Natalie King & Olivia Butler on ‘The Experience’

 
 
Meet Natalie King (left) and Olivia Butler from UK, guests on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient, featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela – that’s our regular Sunday night radio show airing weekly at 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Natalie and Olivia are teachers, visiting Zambia as a result of student and teacher exchanges that happen thanks to Laura Tilling of IntroZambia  “a “not for profit” organisation, founded in 2002 by Steve & Caroline Curtis with Laura Tilling, on the principle of fairly trading with local people, to support economic development through grass roots tourism” (quote), though I guess it has developed a lot since they wrote that!

Natalie teaches at Wincanton Primary School and Olivia at Ansford Academy, Castle Carey, both located in Somerset, England. Exchanges are in operation between Mufulira High School and Ansford Academy as well as between Wincanton Primary School and Kamuchanga and Mutundu Basic Schools also located in Mufulira on the Zambian Copperbelt. We noted that these exchanges must be a steep learning curve for all concerned!

Natalie and Olivia told listeners that they’d arrived in Livingstone that very day after spending a week working in Mufulira. For both it was their second visit to Zambia but their first journey to come and see Victoria Falls. They had plenty of activities lined up for the few days they would spend staying at Chanters Lodge, including a game drive, a river safari, microlight/helicopter flights and in Olivia’s case, horse riding. Natalie, a primary school teacher, said she was married with a 17 year old son in UK. She greeted her husband Jamie, listening to the programme back at the lodge together with the other members of the group of seven on the exchange programme. Olivia is single and told listeners that she teaches secondary school level science – and loves it.

The music on the show was good. We featured tracks by Sean Kingston, Chris Brown, Dandy Krazy, B1, Adele and Bruno Mars. The ‘oldie of the week’ was Daniel Powter’s ‘You Had A Bad Day’. I thought listeners would struggle with the name of the artist, but not so, and the prize was quickly snapped up with a text message! A dinner for two with drinks at Chanters Lodge! Our pick of the week was Justin Bieber’s ‘Boyfriend’ and we closed with Nicki Minaj’s smash, ‘Starships’.

We wondered how these fantastic exchange programmes were funded and the girls said there were various ways. Olivia explained that the students, teachers and parents of Ansford go to tremendous lengths to raise funds ‘everything from pig races to barn dancing’ she said. They were lucky to have also had some funding from the National Lottery, as well as a kind donor from the Minor Metal Trading Association. Natalie said that in the past they had received funding from the British Council but that this might not be the case in the future.

The two girls told listeners that they would be leaving Livingstone the following Wednesday, some of the group would be heading back to UK, while others would be going to Atkins Farm in Monze for some more Zambian experience! Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing 10 years from now, Natalie said she would ‘still like to be doing what I do’ and Olivia said she would like to have a PhD and to still be enjoying the adventures that life had to offer.

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Nasty D

‘Nasty D’ is back! But for how long?

George da Soulchild Kaufela reports:

At one time he was one of Zambia’s most celebrated artistes. This was so, not because of anything other than his somehow weird, crazy but also funny way of bringing out issues through social commentary. Nasty D, was one the founding fathers of modern day Zambian music which he himself used to call Zambezi music, which was a fusion of Kalifunku, Kalindula as well as modern day Zambian music.

Nasty D at one time also formed his own music clique called the Zambezi Symphone which consisted of the likes of 2wice and Shimaster, among other artistes. But the artiste later decided to take a break from the music industry in 2007 citing personal reasons, among them school.

The good news for all those who used to follow the musician and his music is that they have something to smile about – because Nasty D has returned to the music scene with a remix of his classic hit Bombasa and Shake Your Kwendo, a club banger in which he featured a talented teenage rapper Drillz, and Stevo. Both singles were produced by D J Mzenga Man at Y.E.M (Young Energy Movement) for Mzenga records.

The Bombasa remix features Mzenga Man himself, Alpha Romeo, as well as M.B.G. And for anyone who has taken time to listen to the two songs, they can also attest that nothing has changed about the artiste, as he is still the same old Nasty D, the Zambezi music maestro.

In his other single, ‘Shake Your Kwendo’, it is without a doubt that the artiste has come back to reclaim his rightful place on the music scene. He has maintained and stuck to his usual Zambezi music style. In this song, Nasty D is seemingly trying to tell all his music followers that he still has what it takes to be counted among the heavy weights and old timers in the music industry.

