Ann Fagan & Gavin Dempster Rock 107.7 fm!


The most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient was super. Our Guests, Ann and Gavin pictured above, were lively, interesting and amusing – they rocked the house and so did the music! Our show airs every Sunday night between 20.30 and 21.30 hours on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s popular local radio station and is a mixture of music and chat.

Gavin and Ann, Guests at Chanters Lodge, told listeners that they came from Perth, Western Australia but had been travelling the world for the past 18 months. They’d arrived in Livingstone a few days previously, having taken an overland truck from Nairobi to Victoria Falls, visiting the Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Zanzibar and Malawi before arriving in Zimbabwe. Gavin was delighted to be back in Livingstone and told listeners that for him anyway the highlight of their overland trip had been Ann’s joy in seeing the sights and sounds of Africa for the very first time! “Awwwww” we said!

Gavin had been in Zambia for a month in 2010 exploring Livingstone for houses where he’d lived as a child in the 50’s – his dad had been an engine driver on the railways in Zambia at that time. He’d also taken a 9 day canoeing trip on the Lower Zambezi, describing it to listeners as one of the best things he’d ever done in his life! This year Ann and Gavin had enjoyed their cycle trip around the city the day after they’d arrived, visiting Linda Community Orphanage School for whom they’d brought various goodies!

The music on the show was hot! We featured Jennifer Hudson’s ‘Gone’ back to back with ‘Next 2U’ from Chris Brown and Justin Bieber at the top of the show. Milli Jam’s local selection of Dalisoul’s ‘Musunge Mushe’ (take care of her) and Kay’s ‘Kanyelele’ (ant) had the Chanters Girls rocking back at the lodge. We dropped ‘Boom’ the latest from Snoop Dogg featuring T-Pain, coupled with Tiesto’s UK smash ‘C’mon’ featuring Diplo and Buster Rhymes. We closed with Britney Spears – Until The World Ends. A great selection from Milli Jam also included Ne-Yo’s ‘Hello’ and Jay Lo’s popular ‘Run This World’ featuring The Dream and Rick Ross.

Gavin and Ann told listeners how much they’d enjoyed their recent two day, one night safari in Chobe National Park, Botswana to celebrate Ann’s birthday, where they’d seen a lot of elephant, buffalo and hippo though they’d missed out on big cats – they weren’t all that worried as they’d seen these in the Serengeti during their overland trip. Milli Jam asked this lovely couple if they’d retired – Gavin said ‘very much’ and Ann replied ‘semi’. They’d met when they were both working for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a large charity organization in Australia. “Was it love at first sight?” I asked. “We kind of grew into each other” Ann replied. “Yes” we said, laughing.

Our guests described their musical tastes as ‘eclectic’ but told listeners about concerts they’d recently attended in Perth given by Lionel Richie and Jo Cocker, making us very envious in the studio! We had a great response to our question when we asked those wanting to win a dinner for 2 at Chanters Lodge where our Guests hailed from. Gloria won. Our Guests greeted the staff at the lodge, praising them highly and thanked Zambians listening for giving them such a warm and wonderful welcome to the country.

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Zambezi FM Stars Rock Zimbabwe!


George da Soulchild, co-presenter of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient, our Sunday night radio show on 107.7 fm, contributes regularly to the blog and recently had a great night in Zimbabwe:

Zambezi FM Breakfast Show presenters E-Vibes and myself (George Da Soulchild) together with the Drive Time Show presenters Tendai With An I and Chin-I were invited to make an appearance at the Wild Thing Night Club in Victoria Falls Town, Zimbabwe last Saturday.
We crossed the Border into Zimbabwe slightly after 2pm, where we were received by one of the guys organizing the trip “EASY-T” – that’s what everyone called him, but I for one don’t know his real name! By 2:30 PM we were checked into the world famous Kingdom Resort aka the African Sun. My room was 1047 – ten minutes walk from the Falls and I could actually hear the water roaring and rumbling down!

