CRI$I$ Mr Swagger

George da Soulchild writes:

C.R.I.$.I.$ or Crisis Mr. Swagger is Zambia’s premiere Hip-Hop artist with the fastest growing international presence of any of our artists. He is currently is working on a new album to be titled ‘B.I.G (Business is Good).’ This forthcoming release is part of a major plan as the artist moves to another level in his career. The album boasts high powered production from Canada’s Bos Beats on the song ‘Make The Crowd Go’. It also has production by fast rising US producer Youg Fyre. Fyre has also recently produced a song called ‘How To Hate’ for Lil Wayne and was in charge of production for T-Pain’s PreVolver Mixtape. B.I.G will also include production from C.R.I.$.I.$. The album track listing has not been finalized but, Houston rapper Lil Flip is confirmed to make an appearance on a song called ‘Since You Hate Me’. The song has been officially released and is available on iTunes and at other online stores.

C.R.I.$.I.$ is currently nominated for the Channel-O Music Video Award in the category for MOST GIFTED AFRICAN SOUTHERN VIDEO. His song ‘The Fire Inside – Produced by Bos Beats and Young Fyre’ will be competing with some of the best acts out of Southern Africa. Voting closes on the 27th of October, 2011 and he is scheduled to perform at the awards ceremony.

This year already saw C.R.I.$.I.$ win a BEFFTA Award for BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT: In February, 2011 he was nominated for the Black Entertainment Film Fashion Television Arts Award (BEFFTA). He faced stiff competition as he was competing against M.I (Nigeria), 2 Face (Nigeria), Ali Kiba (Tanzania) and Faly Ipupa (Congo DR). Based on a global vote, the BEFFTA Award for BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT was given to C.R.I.$.I.$.

In 2010 he shared the stage with Akon and Sean Paul in Harare Zimbabwe. It was a successful show with an attendance of 48,000 people at the Harare National Sports Stadium which was was almost filled to capacity. He also performed at an MTV Event during the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa sharing the stage with Liquid Deep & Zulu Boy

C.R.I.$.I.$. aka Crisis Mr. Swagger is a Zambian born Hip-Hop Artist/Producer/CEO of his own independent music label called Diamond Chain Services in Lusaka, Zambia, Africa. 35,000+ CD’s and Cassettes sold in Lusaka alone, C.R.I.$.I.$.’s album Officer in Charge (released January 2005). First hip-hop record, produced and released in Zambia by a Zambian artist. Second album, The Diamond Chain Mixtape reached another milestone by becoming the first Zambian Mixtape to be released commercially in Zambia. 2008-Released the album called, ‘Designer.’ C.R.I.$.I.$. isn’t showing signs of stopping as he continues to venture out of Zambia and into the international Hip-Hop market.

0

Tourism in Africa


I liked a piece by Beth Kormanik on Hotel Interactive I’ve edited quite a lot of it and added my comments specifically for Zambia at the end.

“As the continent of Africa realizes new heights with global tourism – bolstered by the FIFA World Cup in South Africa last year – new facts and figures are telling the story of a continued growth in 2011. Key issues such as difficulty in crossing borders and concerns over security, though, are stalling that growth.

Tourist arrivals to Africa in 2010 reached 940 million, an increase of 6.6 percent compared with 2009. North Africa is the biggest draw, thanks to Egypt, with 29.7 million arrivals that accounted for $21.7 million in receipts. The figures were among those in just-published State of Tourism in Africa, a report sponsored by the World Bank, the Africa Travel Association and New York University’s Africa House.

“It seems there is room for us to be optimistic,” said Fatou Mas-Jobe Njie, Minister of Tourism and Culture for the Republic of The Gambia and president of the Africa Travel Association, which held its sixth annual Presidential Forum on Tourism Tuesday in New York. While travel and tourism hold the promise of growing GDP, creating jobs and encouraging sustainable development, the current reality is of low consumer confidence and investment.

“Still, we need to caution our optimism as uncertainty still remains,” she said. “We cannot ignore what happened to the tourism industries of Egypt and Tunisia after the shocks of political change.The reality is that the possibility of growth and development are not yet fully recognized or realized in Africa’s political corridors. That’s why ATA has a critical role to play. ATA can help raise awareness of the importance of the industry among decision makers and across the general public in Africa.”