And Drillz, a teenage female rapper he featured in the song is also one to look out for in the year 2012. She is a revelation that has the potential to send shivers down the spines of other female rappers. She is not only young but also talented, and coordinated well with Nasty D on the intro and killing off her second verse with ease. The same can be said about Stevo. It looks like Nasty D has also not moved away from his culture of nurturing and moulding young and up-coming artistes, the same way he nurtured Mbototo of the Ama Blax.

The two songs have also been enjoying some fairly equal airplay on most radio stations as well as clubs. Nasty D has perfectly combined modern day Zambian music and his Zambezi music well.

That being said its hard to say how long he will be back. We wish him all the best.

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Snow On The Experience!

 
Snow in Africa?! Well, in a way….David and Heather Snow with daughter Mandie (above) from Christchurch in Dorset UK, were guests on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient, featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela – that’s our weekly Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. This, despite David and Mandie both being Spurs supporters!! The family were great guests, full of life and, for the most part, laughter!

Responding to Milli Jam’s questions, David and Heather said they’d been married for 43 years and had originally met at a game of skittles (I explained this game to George and Milli Jam, who looked bemused). “Was it love at first sight?” We wanted to know. “No!” said David quickly “Nor second sight”! Heather was not amused! They told us that Mandie was their only daughter and that they were taking her on trips across the world in the hope that she would meet ‘Mr Right’! “He’d better be rich”! Instructed David.

The family told listeners that they’d arrived in Livingstone just three days previously and that it was their first visit to Zambia, despite having previously travelled to many other African countries. David and Heather were both retired. David had worked for years on off shore oil rigs, for the most part ‘on’ for 56 days, ‘off’ for 28, as well as generally in the oil industry. Heather had been a teaching assistant before retirement. Daughter Mandie explained that she works in the housing department for local government in Dorset and was involved with re-housing homeless people.

The music on the show was up to date, and amongst other tracks we featured Mavado’s beautiful ‘Soulja Girl’ back to back with Madonna’s ‘Gang Bang’ – one of the few interesting tracks on her insipid new album. George featured Bryan’s ‘Tsunami’ back to back with T-Sean, Petersen and Dalisoul with their controversial ‘Adam’ for his Zambian selection. Milli Jam picked Adele’s ‘Set Fire To The Rain’. Our oldie of the week was James Blunt’s ‘Superstar’ and the prize for texting us the name of the performing artist was quickly snapped up by a listener in Nsongwe Village, out of town. We were delighted. JLS with ‘Proud’ and Emeli Sande with ‘River’ closed the show.

The family told listeners that they had loved their lion encounter and helicopter over the Falls combo that they’d done that day, and of course had been thrilled by Victoria Falls. They were looking forward to their forthcoming one week safari through Botswana, especially their time in the Okavango Delta.

Avoiding any more mention of football, we asked Heather what music she liked – Paul Weller was her answer and she was happy to hear that his new album had charted at number one in UK that very day. Mum Heather liked Cliff Richard and Tom Jones. Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now the family said they would like to be healthy, happy and travelling.

It was a super show with super Guests and great music!

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Pistol With A Bullet!

 George da Soulchild Kaufela, co-presenter of our regular Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm recently interviewed Zambian singing sensation JK about his hot new single ‘Pistol’ which we aired on last week’s show!

 New JK video featuring Ethiopian singer Hanni gets lots of praise!
JK has released his latest video for his song “Pistol” . This song features Ethiopian singer Hanni, who was a participant in last years ‘Big Brother Africa’. JK is known for making great videos and this one is no exception. The concept, dances, lighting and the costumes are all top quality!
The song is mostly in English and it will surely be all over Africa and beyond as soon as it is on Channel O and MTV Base. It is one of the best Zambian videos of the year so far.
       
Wonder boy Jordan Katembula, popularly known as JK, has said that his main focus now is to produce music and videos that will be accepted internationally. JK who is one of the pioneers of contemporary Zambian music has ‘also released a new single dubbed Pistol to accompany the video. The single comes with the high definition quality video produced by Ground Zero. The high quality video has already attracted many likes and praises on social network sites.

The singer, who stormed the scene over 13 years ago as a solo artist, has recorded five albums with three of them going platinum.

On Tuesday Zambezi FM breakfast show presenters George & E-Vibes spoke to JK via phone and asked him about his forthcoming album and when it may be released. JK in reply said it would be in about 2 months’ time just after his Atlanta tour. He also said he hah decided to work with African artistes like Fally Ipupa, Navio and Hanni just to mention a few, while locally with B-flow, Raydo and PJ on his new project.

No 1 with a bullet we suspect!

