STIVO SIMPLE BOY - REAL & RAW TALENT FROM KIBERA
17 December, 2017
Stephen Otieno famously known as Msanii or Stivo Simple Boy is one of the most adorable and influencial artists in Kibera Today. Growing up in the slum of Kibera is hard at times but stivo Simple Boy credits this upbringing for the nurturing of his talent. Born in 1990, Stivo Simple Boy is the second last born in a family of eight children and an elder to his twin sister. Simple boy has been around the music scene for as long as he can remember. From as early as 2007 Simple Boy could be seen singing on many street of Kibera. You would find him surrounded by a large crowd listening to him singing live acapella. He has music in his blood, and he is ever ready to perform whenever wherever. “ In 2015, we once found him at around 1am in the night at Laini Saba Kibera performing to his fellow night workmates“ , Philip Oyoo aka Phlexble, producer at Made In Kibera production. Stivo Simple Boy is that kind of artist who really careless when it comes to place or time to perform. He usually performs upon anyone’s request at any place at any time. This has made him very popular among the children, men, women and the youths all cross Kibera. Although relatively new to the mainstream music scene, Simple Boy has been on the big stage with shows such as MADE IN KIBERA Live CONCERT, UCHAGUZI BILA FUJO CONCERT , ART ATTACK FESTIVALS just to name a few. In the year 2016, he also participated in the Kibera Music Competition organized by Kibera Town Center. Simple Boy has been dubbed one of the emerging talents of 2019.
Simple Boy has nurtured his rap talent by attending the daily rehearsals organized by KiCA ( Kibera Creative Arts ). He started recording in the year 2015 with the song “Ukimwi”. In 2017 he recorded one of his popular songs “MIHADARATI “with MADE IN KIBERA PRODUCTIONS who also made the music video for the same song. Some of his popular songs include “UKIMWI”, “NDOA” and “UFISADI”. One notable thing about Stivo Simple Boy is that all his songs are meant to bring a positive message to the society. For instance, the MIHADARATI song simply warns the youths from drug abuse,” UKIMWI” songs is a campaign song for HIV/ AIDS awareness. The songs”, “NDOA” and “UFISADI” speaks about marriage and stopping corruption respectively. Click this link and watch the music video for his “Mihadarati” song https://youtu.be/M_UGhXPsuZM
Simple Boy has nurtured his rap talent by attending the daily rehearsals organized by KiCA ( Kibera Creative Arts ). He started recording in the year 2015 with the song “Ukimwi”. In 2017 he recorded one of his popular songs “MIHADARATI “with MADE IN KIBERA PRODUCTIONS who also made the music video for the same song. Some of his popular songs include “UKIMWI”, “NDOA” and “UFISADI”. One notable thing about Stivo Simple Boy is that all his songs are meant to bring a positive message to the society. For instance, the MIHADARATI song simply warns the youths from drug abuse,” UKIMWI” songs is a campaign song for HIV/ AIDS awareness. The songs”, “NDOA” and “UFISADI” speaks about marriage and stopping corruption respectively. Click this link and watch the music video for his “Mihadarati” song https://youtu.be/M_UGhXPsuZM
WORK HARD SONG IS FINALLY LAUNCHED !
18 November, 2017
WORK HARD SONG is a musical collaboration featuring six great artists, three from Spain and three from Kibera Kenya. From Kibera we have DADDY EVANS, WICKEDEST AND PHLEXIBLE while Spain was represented by DONPA,PERTXA and MORODO. This song has a strong message which reminds the whole human race that we all have a duty of putting more effort in everything that we do. So many things have been said about work hard. Many people have used different methods to drive their point home about hard work. Some have used quotes, some have written books, and some have made movies. The six musicians mentioned above saw that it would be much better to create a song that inspires people to work hard, because music is a strong universal instrument. Whether you come from Africa or Europe, from Slum or a leafy suburb, hard work is the rule of the game no matter where we come from. “There is no substitute of hard work if we want to become successful in life, even gold and diamond have to undergo extreme pressure and temperature to become valuable” Says Phlexible.
The making of the song itself is a full proof of hardwork and determination. The artists and the people involved in this song had to go through strenuous processes to create it. The idea started way back in May 2016 somewhere with Luis Lancheras spearheading the process. First Mad91, a Spanish recording studio provided about six reggae instrumentals. The Kibera artists selected two of them, one for WORK HARD SONG while the other for BEST OF YOUR LOVE SONG. After selecting the instrumentals, the kibera artists began to do a daily rehearsal in preparations of the song. In June 2016, they got in the studio and recorded their parts. It song sounded very wonderful and inspiring. Then, their vocals were sent back to Mad91 in Spain for further processing. A few months later, the song was sent to the Spanish artists who immediately went to the studio and added their vocals making the song to sound more pleasant and exciting. After the song was arranged by MAD91, the next hurdle was to make a music video.
With the distance between Kenya and Spain the making of the video seemed challenging. Transporting the artists from one country to another is absolutely costly and time consuming. So, they idea came that it would be better if the video be prepared the same way the audio was i.e partly in spain and partly in Kenya. By the end of January 2017, the filming of the Spanish artists was already complete with the help of Luis Lancheras while the filming of the Kenyan artists started in March directed by Geoffrey Ochieng Oyoo. The editing of the video was also conducted in two phase. The first phase, which started in Arpil 2107 involving the preparation of a rough cut with Geoffrey Ochieng spearding all process and that particular phase. After the rough cut was done, Geoffrey sent the video to Luis Lancheras in spain to do the second phase which is final editing. The editng process took almost four months after which the video was later by launched MAD91 STUDIO the 22nd September 2017 spain. Work Hard is kind of song that will continue to inspire and give heart to many people all over the world even long after we are gone. Click this link to watch the song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Gu8Ww9Plg
The making of the song itself is a full proof of hardwork and determination. The artists and the people involved in this song had to go through strenuous processes to create it. The idea started way back in May 2016 somewhere with Luis Lancheras spearheading the process. First Mad91, a Spanish recording studio provided about six reggae instrumentals. The Kibera artists selected two of them, one for WORK HARD SONG while the other for BEST OF YOUR LOVE SONG. After selecting the instrumentals, the kibera artists began to do a daily rehearsal in preparations of the song. In June 2016, they got in the studio and recorded their parts. It song sounded very wonderful and inspiring. Then, their vocals were sent back to Mad91 in Spain for further processing. A few months later, the song was sent to the Spanish artists who immediately went to the studio and added their vocals making the song to sound more pleasant and exciting. After the song was arranged by MAD91, the next hurdle was to make a music video.
With the distance between Kenya and Spain the making of the video seemed challenging. Transporting the artists from one country to another is absolutely costly and time consuming. So, they idea came that it would be better if the video be prepared the same way the audio was i.e partly in spain and partly in Kenya. By the end of January 2017, the filming of the Spanish artists was already complete with the help of Luis Lancheras while the filming of the Kenyan artists started in March directed by Geoffrey Ochieng Oyoo. The editing of the video was also conducted in two phase. The first phase, which started in Arpil 2107 involving the preparation of a rough cut with Geoffrey Ochieng spearding all process and that particular phase. After the rough cut was done, Geoffrey sent the video to Luis Lancheras in spain to do the second phase which is final editing. The editng process took almost four months after which the video was later by launched MAD91 STUDIO the 22nd September 2017 spain. Work Hard is kind of song that will continue to inspire and give heart to many people all over the world even long after we are gone. Click this link to watch the song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Gu8Ww9Plg
