Loving Snoop Lion’s new album

Firstly, welcome to May 2013. Man oh man, this year is flying. I’ve got a lot of things I need to do before we wrap up the first half of the year… I’m sure you do too, so get it going.

Right, back to the post. I’ve been listening to Snoop Lion‘s new material, Reincarnated. It’s not a typical Snoop album, you know the hip-hop vibe. Instead Snoop has taken it to Jamaica, explored his spiritual Rastafarian side and his reggae side. Let me tell you, it’s good. I’m downloaded a few of the tracks from the album off iTunes and I’m getting ready to complete the album. Check out the interview above. It’s great and will give you a better understanding about where Snoop is in his life and what’s next for Snoop.

Snoop is heading out to SA later this month to take back in the MTV Base Africa All Stars. He’ll be headlining the show, but there are a whole host of other massive names sharing the stage with Snoop including Fally Ipupa, Professor, 2Face, Zakes Bantwini and many many more. They’ll be in KwaZulu-Natal, so be sure to get your tickets from computicket.com

Details for the MTV Base VJ search

Have you, like me, ever wanted to be an MTV VJ? Do you love music, celebrities? Do you like globetrotting, hanging out at some of the swankiest parties around? Well here’s your chance to make it happen.

MTV Base is once again embarking on another VJ search that will allow the winner to join the ranks of previous winner Sizwe Dhlomo and Fikile “Fix” Moeti. Auditions around SA kick off in July, the 14^th and the 21^st to be precise.

Here’s what you will need to do in your audition: Imagine you’re live on MTV Base and need to present to the millions of MTV Base viewers across the continent. You’ll need to cover the following:

- Give a short presentation about yourself;
- Review your favourite artist and your favourite music video by this artist;
- Introduce this music video to the millions of viewers watching MTV base;
- Improvise and just be yourself, as we want to see what YOU are about.

It wont be an easy ride. The judges are some of the most respected people in the business and so don’t take this lying down. Live presenter Bonang Matheba, Hip-Hop star HHP, TV presenter and DJ Azania Mosaka and MTV Creative Director Tim Horwood will all be on the judging panel, so be prepared and be ready to wow!

The Queen B said, “I am so excited to be a judge in the 2012 MTV Base VJ Search.  It’s tough to break into the entertainment business, so this is a fantastic opportunity. I started my own TV career at the tender age of 15 so I know how much raw, untapped talent is out there just waiting to be found… I know we’re going to find someone out of this world!”

Trey Songz is in South Africa

Trey Songz poses for pictures at The Saxon in Johannesburg, South Africa

R&B star Trey Songz is in South Africa. The star touched down in Mzansi last night. He’ll be performing two concerts during his stay. One at the Wavehouse in Durban this Friday and this will be followed by a gig at the Coca Cola Dome in Jozi. The star is out here to celebrate Women’s Month and these performances are brought to you by ME & MY GIRLS (a division of Canoc Productions), in association with Metro FM and MTV Base.

Ahead of the performances, the star held a press conference at the lavish venue The Saxon. He was joined by SA hip hop stars, Teargas and his manager Kevin Liles (former Def Jam Executive Vice President). Let me tell you when he walked in the female fans and media guests (some boys too) gushed on arrival. It was hilarious – quick but hilarious. As soon as my video is done I will post it on here. The Bottoms Up singer told guests how excited he was to be out here for the first time. I know you’re probably thinking yeah yeah they all say it, but I do believe him. Obviously traveling to places for the first time is exciting (I feel that) and so he said he, together with him family, will be doing as much as he can during their stay. One of the journalists had a really good question about touring SA. She asked why he wasn’t going to Cape Town. His response was that he is on a tight schedule and that if there was an opportunity, he would most certainly jump at it. Cape Town, watch out.

                    

He also discussed how he stayed out of the tabloids and how he remains true to himself. I respect that about him. There is no sleaze, no dirt. If there is anything vaguely out of character, he is open and honest about it, but he has yet to be embroiled in a sex tape scandal or a drug/ substance abuse problem. Big up to him for that. He also told us about his new album that he is working on, his being influenced by Jay-Z among others and of course his debut movie role in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 3D. Production begins soon and it is expected to hit the big screen during the course of 2012. He dropped a bit of name saying he was chatting to Will Smith last week about his movie career and how he made the transition into movies from singing/ rapping – and look at where Will is now. So who knows, Trey Songz may just be the next big thing in Hollywood.