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Godfridah Chanda Stars On ‘The Experience’

Meet Godfridah Chanda (above), young, upwardly mobile and acting station manager of Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Godfridah was our guest on the latest edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with The Milli Jam Ingredient, featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela – that’s our regular Sunday night radio show airing between 20.30 and 21.30 on Godfridah’s own station! The programme is a nice mixture of music and chat.

Answering Milli Jam’s rapid fire questions, Godfridah told listeners that she’d been with 107.7 fm for a year, originally having been employed as a senior producer, but quickly promoted to production and programmes manager. Following a short course in Kasama in the north of Zambia (from where Godfridah actually hails), she was promoted to acting station manager, a position she’d now been holding down for a few months. Milli Jam – who should know these things – asked Godfridah if it was difficult handling DJ’s and broadcasters with big egos, seeing she was not only young, but also female. She replied that although it was challenging, she believed that if you loved your job, were hard working and committed as well as willing to learn, things would go well. She believed in consultation and respect for others.

Godfridah told listeners that she was a graduate of the University of Zambia in mass communications and development studies – she’d been selected to join 107.7 fm following a request from the station to the University department for the name of the hardest working, brightest graduate on her course!

The guys played some great music! Lionel Ritchie with Billy Currington ‘Just For You’ opened proceedings – a track from Lionel’s latest Tuskagee album. This was coupled with Alexandra Burke’s ‘Elephant’. The local selections included Macky 2 featuring P-Jay with ‘Landlord’ back to back with B1’s ‘Mr Perfecto’. Milli Jam chose Nicky Minaj’s ‘Young Forever’ coupled with ‘Bright Lights’ from Tinchy Stryder featuring Pixie Lott. His ‘oldie of the week’ was ‘Sitting On Top Of The World’ by Mase and Brandy, and the prize for the first person to text us telling us who was singing the track was quickly snapped up! George’s pick of the week was JK featuring Hanni with ‘Pistol’ – and it’s hot!

Godfridah told listeners that she was single, had one daughter Kalaba, aged 1 year and 9 months, currently being cared for by her mum in Kasama. When she was not working she loved to read, mostly Christian and motivational books. She intended to start her own programme on 107.7 fm – ‘Winning Women’ – very soon. She declared herself passionate about the affairs of women and children in society. When it came to sport Godfridah told listeners that she had little interest in soccer but loved volleyball – she was a keen player before she became a mum! On the subject of music, Godfridah told us her taste is ‘Zambian through and through’.

Asked where should would like to be and what she would like to be doing 10 years from now, she replied that she would like to be married with another child, holding a masters in development studies, as well as having her own business. I, for one, would not bet against that!

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Macky 2

Here’s a nice piece courtesy of George da Soulchild Kaufela, host of our regular Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone leading local radio station. George is a valued and regular contributor to the blog.


MACKY 2 in 2012 is… wait for it “LEGENDARY”

MACKY 2 ‘Flava Boy’ is back with his second fifteen track album called ‘Legendary’, an album he says is mainly aimed at empowering youths. The Ndola based singer and rapper, who pulls crowds wherever he goes, produced the album from his Alpha Entertainments outfit and features the likes of JK, Exile, PJ, Afunika, Chef, and Pilato in collaborations.

Macky 2 in an interview with the Weekend Post said he decided to take a mature step on his latest project because ‘the beef’ was not doing him any good!

‘Nangu Ba Nchinge’ itself is a song which encourages people to believe in themselves, how they shouldn’t be discouraged regardless of what they go through, and how much people will want to put them down. It’s a song that encourages people especially to follow their dream” said Macky 2.

“My album is focusing more on empowering youths. Nowadays you can’t run away from the fact that people want to dance but they are also so obsessed with love songs, and so there are about four club songs. I always try to maintain the original me but this album has a more mature approach.”

The singer, whose song ‘Mami’ won the ‘2011 Born & Bred Radio 4 Song Of The Year Award’, disclosed that he has registered a non-governmental organisation called the Macky 2 Hope Foundation to help orphans and the vulnerable in society.

His music is enjoying massive airplay on radio stations across the country as well as in night clubs and at other social gatherings.

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‘The Experience’ – Wangaratta to Livingstone

Meet Corienne (above right) and Ginny Krich, all the way from Wangaratta in Victoria State, Australia.  Corienne and Ginny, guests at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone appeared on the latest edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela – that’s our regular weekly Sunday night radio show airing between 20.30 and 21.30 hours on Zambezi 107.7 fm – Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show is a great mixture of music and chat. We feature news from the international pop charts as well as giving away a weekly prize of a dinner for two, to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing our ‘oldie of the week’. On this particular show no-one won! Listeners could not tell me that Sipho Hotstix Mabuse was singing ‘Burn Out’ – shame!

