STL nominated for MAMA Awards

STL is one of the Kenyans nominated for a MTV Africa Music Award (MAMA). A very gifted lady, she has been doing great things in the rap world, and holding her own in what is usually dubbed a man’s world.

STL a.k.a. Stella Mwangi

Congratulations STL. We wish you luck. Other nominees are listed below.

Best Male
2 Face (Nigeria)
HHP (South Africa)
D’Banj (Nigeria)
Nameless (Kenya)
Da L.E.S. (South Africa)

Best New Act
M.I. (Nigeria)
Shaa (Tanzania)
STL (Kenya)
Bigiano (Nigeria)
Rhythmic Elements (South Africa)

Best Hip Hop
M.I. (Nigeria)
A.Y. (Tanzania)
Zulu Boy (South Africa)
Jay-Z (USA)
Kanye West (USA)

Best Female
Kel (Nigeria)
Amani (Kenya)
Lira (South Africa)
Zamajobe (South Africa)
Lizha James (Mozambique)

Best Performer
P-Square (Nigeria)
D’Banj (Nigeria)
Samini (Ghana)
Nameless (Kenya)
Blu*3 (Uganda)

Best R&B
2 Face (Nigeria)
Darey Art Alade (Nigeria)
Loyiso (South Africa)
Beyoncé (USA)
Akon (USA)

Best Group
P-Square (Nigeria)
Blu*3 (Uganda)
Gang of Instrumentals (South Africa)
Mo Hits Allstars (Nigeria)
Gal Level (Namibia)

Artist of The Year
2 Face (Nigeria)
D’banj (Nigeria)
Lira (South Africa)
HHP (South Africa)
Nameless (Kenya)

Best Alternative
Green Day (USA)
Coldplay (UK)
Cassette (South Africa)
Zebra & Giraffe (South Africa)
Aking (South Africa)

Best Video
2Face – Enter The Place (Nigeria)
XOD – I Want You Back (Uganda)
HHP – Mpitse (South Africa)
Da L.E.S. – We on Fire (South Africa)
Wahu ft Bobi Wine – Little Things You Do (Kenya)

Keep your eyes on this site to find out who wins.

David Otunga and Jennifer Hudson Welcome Son

This Kenyan Jewel is a little behind on the news, but better late than never. Congratulations to Jennifer Hudson and David Otunga who welcomed a gorgeous baby boy into the world.

David Daniel Otunga, Jr. came into the world on August 10, 2009, weighing in at 7 pounds and 14 ounces. Congratulations to the new parents and may this child help fill the gap of the loss that Jennifer Hudson suffered last fall.

June Arunga – A Most Creative Person

June Arunga has been voted one of 100 Most Creative People by Fast Company.  She is currently an equity partner with Black Star Lines, a company that She convinced she persuaded Chinery-Hesse (dubbed the Bill Gates of Africa) to join forces with to create a mobile-payment network for business owners.

You can learn more about her vision from the video below.

Western Union Testing Mobile Money Transfer

Our cellphones will soon be worth a whole lot more than we paid for them. Western Union has started offering an option where you can send money to Kenya via your mobile phone using M-Pesa.  This is a great example of mobile transaction services.

Mobile Money

In March of 2007 Safaricom Ltd., a Kenyan network operator partially owned by Vodafone, launched the M-Pesa service, which lets Kenyans to transfer money domestically via text message. Today more than 4 million of Safaricom’s 10 million customers use the service, Vodafone said. Western Union will be offering the service, domestically, in the United States through Radioshack and Trumpet Mobile.

The pilot only applies to Redding, UK to Kenya — people will soon be able to visit select Western Union agent locations in Redding and send funds directly to a Safaricom/M-PESA subscriber in Kenya. The pilot isn’t yet live, but when it is, customers will be able to designate a recipient phone in Kenya and the transfer will typically be completed within minutes. Recipients will be able to withdraw the cash at any of 4,000 M-Pesa agents or forward it to another handset in Kenya.

Double Entendres and Zain Verjee

It’s inevitable that you end up doing something on live tv that could me considered a major gaffe, but Zain Verjee’s mistake has people coming up with all kinds of titles to sum up the problem.