First, though, African countries need to resolve long-standing issues that hamper travel, such as the difficulty crossing borders, according to Nigel Vere Nicoll, managing director of Advancing Tourism to Africa. “Why is it that the border between Kenya and Tanzania is impossible to cross?” he asked. “The two parties just don’t talk to each other. It doesn’t make sense.”
Ezekiel Maige, Tanzania’s Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, said the two countries have issues over border security and also of a fair distribution of tourist dollars. “We are discussing in the region how we can sort out these problems,” he said. “The assurance I’ll give here is we’ve reached a very good stage.”

David Scowsill, president and CEO of The World Travel and Tourism Council, pointed out that air service agreements in Africa are terribly outdated – many in East Africa still operate under rules developed at the Chicago Convention in 1944. Travel across borders within Africa remains difficult. “I suspect our predecessors were having similar conversations 10, 15, 20 years ago,” Scowsill said. “We’re not working fast enough.” Being a tourism minister is a lonely place to be.The focus on travel and tourism and what it does for job creation and wealth creation overall is an agenda that is only going to be driven by the president of a country. If we could find two, three or four visionary African presidents who really understand the power of travel and tourism and are prepared collectively to move things and change things, to open the skies and to have common visas things would happen, without that, I can’t see anything changing very quickly.”

Another challenge is marketing Africa as a safe and desirable location, according to Gregg Truman, vice president of sales and marketing for South African Airways.

“If Africa wants to be recognized it must be willing to spend resources in marketing the destination,” he said. “That’s what we don’t do well most of the time. Yet we have beautiful scenery, a lot of cultural tourism, eco-tourism. We have diverse products that people can learn from and enjoy”

In Zambia’s case:

I should think our new Minister of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism, Given Lubinda and President Michael Sata are very busy with other things, but the sentence I’ve highlighted above about tourism needing to be presidentially driven bears thinking about!
The ATA has been around for a long time, I’m not sure how much they’ve really done for tourism in this country.

Recommendations for Zambia: 1. Re-introduce the successful visa waiver scheme for bona fide tourists with advance reservations.
2. Allocate a good budget to Zambia Tourist Board for overseas marketing in Europe and USA.
3. Improve tax incentives and concessions for the hospitality and travel industries in order to stabilize prices and to change the perception of Zambia being an expensive destination.
4. Improve air (and road) links between the different tourist destinations within Zambia and surrounding countries and encourage competition to reduce air fares.
5. Make the Victoria Falls accessible to tourists from both sides of the border without visas and immigration formalities. (Dreams division)

The photo? Victoria Falls – the Zimbabwe side for a change!

0

Emirates To Fly To Zambia!


From SkyClub.com

“Emirates is launching flights to two new African destinations from February next year. The airline will be offering five flights per week from Dubai to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, and Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, from 1st February 2012.

Travellers visiting Zambia or Zimbabwe with Emirates will be within easy reach of Victoria Falls- the largest waterfall in the world. Labelled a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Victoria Falls is 1.7km wide and cascades over 100 metres. Both destinations also have world-class national safari parks for any travellers wishing to observe some African wildlife.

Passengers travelling with Emirates to Zambia and Zimbabwe will be able to experience Emirates’ luxurious First and Business Class cabins. The A330-200 operating the route has a three-class configuration with 12 First Class seats, 42 Business Class seats and 183 Economy seats. Guests in all classes of travel will enjoy meals prepared by gourmet chefs, as well as hundreds of channels of entertainment and the facility to send and receive emails and text messages.

“Emirates has long understood the enormous potential of Africa, which today is one of the fastest-expanding economic regions of the world, benefitting from a combined market of over one billion people, rising consumer demand and an abundance of natural resources,” said His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group.

“Zambia and Zimbabwe will be our 20th and 21st African destinations and their addition to our global network will enable us to provide new flexibility and choice for customers, help to grow trade routes and create important new inbound and outbound markets for tourism,” added His Highness.”

Now, all we need is a direct flight from Europe to Livingstone. Come on!

0

Zambikes


Loved this when I found it on Filtre

“In Zambia, bicycles grow on trees, or rather bamboo, the primary building material for many Zambikes. Groves of it grow outside the company’s factory, which is run by two Zambians and two Americans on a quest to build a local bike for Africans, and employ the “uneducated and underprivileged” to make them for the rest of the world.