The show was not until 9pm, so this gave us some time to check out Vic Falls Town – as it turns out 90% of people living and working in Vic Falls Town listen to Zambezi FM radio 24/7 which is a very good thing. I mean it made things a lot easier for us – as it turns out we’re quite popular down there but not as popular as Danny Dee (which made me a bit jealous!) Anyhow at most of the places where we went to advertise the show we had a good reception, every one of us seemed to have fans, which in turn made us appreciate what we do a little more, seeing the effect we had on most of the people with whom we came in close contact. After a tour of the main business activity center/area we headed back to the Kingdom Resort to freshen up and later to have dinner.

Show time 9pm!! Everyone is fresh and clean and ready for a good time. When we got to the club we found more people waiting and wanting to take photos of us, and with us! Most importantly, since Zambian music is big over there, people just wanted to listen to some good Zambian music. So Chin-I stepped up and played some house and R&B music for 40minutes. After Chin-I, I was next, and I played Pop (mostly stuff off the Charts) and Zambian music for 40 minutes. Then the resident DJ’s took over until around 2:30 in the morning.

That was the business part of our trip done and it was time to check out Vic Falls Town at night – first stop was Hunters Club and we had such a great reception! Everyone in the club was glad we were there and I must mention that Tendai got heads turning and most of the attention! Every guy in the bar wanted to buy her a beer or a drink!

Our next stop ‘’Shoe-String” which is a bit like Jolly Boys in Livingstone – lots of young white people, mostly back packers and it was just our luck that there happened to be a party going on! So we all agreed to gatecrash it and we got the VIP treatment! We had a fantastic time and we were not done yet! There was one more party we had to attend, a birthday party in Chinotimba, one BIG Zambezi FM fan just turned 23! Anything for a fan! We almost took over the party once we got there and we stayed until 4am. We met a lot of interesting people and all in all we had such a great time in Zimbabwe, Vic Falls and we’ve been invited to go back there over Easter and we can’t wait!

Its funny how in broadcasting you never know the true effect you may have on somebody else listening to you on radio. In our voices I’m sure they see and hear more than we do – I’m talking about hopes, aspirations and dreams that might help them carry on, or maybe just a friend, a comforting voice. They have us to follow and to keep them company. While they go about living it can’t be denied that in some small way, we’re part of their daily lives, without us even being aware of it!

Therefore…

I love what I do.

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Elias ‘E-Vibes’ Limwanya


It’s no good pretending that all was well on the latest edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with The Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George Soulchild, our regular Sunday night radio show airing at 20.30 hrs on 107.7 fm, Zambezi Radio, Livingstone’s popular local radio station. Why? Well three of us, including our Guest Elias Limwanya, pictured above, are Arsenal supporters and we were still in a state of shock following our team’s defeat in the Carling Cup Final about half an hour before we went on air. Even George Soulchild’s team Liverpool had lost. Anyway, we all tried our best!

Elias is better known as ‘E-Vibes’ and is a full time presenter, disc jockey and newscaster on Zambezi fm, for whom he’s worked for almost 3 years. He told listeners that he’d had a tough upbringing losing both his parents in a road accident on the Copperbelt in 1998 when he was 8. He’d been brought up by an uncle, completing his Grade 12 at Linda Secondary School – our second consecutive weekly Guest educated at that Livingstone school I pointed out. How had he got the name ‘E-Vibes’? We wondered, and Elias explained that George Soulchild was the person who’d helped him find a good name to use on radio. In fact it transpired that George had helped Elias at almost every stage of his career and that was a source of pride for us on the show!

Still single, Elias told listeners he’d never been bungee jumping and had no intention of doing so and had not walked with lions but would quite like to do that. His main work project at the moment was co-hosting the Breakfast Show on 107.7 fm with George Soulchild which he was enjoying. He’d been on Facebook since 2008 and was a regular contributor. What did he think of Arsenal losing that vital match? He was quite philosophical about it and said he was looking forward to their upcoming FA Cup replay and of course the return leg against Barcelona in the Champions League.