I also (randomly) got a picture with him. Really nice guy, approachable and friendly. Not so sure how the picture will come out, but as soon as I have it, I’ll stick it up here too. Especially for the fans! I would’ve liked to interview him one on one. Had some great questions to ask and sometimes you don’t want to share. Who knows, maybe his peops can hook up a brother up. We’ll see. What I really respect and appreciate about him is that he has achieved so much in his 26 years. I, myself, am 26 and it makes me realise how much harder and how much more I have to do to get there myself. It’s inspiring, so good for him and thanks too. As I mentioned I’ve got video coming too, so as soon as that is done, it’ll be up here.

Pictures courtesy of my BlackBerry Bold 9700.

5FM ‘Shakes’ things up, says adios to Fix & Koula

In April of this year, national station 5FM made a couple of changes to its line-up, which isn’t out of the ordinary. Now, just a couple of months on, they’ve had to alter that new line-up again as DJ Koula has parted ways with the station, in favour of exploring other opportunities. Currently Koula can only be heard on Sundays, alongside Sureshnie Rider on the show “Sunday Stuff”. Now instead of hearing Koula, you’ll be hearing ‘Hollywood Reporter’ Jennifer Su with Sushie. Interested to hear the dynamic between these two..

The station also bids one of my favourite people in the industry goodbye, DJ Fix. I remember meeting Fix back in 2006 in Cape Town when we both auditioned for the MTV Base VJ Search. I had a feeling she would win, and that she did. Since then she’s been all over the network, become a regular on the social scene and she added DJ to her already impressive resume. Fix has been awarded a scholarship in Chicago to which she says, “Another opportunity in the United States has now come my way and I’m running with it. I’m twenty three and privileged to say I’ve worked for South Africa’s leading national radio station and- who knows – I may be back one day”. That I hope so, but in the mean time… adios and good luck my friend!

So who will be replacing Fix on Friday nights after Roger ‘the Rog’ Goode? None other then DJ Milkshake. A couple of months ago we could’ve called him an up and coming DJ, not anymore. He is, one of SA’s leading club DJs and I think he’s gonna rock it on air too. Nice one Milkshake! So there you go, that’s the vibe at 5fm. What do you think?

MTV Africa Music Award winners

The winners of the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain 2009 are:
BEST FEMALE Amani (Kenya)
BEST MALE Nameless (Kenya)
BEST PERFORMER Samini (Ghana)
BEST GROUP P Square (Nigeria)
BEST ALTERNATIVE Zebra and Giraffe (South Africa)
BEST HIP HOP M I (Nigeria)
BEST R&B Darey Art Alade (Nigeria)
ARTIST OF THE YEAR D’Banj (Nigeria)
BEST NEW ACT M I (Nigeria)
BEST VIDEO HHP (South Africa)
LEGEND AWARD Lucky Dube (South Africa)
MY VIDEO AWARD Patricke-Stevie Moungondo (Congo Brazzaville)
LISTENERS CHOICE AWARD Nameless (Kenya).

I have asked MTV peops for details on when the show will air on MTV Base… deets to follow on that and the various musical collaborations on stage, Wyclef’s hosting duties and more.

Music channels dedicate the weekend to M.J.

Channel O (Channel 320 on DSTV) will pay tribute to the King Of Pop</em> tomorrow in the form of a 30-minute specialised video mix of the stars biggest tunes… 30 minutes of some of the biggest, the best and the most expensive videos ever made. The show airs on Saturday at 09:30. If you miss it, don’t fret… repeat times:

12:00 and 17:00 on Saturday
12:00 and 17:30 on Sunday
13:00 on Monday
11:00 on Tuesday

Meanwhile MTV Base (Channel 322 on DSTV) has adjusted it’s programming schedule, having different Tribute packages, stings and music videos flighting as we speak. You can expect at least three music every hour and a lot more. So while more details and news on the sudden passing of Jackson sinks in, tune in to your favourite music channel for more classic videos, songs and interview. On that note, I leave you with one my favourite MJ songs:

MTV Base Represent

Monday night, MTV Base is where you wanna be. The network has announced it’s exciting new show called ‘represent’ which premiers at 20:00 CAT. The show is hosted by my friend, the fabulous Fix. Wondering what it’s about? Well ‘represent’ showcases the similarities that unite us, while celebrating the things that make us different. So you can expect to see what word is on the streets, and according to the official press release you find out “What’s the scoop on the politik of handshakes, aiming the spotlight on the latest dance moves and best of all, the real deal on how ‘macking’ works across the continent.”

The first episode was recorded at the South African Music Awards two weeks ago and you can expect to see the likes of Lira, Da LES, Rhythmic Elements and more… so get your Fix on Monday, MTV Base at 8pm sharp!