So far, Zambike has cranked out at least 8,000 metal bicycles and 900 bicycle ambulances and cargo carts in Southern Africa; they’ve sold 200 bamboo bicycle frames worldwide. The company’s goal, besides benefiting communities around it, is to sell affordable, effective transportation throughout Zambia, a country where the average life expectancy is 47 years old, and infant mortality approaches one in 10 births. The for-profit firm was founded in a partnership with U.S. nonprofit Akerfa, and has employed more than 100 people, says Zambikes co-founder Vaughn Spethmann.

“Our products are saving and changing lives,” said Spethmann during an interview with SOCAP Europe. “We are creating opportunity and employment. “Our goal of having Zambikes be run by Zambian nationals will ensure that Zambikes will be a catalyst for change for decades to come.”

The design is relatively straightforward, though labor intensive. Three-year-old bamboo is cut, preserved, and cured for several months before being cut to size. The frame is then bound with wood glue and plant fiber cords soaked in epoxy, and affixed to the metal components. The whole process takes as long as a week, but produces a 95% bamboo bike that is “one of the classiest, comfortable rides in the bike industry” with almost “magical” vibration absorption, says the company. Models have fetched about $900 abroad, and a messenger bike version is now available for export.

0

Mwansa The Great



George ‘Kaufela’ Soulchild reports:

A Zambian film titled ‘Mwansa The Great’ was recently awarded two prizes at the Tarifa African Film Festival in Spain. In an interview with the Weekend Post, cast member Owas Mwape said the short film by Zambian film director Rungano Nyoni beat off competition from other filmmakers to take the prize of RTVA award for best short film, as well as the Griot award for best short film.

Mwape said the awards make up the third and fourth awards the film has won in the four months since its release. ‘Mwansa The Great’ is a film about an 8-year-old Zambian boy who goes on a journey to prove his greatness with unexpected consequences. It was shot in Chongwe district using an all Zambian cast and some Zambian crew members. The film has been making waves internationally, and wowing audiences across the world,” said Mwape.

The film, which also stars Samuel Mwale and Anna Mithi, was premiered at Cinepossible film festival in Spain. Mwape said since then, the film has been accepted at 14 other festivals worldwide, screening in Germany, Austria, India, Poland, New York, Canada and South Africa.

The film will be shown at this year’s Durban International Film Festival, competing for the Best International Short Film award.

0

Ron Chama on 107.7 fm



Last Sunday we were proud to have Ron Chama (above) as the guest on our weekly radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient ft George Soulchild. The programme airs from 20.30 – 21.30 hrs live on Zambezi 107.7 fm and also streams live on the internet (or is supposed to!) Links are available on the Chanters Lodge website as well as the station’s own site.

Ron is also known as Ron da Prod and is Livingstone’s best known record producer. After the introductions, Ron told listeners that he’d been in the record production business for about 6 years and had his own record label ‘Raising Sounds’. Almost as soon as the show began we received a text message reading ‘seeing you now have Ronny as a guest on your show you should get him to do you some decent jingles for the programme!’ “Can you do that?” I asked “sure” replied Ron, who is a man of few words! We might well take him up on his offer!

Ron told listeners that he was very proud of the fact that many of Zambia’s leading musicians had recorded with him when they could easily have recorded in Lusaka. He explained that following his initial realization that he loved record production, he’d attended a course in Zimbabwe to learn more about this field. Amongst the stars he’d produced were Gen Ozzy and Roberto. Talking of General Ozzy, one of the tracks we featured on the show was his latest with O.C entitled ‘Zanga’. Great track! Ron explained to listeners that he had a full time job with Radio Mosi-o-Tunya (Livingstone’s other radio station) as Production Manager which he enjoyed, as it invlolved much of what he was used to doing by way of production. He’d been with that station for about 9 months.

The music on the show was right up to date. Apart from Gen Ozzy’s latest we hit listeners with ‘Promises’ by Nero the latest UK number one back to back with ‘Moves Like Jagger’ by Maroon 5 ft Christina Aguilera. Chipolopolo (remix) by Exile & Pompi followed, together with ‘Roll Up’ by Wiz Khalifa and ‘Miss Right’ by Ne-Yo. Our oldie of the week was Bobby Brown’s ‘Every Little Step’ and we had a prize winner who knew the name of the artist. We closed with ‘4am’ Melanie Fiona’s latest, coupled with One Direction and ‘What Makes You Beautiful’.