We played Adele’s number one UK smash hit ‘Someone Like You’ at the top of the show back to back with Ne-Yo’s ‘Give Me Everything’. We dropped C.R.I.$.I.$ featuring Nalu ‘I Wanna Live My Life’ – informing any listeners who didn’t already know that C.R.I.$.I.$ had won the best international act at the recent BEFFTA awards in the USA. Moving on to Exile’s ‘In Love With You’ and Alesha Dixon’s ‘Breath Slow’ the mood in the studio was slowly improving, the music taking hold. Lady Saw featuring Eve ‘He Is At My House’ and Wizkid’s smash ‘Holla At Ya Boy’ rocked the house. We were happy at that point to get a call from Swithin Haangala the owner of 107.7 fm saying how much he was enjoying the show, even if we weren’t sure that we were! ‘Why did he call now”? I asked the guys. George quipped “he heard the track ‘Holla At Ya Boy’ and decided it was time to give you a holla!” We laughed!

I had a surprise when we offered a prize of a dinner for two at Chanters Lodge to the first listener to text us Elias’s radio name. One of the many people to send us an answer, (some before I’d even finished asking the question!) was a former Ridgeway Hotel worker and Ridgeway Raiders (our football team) goalkeeper – Emmanuel Malunga. Seeing goalkeepers were very much on the mind of we Gunners, for all the wrong reasons, we gave him the prize!

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Slap Dee

George Mukwita aka Kaufela contributes regularly to the blog.

Meet Slap Dee from XYZ fame – Zambia’s number one vernacular rapper! Born Mwila Musonda on the 27th of April, Slap Dee, first got into the game of music during his high school years. Battling with school mates and winning recognition, he soon realised that he could make hip-hop a viable career.

His career began to get moving in 4 years when he worked on a song called ‘Asembe Isebenza’ and was identified by promoter Sync as a rising star. His debut album bearing the same name was a commercial disappointment but earned Slap decent radio spins and generated a buzz in the hip-hop underground. His follow-up effort entitled ‘So-Che’ catapulted the young rhymesmith to national stardom. Featuring hits like ‘Solola’ and ‘Takwaba’… So-Che confirmed what well-informed critics had suspected: the next big thing had arrived!

In between 2007/8 Slap Dee was embroiled in a bitter feud with crooner Mampi. As the beef raged, the listening public was spoiled with legendary tracks from the Makeni based MC like ‘Nizee’ and ‘Sunshila’. He also enjoyed a great working relationship with songbird Sutu, belting out duets ‘Kamba Che’ and ‘Disposable’.

Moving from strength-to-strength in 2009, Slap Dee released his third studio project entitled Black Na White to an overwhelming response from fans. Radio favourites included “Goldigger”, “Fo’Shizy” and “Chishinka”. Slap is currently in the studio recording his fourth album, his second under his very own record label “X.Y.Z Entertainment”. This project will be uniquely different as Slap will use it to showcase his own beat-making skills.

Slap Dee’s strengths lie in a unique ear for music, an intuitive understanding of the listening public’s tastes and his strong song writing skills. With the ability to compose a song hook, a strong 16 bar rap verse or a melodic bridge, this triple threat of beat making, song writing and rapping certainly make Slapdee a star for many years to come on African music. Slap Dee radio’s favourites include “Goldigger”, “Fo’Shizy” and “Chishinka”.and Chipanga’no featuring P-Jay which won him best Zambian hip hop video at the Born n Bred Awards last year in December.

This year be on the look out for this artist – you might wanna remember his name -Slap Dee!

Thanks George, we’ll remember you said…!

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C.R.I.$.I.$ Wins International Award

George da Soulchild’s weekly blog contribution.

Chisenga Katonga, Mr. Swagger, aka C.R.I.$.I.$, the Zambian hip-hop musician has scooped USA BEFFTA award 2011 in the BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT category. The Zambian beat the other competitors in this heavy-weighty category that included Sade (UK), Fally Ipupa (DRC Congo), 2 Face (Nigeria), Ali Kiba (Tanzania) and M.I. (Nigeria) and myself, CRI$I$ Mr. Swagger (Zambia).

