in Kenya came up. Some of the most popular television stations in Kenya are:

The Kenya Television Network is yet another broadcasting network in Kenya. The Standard Group in Kenya runs the KTN media house and the daily Standard newspaper. KTN was the first television station that broke the monopoly of KBC in the early 1990’s. Most of the reporters in KTN double up as correspondents of major media houses such as CNN and BBC. Most foreign correspondents, on the other hand, rely on KTN for Kenyan news when making their footage.

The National Television Network, (NTV) formerly Nation is owned by Nation Media Group in Kenya, which is the largest media group in Kenya. Nation Media Group (NMG) also owns the Daily Nation newspaper as well as Easy FM on radio in Kenya. NTV station broadcasts up to 100 km radius from the major towns in Kenya such as Nairobi, Eldoret, Nyeri, Nanyuki and Meru.

Family TV in Kenya which is run by TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) broadcasts programs and documentaries with a religious angle to Kenyans. Family TV seeks to provide a different kind of television entertainment in Kenya from most of the other media houses.

Citizen Television in Kenya, which is owned by the Royal Media Group in Kenya, is debatably the most popular television channel in Kenya today. With over ten other vernacular radio stations in Kenya, the Royal Media Group in Kenya is most certainly a force to reckon with. Some of the vernacular radio stations owned by Royal Media Group (RMG) in Kenya include Musyi FM for the Kambas, Wimwaro FM for the Embus, Chamgei FM for the Kalenjins, Ramogi FM for the Luos and Inooro FM for the Kikuyus. This means that the media house in Kenya has a huge clientele and listeners all over the world.

There are other stations currently running in Kenya such as KISS TV, QTV, K24, SYR and GBS.

For the lucky few Kenyans who have subscribed to decoders in Kenya, such as Gotv and DSTV, are spoilt for choice with stations.

In Kenya, music industry is growing at a very fast rate making it necessary to have qualified producers that can deliver music that can do well at the international level stage. The following are some of the best places one can seek to record their music.

OGOPA DJs

The studio has produced some of the country’s biggest hits and musicians. The late E-Sir was one of the top most musicians that used to record their songs at the studio. Currently, ogopa is doing well producing songs for big names such as Marya,Avril and Ringtone. The music is of high quality and new artistes are encouraged to join it.

CALLIF RECORDS

It is also one of the best studios in Kenya especially if an artiste wants to do the famous brand known by Kenyans genge.Calif has for a longtime been consistent in producing quality and has seen new talents such as Ala C record their hits at the place. It is continually growing and promoting new talents around Nairobi areas and Kenya in general.

PRINCECAM MEDIA

The studio has produced a lot of songs mostly in the gospel field and continues to get new more artistes in the country. The studio is nurturing a set of new talents by producing songs of various types for artistes and continues to teach them how to be competent and maintain high ethical standards as a musician. The teachings help the artistes to cope up with life of being a celebrity and how to handle expectations.

CREAMVISION

As the name suggests, the studio has the intention of enlightening the lives of artistes and make them enjoy services in the music industry upon which they can feel good and learn to appreciate the role of music in the country. It has produced big hits for most gospel musicians and continues to do well in the industry.

JOMINO

The studio is among the best raga producing studios in the country. Big names such as Kenrazy have been noted by many fans through the studio. It is friendly and continues to do well in the coming years. It is advisable for new talents to try getting the services of the producers.