Corienne and Ginny told listeners that they were mother and daughter and had arrived in Zambia just the day before – it was their first visit to the country and they were very much looking forward to their stay. They had a busy activity schedule ahead of them beginning with an elephant safari the very next day. They would also be taking a sunset cruise, doing the rhino walk, the lion encounter, visiting Victoria Falls and taking a cultural tour as well as a safari in the Chobe National Park, Botswana. They were both very excited about the prospect.

The music on the show featured ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ – the Walk Off The Earth version, coupled with Jason Derulo’s ‘Lockdown’. George chose Mr Vezzy’s ‘Every Day’ back to back with ‘Boza’ by Jay-Rox for his Zambian selection, while Milli Jam featured Beyonce’s smash ‘Love On Top’ with Rihanna’s ‘Birthday Cake’ remix featuring Chris Brown – naughty that one! Our pick of the week was Dappy featuring Brian May with ‘Rockstar’ and we closed with ‘Live My Life’ by Far East Movement featuring Justin Bieber. All latest! All good!

Corienne told listeners that she worked for an NGO in Wangaratta helping to provide homes for neglected children, that she was married to Ginny’s dad who’d retired and who had been left at home in Australia to take care of their three cats! They had a son as well, a pharmacist currently on holiday in Sri Lanka. Ginny told us she had been a hairdresser for the past twelve years, that she was single and loved being free to do as she pleased! She was due to go to college when her holiday finished, in order to study a course which would lead to a qualification allowing her to take up work similar to her mum’s current job.

I took the chance to tell listeners about Pinterest, a fairly new ‘scrapbook’ site on the internet, as well as information about how to find us on Twittter and Facebook. We thanked Zambezi 107.7 fm for the purchase of a new mixing deck making the production of our programme much easier and more professional.

Corienne and Ginny explained that they’d be spending a week at the coast in Namibia after their time in Zambia. Corienne’s favourite music was anything by The Beatles whereas Ginny favoured hard rock – the Foo Fighters amongst other bands. When asked where they would like to be and what they’d like to be doing in ten years’ time this delightful mother/daughter combo said they had ‘absolutely no idea’. We laughed!

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Shimasta

Another UKZAMBIANS interview forwarded to me by George da Soulchild Kaufela, up and coming Zambian musician and radio presenter. Catch him on Zambezi 107.7 fm.

The year is 2003 and Zambian radio is playing “Kukafipa” and “Wanjebele Uleisa” by Shimasta, a new singer who has taken the industry by storm. His debut album just came out and the vibes on it clearly send out this message “Shimasta is here to stay”.

His recent hit “Natotela” with Loue X is a testimony to what Shimasta is capable of doing. He started out under the mentorship of Nasty D where he honed his traditionally influenced rap and hip-hop style. Almost 10 years to the day Shimasta is still going strong. We caught up with him and found out what he is doing now.

UKZAMBIANS: You seem to have taken a break from music. What’s going on in your career right?
Shimasta: I have been busy working on new things. After the successful ‘Supu Mudonyele’ album, my Music Video for “Tonight” was nominated for a Born ‘n Bred Award and I have had shows in Tanzania, Malawi, and Katanga in DRC. I have been writing songs in the process and I am currently working on a very entertaining matured DVD album on called 9yn.

UKZAMBIANS: We thought you had an album with Red Linso, how did that go?
Shimasta: That sweet album with Red will be coming soon, can’t wait for its release as well. Right now my focus is my coming DVD 9yn that is under Waybcyt Records and MwelaOnse Entertainment with production from Chilima a.k.a Mabwana.

UKZAMBIANS: We have heard your new songs and it seems you have changed your style. Is this deliberate?
Shimasta: Hahaha! I have two styles: I rap and sing. 9yn is strictly a singing album, it has no age limit, it’s an album you can get for anyone without thinking twice.

UKZAMBIANS: Now, let’s go back to when you started out as musician to where you are now. Your songs used to get a lot of radio play like back in the day; do you think the music industry has changed?
Shimasta: I miss Mondo Music Records. Today Zambian music has grown but the record labels today aren’t doing enough, we now market and manage ourselves, original CDs are cheaply sold and piracy is everywhere. Recording an album is expensive, that’s why there are too many singles on air. I love concerts more than making noise on air.