We wanted to know if Ron was married and his reply was “not married but not available”. This raised and dashed the hopes of the Chanters Girls listening back at the lodge, in a matter of seconds. He also revealed that on leaving school he had undertaken a course in purchasing and supply at Livingstone Institute for Business and Engineering Studies (LIBES). He told listeners that his father is a lecturer at the same institute. Milli Jam asked him what football team he supported in UK and he disappointingly replied ‘Chelsea’. I thanked Milli Jam for not talking about football given Arsenal’s poor situation.

Ron said that in 10 years time he’d like to be established as an international record producer – I wouldn’t bet against it!

0

Ron da Prod!



George da Soulchild, co-presenter of our Sunday night radio show ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience’, writes about a local music producer based right here in Livingstone.

Ronald Chama aka D-Roni or Ron da Prod as he is know on Facebook is a 25 year old music producer and CEO for Raising Sounds Studio, based in Livingstone. His love for music production dates back to his early days in Mufulira but it was only when he moved to Livingstone that he really took up music production, turning his hobby into something that could put food on the table!

In 2006 he opened his own recording studio, with very little experience in music production, under the name Ron.com Studio, a year later he changed the name to Raising Sounds Studio when he teamed up with a music producer called Happy who had a little more experience in music production and who, at that time, was the main producer at Raising Sounds Studios.

In 2009 Ron travelled to Zimbabwe and took a six month course in music production – by mid-year Raising Sounds was slowly getting noticed locally, as their production had improved tremendously but the problem the studio was facing was that most of the Livingstone based artists preferred to record in Lusaka, with well known and established studios.

But in 2010 things changed for the better when the studio recorded a charity song for a UK based NGO called Butterfly Tree this anti-malaria record was produced with the help of Ty2, Crystal Shaun, up and coming artiste Kaufela and Lillian Mweene. Ty2 also took the time and opportunity to record his hit single “Don’t Doubt” featuring Kaufela. Both Songs were produced by D-Roni. In the same year Raising Sounds recorded another hot song called ‘If It’s Lovin’ performed by the Brothahood Team (Ozzy, Roberto, Manas, and J-bus featuring Kaufela) also produced by D-Roni.

As K’millian, B-Flow, Masi, General Kanene, Petersen, Shyman, Shimasta, Red Linso and T-boy just to mention a few all flocked there to record, Raising Sounds became a household name in music production with countless hits playing on radio station across the country and in night clubs as well.

The studio is open to anyone willing to work with Raising Sounds Studio – circular or gospel artistes, all are welcome. Contact 0977437350/0967044661 Ronald or 0977169914 George.

0

Fly Zambia Airline


This piece from Times of Zambia caught my attention: The investors say they’d like to use the old Zambia Airways logo and in a blast from the past there’s a photo of one of the old airline’s planes clearly showing the much loved logo. Most people felt it was a great mistake to allow the airline to go out of business in the 90’s.

A GROUP of investors from South Africa and Zambia have formed a partnership and staked about K105 billion for a new national airline called Fly Zambia Airline which will be launched in September this year. The company is in consultation with the Government on the possibility of adopting the logo which was previously used by the defunct Zambia Airways.

Fly Zambia Airline Limited chief executive officer Theunis Crous said his company was in discussion with the Government to allow the firm use the Zambia Airways flag and logo on their Fokker aircraft. The defunct Zambia Airways was founded in 1964 as a subsidiary of Central African Airways, but went into liquidation in 1995.

In an interview in Lusaka, Mr Crous explained that the establishment of a national airline was a private initiative hence would be managed by experienced Zambian and South African team.
Mr Crous said the airline would use the Fokker 100 and Fokker 50 aircraft which have low operational costs. “We will start with four aircraft, two of which are Fokker 100 and the other two will be Fokker 50 including a cargo aircraft. We will do a lot of training of the staff in the aviation sector because our planes will be landing in Zambia for the first time and they need to be shown how they operate,” Mr Crous said. He said the airline would initially start with local and regional routes before expanding its routes internationally.

The regional routes include Zambabwe, Angola, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). “The firm will also service the domestic market and will set up a car hire company linked directly to the airline,” Mr Crous said. He said as a result of the investment, the airline would create 150 jobs for the local people.

Mr Crous said the introduction of the national airline in Zambia would give the local people the glory of having their own national airline. He said they would use the airline to attract tourists because tourism was a fast-growing industry. “The tourism industry has the potential to even grow and we shall aim to promote tourism from within the region and make Zambia the best destination by providing the services through our airline,” Mr Crous said. He said due to improved macroeconomic indicators and attractive investment incentive, the airline was able to invest in the aviation sector.