Mr. Swagger in his e-mail to UKZAMBIANS said:

“This category was tightly contested and, I must admit, I have a lot of respect for the other nominees. I see how hard they work and, I think that they are great artists. Fortunately and thank God, I won the award and it will be going home to Zambia with me.

“This achievement is a humbling experience for me and, I am glad that Zambia is slowing being recognized for the part that it’s playing in the entertainment industry.

“I hereby wish to take this opportunity to thank you for all the great support that you have given me. I ask that you may continue to support me and, as you know, I am there for you when and if you need me to help you with anything. I am never too busy for my people”, Said Mr. Swagger.

He said the Award is dedicated “to my new born daughter, ‘Tia Larae Katongo.’”

The BEFFTA Awards were launched in London in October 2009. This year, the awards debut in Atlanta as an integral part of the African-American celebrations to commemorate Black History Month in the USA…nice one Mr Swagger.

info-ukzambians.com

You can follow Mr Swagger @hiphopcrisis on Twitter

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Joshua Simfukwe

George da Soulchild sent me this:

Gospel artist Joshua Simfukwe’s debut solo album has continued to score success with the title-track ‘Ndelolela pali Lesa’ scooping the Radio Christian Voice 2010 gospel song of the year award. Confirming this development in an interview, the Copperbelt-based artist, whose first project was a duet with songbird Suwilanji Mumba, said he is happy with the support his album has received.

“It is encouraging that my album keeps blessing many people who are requesting for my songs. It is God’s way of encouraging me to minister to many people. I know that my song ‘Ndelolela pali Lesa’ has been performing well on the charts on Christian Voice and also on Radio Phoenix gospel chart,” says the 26-year-old musician whose passion for music dates way back in his childhood days on the Copperbelt.

I started singing in church a long time ago and for me this is a calling. It is a way of reaching out to people. I have worked closely with Suwilanji and our first album was also voted the best duet a few years back at the Mukuba Awards, although I need to point out that it has not been easy – as piracy is killing the industry,” he says, adding that he is working on his second album which will be released later this year.

‘Ndelolela pali Lesa’ was produced in Lusaka at G-Sounds Studios which last year received the Christian Arts Promotions award for best gospel production house. According to Lombe Machilika, producer of Radio Christian Voice’s Top Ten programme, ‘Ndelolela pali Lesa’ was voted the song of the year after a one-month period of voting, ahead of Kings Mumbi’s ‘Uwapela Ameno’, Racheal Kabeba’s ‘Aliwama’, Karen Kandongu’s ‘Lesa fye’ and Victor ‘Kabova’ Chaushi’ s ‘Mubige’ among the top five.

Courtesy – PostZambia

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Skoolboy


“What’s your real name?” I asked our most recent guest (pictured above) on The Chanters Lodge Experience with The Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George Soulchild, our regular Sunday night radio programme airing from 20.30-21.30 hrs on Zambezi Radio 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s most popular local radio station. “Just call me Skoolboy” he replied. “I really need to know your name” I persisted. “Very well” he said “it’s Gift Zhinga but please don’t mention it on air” – and we didn’t! But we weren’t finished with the matter – “How did you get the name ‘Skoolboy'” Milli Jam asked immediately we started the show. Skoolboy (we won’t use Gift Zhinga here either) explained to listeners that he came from a very poor background. He’d been at secondary school at Linda Secondary School in Livingstone and he’d been forced to drive a taxi at night to raise the money for his schooling, his Clients had christened him ‘Skoolboy’ – though it was his granny who’d first given him the name. And it stuck!

Skoolboy was good value on the show. He contacted St Michael and Dandy Krazy, two local music stars for live phone interviews during the programme and we spoke to both of them about an upcoming European tour for Zambian musicians which Skoolboy is trying to arrange. He splits his time between The University of The Hague where he’s studying for a degree in international law and the USA, where he is trying to promote the activities of Dutch Water Dreams, a company with whom he’s involved. He’s certainly been very active since his days of taxi driving at night and trying to stay awake for Grade 12 lessons during the day! Milimo asked him if he’d met Naomi Campbell when he was watching the Charles Taylor trial at the International Court in The Hague, but oh! He had not! “She was well protected” he said.