UKZAMBIANS: You are right about Mondo Music, they did so much for the artists back in the day. Nowadays it seems a lot of new artists are doing better than the veterans, do you feel the competition?
Shimasta: Names are made and many are fighting for the number one spot in Zambian music, it’s sad at the same time exciting for everyone because we’re all striving to bring out our best. Personally the only competition is the one I see in me (myself), that’s how come I am still here. I have seen best artists come and go, I wear Jersey 9yn or 17 (KALABA) only God can stop me.

UKZAMBIANS: What do your fans expect on the 9yn DVD?
Shimasta: Maturity and experience, it’s a DVD with true life stories and entertainment at its best. You need to watch out for this because I am working with Waybcyt videos as well as professional actors and actresses and dancers. It’s going to be in stores last week of April, 2012.

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Mr Vezzy

Thanks to George da Soulchild Kaufela, co-host of our regular Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm for this interesting piece:

‘Lvee’ or rather Mr Vezzy as he is know today has been around on the local Zambian music scene for a while now. The “no sweat no sweet” rapper had taken a break from the now very competitive music industry but last year saw him pick up a ‘Born ‘n Bred’ award in the category of Best Hip-Hop Video for his hit song “Ama Bad Boy”, which signalled his return to the industry. This year his new single hit airwaves a couple of weeks ago receiving massive airplay – the new single is called ‘Every Day (Nima Lota)’ produced by King James for So’ Good Ent.

On this song MrVezzy addresses his absence from the game and the name change from LV to MrVezzy he also touches on a wide range of current social issues such as the Liato case, the Chipolopolo AFCON dream as well as the rise of gossip sites like Kachepa360 and Tumfweko. 

 
‘Every Day (Nima Lota)’ is the first track release from MrVezzy’s forthcoming album which features collaborations with some prominent international and local artists. The album is set for release in early March 2012 – very soon in fact!




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Camilla Nereid & Gunnar Bendheim on ‘The Experience’

For the third time in recent weeks we were delighted to welcome Norwegian guests on to The Chanters Lodge Experience with The Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela – that’s our weekly radio show airing every Sunday night live between 20.30 and 21.30 hours on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show is a great mixture of music and chat and is also usually available streaming live on the internet.

Camilla Nereid and Gunnar Bendheim (above) had been staying at Chanters Lodge in Livingstone for part of their visit to Zambia, although they explained to listeners that they’d also spent some time in Mongu in Western Province. The reason for their trip to Zambia? Well they are both staff of Trondheim University College – Camilla is the Dean of the College of Teachers and Gunnar is Leader of Student Administration. For both it was their first visit to Zambia and they said they were loving it! They had come to check on the progress of their eight student teachers in Livingstone and eight in Mongu and they were happy to report that their students were doing very well. Their visit to Mongu had involved 35 hours on the road out of a 72 hour trip!
The music on the show was good, although there were some technical problems on this edition. We opened with two latest smash hits – Katy Perry’s ‘Part Of Me’ which had charted in the US at number one that very week – quite unusual! We coupled that smash with Nicki Minaj’s ‘Starships’ the first release from her upcoming new album. George dropped Exile’s ‘Auwe’ which Milli Jam told us is currently hot in the Zambian clubs – he should know as he’s also entertainment manager at New Fairmount Hotel in Livingstone, apart from being a regular presenter on 107.7 fm. Milli Jam chose Ace Hood’s ‘Body to Body’ together with ‘Love You No More’ from Diddy featuring Drake. Our oldie of the week was ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Dolly Parton and my pick of the week was Chris Brown featuring Rihanna with ‘Turn Up The Music’. We closed with Usher’s soulful ‘Climax’.
Camilla and Gunnar told listeners about their safari to Chobe in Botswana that day and amongst other species Camilla had been fascinated by the African Jacana bird – it is a polyandrous species, which means that one female mates with multiple males and the male alone cares for the chicks. Gunnar explained that he came from the far north of Norway – one of the coldest parts – where temperatures could drop to as low as -40C! We shivered! Camilla related that she had recently sat for a Phd in Turkish History to add to her other academic achievements.
Camilla told listeners she was married with 3 children, Gunnar that he was not married but had 6 nieces and nephews whom he regarded as ‘his kids’! This entertaining duo raved about the chicken piri-piri served at Chanters Lodge as well as the quality and friendliness of the staff, and revealed that they had even eaten crocodile meat while they were in Mongu! Asked if they had a favourite football team, they leaned towards each other, shared a microphone and yelled ‘Chipolopolo!’ simultaneously, much to the amusement of the assembled company!

In closing we expressed our gratitude to the Norwegians for their continued outstanding support of Chanters Lodge.

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