Mr Crous commended the Zambian Government for its continued efforts in enhancing the business environment for the private sector to invest in Zambia.

0

Gayle-Anne Drury on The Chanters Lodge Experience


There were some technical issues on the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with The Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild – partly I guess because George wasn’t around this week – wearing his rapper hat George aka ‘Kaufela’ had gone to Lusaka to try and speed up the release of his forthcoming album. However it was a good show and our Guest Gayle-Anne Drury, pictured above, was a lively and interesting Guest. Our programme goes out on Zambezi 107.7 fm radio in Livingstone and streams live on the internet every Sunday night at 18.30 hrs GMT, 20.30 hrs Zambian time.

Gayle-Anne, a psycho therapist was staying at Chanters Lodge. She runs an organization in York called Baobab Centre.”The Baobab Centre provides one-to-one support through counselling, coaching and mentoring, training and consultancy to individuals and organisations. They provide the knowledge and understanding which underpins relational management and offer care, expertise, tools and strategies to individuals, teams and organisations to help maximise potential growth and development” Gayle-Anne told listeners.

Her visit to Zambia was to assist Tujatane School in Livingstone on a voluntary basis by way of training their teachers and teaching assistants to counsel, coach, mentor and build relationships. She stressed to listeners the importance of ‘listening’ to build relationships. “Yes” I said “and they should jolly well listen to the Chanters Lodge Experience every Sunday night too”! We moved on. How long had Gayle-Anne been married, Milli Jam asked. “A very, very, very long time!” She replied and refused to divulge further details! She told us of her son Adam 26 and daughter Ruth 24 living in London and doing well.

The music on the show was fine as usual apart from ‘I Wanna Go’ by Britney Spears that refused to play for some reason – perhaps she really did ‘wanna go’! Our Zambian tracks were ‘Manone’ by Chika and the catchy ‘Wa Overtime’ by Salma. “Salma’s telling her audience that she doesn’t want one night stands but something longer term” explained Milli Jam – I thought perhaps the lyrics were deeper than this, but no further explanation was forthcoming! The very latest releases from Example – ‘Stay Awake’ and Akon ‘Keep Up’ went down well, so too did Nicole Scherzinger’s ‘Right There’ and the worldwide Pitbull/Ne-Yo smash ‘Give Me Everything Tonight’ – the latter had the Chanters Girls singing along at the lodge, so I’m told!

Gayle-Anne told listeners she’d had no time for tourist acitvities while she’d been in Livingstone due to pressure of work. She further revealed that she’d actually been born in Zambia and had undergone most of her primary education here before moving to South Africa then UK. She told us she’d very much enjoyed a visit to Simonga Village the previous day where she’d been invited by friends.

We thanked the staff at the lodge for their very hard and excellent work during the first 10 days of July and gave away the usual dinner for 2 at Chanters Lodge to the first person to text us Gayle-Anne’s country of residence. The response was excellent! Delvick won.

0

Great News From Zambezi Airlines


7th of April 2011

NEW FLIGHTS CONNECT CAPE TOWN AND LIVINGSTONE

Zambezi Airlines is proud to announce new flights connecting Cape Town directly with Livingstone and Victoria Falls!

The flight is routed Lusaka-Livingstone-Cape Town and back, thereby providing a Lusaka-Cape Town connection that is quicker and easier than the current option via J’burg. Seats are also open for sale Lusaka-Livingstone.

START DATE: Flights have been loaded from 30th June 2011 through to 31 December 2012 and are currently OPEN FOR SALES!

SCHEDULE:
Mon/Wed/Fri
ZJ 290 CPT 8:00 L’stone 11:10
ZJ 290 L’stone 11:55 Lusaka 12:55

Tue/Thu/Sun
ZJ 289 Lusaka 12:15 L’stone 13:15
ZJ 289 L’stone 14:00 CPT 17:10

AIRPORT TRANSFERS: Connecting passengers between Lusaka and Cape Town (in both directions) will not be required to disembark aircraft in Livingstone. At initial check-in, baggage will be tagged through to final destination. Zambian Entry and exit customs/immigration will be cleared only in Lusaka.

AIRCRAFT: fleet comprises of 3 Boeing 737-500 aircraft configured for 99 economy and 12 business seats.

WEBSITE: www.flyzambezi.com

0
Page 5 of 8 «...34567...»