The music on the show was great. We opened with ‘Up’ – the latest from Justin Bieber featuring Chris Brown. The track went back to back with ‘Never Forget You’, an interesting co-operation between Lupe Fiasco and John Legend. George featured Hamooba with ‘Song Of The Year’ and K’Millian’s ‘Nizakukonda’ on our local music spot, while Milimo played the Dixie Chicks ‘Wide Open Spaces’ back to back with ‘Take Me Away’ by Keisha Cole.

We told the public how to find Lodgeblog and gave them some information about the stories that had featured on the blog the previous week, and as usual we gave listeners to the show news of the charts – UK and USA Pop and USA Country – concentrating on the top 3 in each case. After this spot we played Luke Bryan’s ‘Someone Else Is Calling You Baby’ – the current number one on the US Top 100 Billboard Country! Right up to date on the ‘The Experience’!

Skoolboy revealed that he’s still single (“careful” I cautioned “we have a lot of female listeners and you’ll be getting them worked up!”) He looks forward to being married and having children. He dreams of becoming a fully fledged international lawyer and running his own big enterprise. Seeing what’s he’s achieved so far, we wouldn’t bet against it!

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Saboi


She catapulted into the music limelight in 2001 when together with her former schoolmate she released a debut album entitled ‘Gentleman’ under Mondo Music Co-operation but later the duo, otherwise known as Shatel, decided to go separate ways. While, Barbara Njobvu-Kakubo abandoned her music career for marriage, Saboi Imboela weathered the storm and released a solo album entitled ‘Mema Awo’.

However, Saboi’s passion for education made her take a long break from the music scene, a move which has seen Saboi rediscover another talent, that of lecturing. The Education Post caught up with the local artist as well as University of Zambia School of Humanities and Social Sciences tutor, for an up-close and personal interview.

“Well, people have been wondering where I’ve been because I took a break in music for sometime. Actually, I sacrificed my music career for school and I’ve been working so hard. I’m now tutoring students taking political science at UNZA and I’m also about to publish a book,” Saboi says. She relates that besides her flourishing music career, she’d always wanted to be a lecturer.“I was recruited as a tutor in the department of political and administrative studies last year when I managed to graduate with a merit in political science. Actually, there were only the two of us who got merits. Really, I’ve always wanted to be a lecturer. It’s a dream come true,” Saboi says.

She says her lecturing stint has been challenging, stating that it was not easy to lecture at the highest learning institution in the country. “There are few lecturers in political science; in fact I’m the only female in the department. I would like to see more women come to lecturer in the department,” says 33-year-old Saboi. On how she has managed to juggle school and music, Saboi says since childhood she has always been prioritizing education above everything. “Well, I am not a bookworm, but I know when to study. I divide time well. It has not been easy, but I have almost sacrificed music. I prioritize my education, from my childhood, schooling has been my priority and I think that has paid off,” she says.

Saboi urges young people to be determined and work hard in life. “When you are educated, you don’t have to compete for jobs and when you are young that is the time to decide what you want to be in future,” she advises. She says she intends to pursue a master’s degree in international politics, before enrolling for her doctorate in the same field. Saboi, who is also a gender activist, urges young women to uphold good manners and morals in the society. “They say; you are what you wear, that’s to say you can be decent but what you wear matters. Girls should not imitate the way we dress on the stage, but should dress modestly,” she says.

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ZMusicTV


George Mukwita writes:

ZMusicTV is an online registered broadcasting entertainment company based in the London Borough of Greenwich, England – an area which has a large multi-ethnic population. Within the borough there are extremes of wealth and poverty, and Greenwich includes both typically inner-city and suburban areas. ZMTV aims to broadcast Zambian Music and Art as a way of engaging fellow Zambians, and others interested in Zambia who are actively online, promoting talents in people such as musicians, models, fashion designers and dancers as well as showcasing cultural events such as Zambian Independence Day celebrations.

Included in the focus is a desire to expand, using visual imagery. ZMTV’s overall passion is to develop the sense of belonging and to build the Zambian motto “One Zambia One Nation”, reaching out to as many fellow Zambians in the UK and around the globe via the internet as possible, to deliver an inspirational and positive message and share Zambian culture. ZMusicTV seeks to highlight, strengthen and re-enforce Zambian identity within Zambian communities, and project the same to non-Zambians in Europe.

In this age of globalization, cultural identity is crucial to the survival of communities and individuals. It will help people to connect with their home culture, and to connect Zambians to their communities which exist in Europe. From the outside, these communities don’t appear to be as close or as solid as other African communities e.g. in comparison to say, Nigerian and Somalian communities living and working in London.

ZMusicTV seeks to play a central role in bringing Zambians together, strengthening and reinforcing the Zambian communities which exist abroad by projecting Zambian music and culture into them. ZMusicTV can also be a bridge between Zambia and the non-African communities of Europe by promoting Zambian music and culture, creating an interest in Zambia, and encouraging people to visit the country, helping its economy through tourism etc.

George ends: Can’t wait for ZMusic TV to air my music videos lol.

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Neil McDonald & Joanne Stevens on 107.7 fm

It was a pleasure to welcome Neil and Joanne, pictured above, to The Chanters Lodge Experience last Sunday night. The Experience is our local radio show that goes on air every Sunday between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs. The programme is co-hosted by Milli Jam and George da Soulchild, two of Livingstone’s most popular DJ’s, on Zambezi FM broadcasting our show on 107.7 fm. I go along to the show for good measure!

Neil and Joanne hail from the USA, Neil from Monroe, Louisiana and Joanne from Boston, Massachusetts. They live in Alexandria, Virginia. Both are retired – Neil told listeners he’d actually retired twice, once from the Federal Government and once from Delta Airlines, whom he’d joined after his Government service. A lawyer by profession he was very interesting about his career and his world wide travels. Joanne has also retired from her career in real estate, but confessed to still having an interest in two homes. This loving couple told listeners about their children and grandchildren scattered across America. Neil was particularly interesting about one of his sons, Lee, who apart from his regular job, is an American football kicking coach. Check his fascinating website Special Teams Solutions.

Neil and Joanne spoke about their trip from New York to South Africa on the magnificent Queen Mary 2 – the biggest ocean going liner in history. Their cruise had taken them from New York to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and then on to South America, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil before reaching Cape Town. Once there, Neil and Joanne had stayed with a friend before coming to Livingstone and Chanters Lodge.

The music on the show was great. We played Lady Gaga’s latest – ‘Born This Way’ back to back with the UK number 1, Jesse J’s ‘Price Tag’. Our Zambian tracks were Ty2’s latest ‘U Say U Love’ featuring Kanji and Kaufela’s ‘Your Smile’ featuring Roberto. Kaufela, for the uninitiated, is George da Soulchild’s stage name. Great track it is too, we all agreed. Wizkid’s ‘Holla At Your Boy’ and Flo Rida’s ‘Dancing For Me’ were Milli Jam’s selections and we also featured Rascal Flatts with their smash ‘I Won’t Let Go’ and Adele’s ‘If It Hadn’t Been For Love’. Wizkid? Aka Ayodeji Balogun a very hot young Nigerian singer!

Joanne and Neil told listeners about their wonderful one day safari to Chobe National Park in Botswana where they’d been ‘lucky’ to see lion as well as a fairly angry elephant. They’d also enjoyed their sunset cruise on Lady Livingstone. When they visited Victoria Falls they got very wet from the spray. They’d very much enjoyed their stay at Chanters, loved the staff and would be sorry to leave the next day.

We gave away the usual dinner for dinner for two to the first person to text us and tell us where Neil and Joanne were from, Mpezeni correctly answered USA and won. We greeted guests and staff at the lodge and thanked everyone involved in the show for their efforts.

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