She slipped up three times, calling peanuts penis….Zain, what do you have on your mind?? Oh well, I guess you can’t be perfect all the time, and, to your credit, you have given writers lots of fodder for creative titles. My favorite one– “Sane Virgin [a play on her name] Sees Nuts”,

Barack Obama A Marvel Comic Character?

The cover of The Amazing Spider-Man featuring President-elect Barack Obama. (AP)

As a child Barack Obama collected Marvel Comics.  His favorite character was Spiderman, so Marvel Comics has decided to provide a commemorative comic book that has Spiderman saving Barak Obama, and the day.

The plot is that someone who looks like Barack Obama takes his place, and Spiderman has to figure out who the real Barack Obama is.  How does he do this?  By challenging the identical men to a basketball game.   The real Obama thanks Parker with a fist-bump. Wonder if they will draw him with a six-pack (Barack Obama, that is).  Although other presidents have had roles in Marvel Comics, Barack Obama is the first one to have a starring role.

The comics will sell for $3.99 and they are expected to sell out.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle

Who would have thought that an African man, born in America would lead people back to family values.  The children are adorable and well behaved, and that first dance at the inaugural ball might as well have been the first dance you have as man and wife.  It was romantic, it was special, it was cute, and it is making people decide to have romantic marriages (great job Obama!).  They danced to my favorite song by Beyonce (one of the few real talents out there)  and brought me to tears (hopeless romantic that I am).

So we can now safely say that, not only is he an economic stimulus package wherever he goes, but he is inspiring people to believe that it is okay to love your wife (a radical thought), and take care of your family (another radical thought).  God bless him as he goes through four years of trying to put together a nation healing from the effects of war, greed, corruption and a blatant disregard for the middle and underprivileged classes.  It will take a while to undo the damage, but we are already feeling better (it’s like a mother kissing a wound….it doesn’t do your wound any good, but you sure feel better).  Congratulations President Barack Hussein Obama!

Bianca Noons Passes

The Neutral Sisters, Kyra and Bianca Noons

It is with a heavy heart that I write that Bianca Noons, the other half of that fabulous reggae group, The Neutral Sisters, passed away on Saturday, November 29, 2008.  She had been in a diabetes-induced coma for over a year.  She was 30 years old.   Kenyan Jewels would like to pass our condolences to the family.  Our prayers are with you in this difficult time.

Her sister, Kyra, has planned a concert that will be a tribute concert featuring reggae artist Kymani Marley, scheduled for Dec. 19 at Bar Rio, 6400 Richmond in Houston, Texas.  Rest In Peace, Bianca.  You made an impact that will never be forgotten.  For more information, visit www.neutralsisters.com.

Thank you, Sharon for sharing the information.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

President Barack Obama

Well it is finally official!! We have a new president…his name is Barack Obama. It has been a very long road and with a lot of community leadership skills, he commandeered a group of diverse people and started a movement.

Jesse Jackson is standing in a large crowd, crying like a baby, and I understand the tears. I stood in line with a lady today who was moved to tears, literally, as she told about watching people being pulled off the freedom buses and being bludgeoned. There were stories of not being allowed to vote, and finally get classified as a full human being.

These are recent stories…not stories from a long time ago. Racism still exists in this country, but with the election of an African-American leader with an ability to pull all races, creeds and religions together, we might just be able to move to higher ground.

This is a moment in history, and the beginning of redemption for America. We are moving towards healing; we are building a new nation that will be stronger in its journey towards a strength in unity as we work to build the America that lead the world by example.

Congratulation President Barack Obama. You have shown us that we all can!!

The Results Have Started Rolling In!!!!!

Election Results 2008

I am so excited. This election has been a fun one to watch and now we watch the results. Here are the projections so far: Obama wins Vermont, and McCain wins Kentucky. Virginia, with 1% of the precincts reporting, is showing McCain in the lead. We will see what happens. If you want to keep up with the polling on your own, visit this site and watch it in real time.

As of 7:21 p.m. Eastern Time, the projected results overall were as follows:

Obama with 3 electoral votes and 334,810 votes while McCain has 8 electoral votes and 382,897 votes. Stay tuned!!

U.S. President – Electoral College

		Obama (D) – 3
		McCain (R) – 8

270 votes needed for presidency

Candidates

%

Votes

McCain (R)	53%	431,246
Obama (D)	46%	374,854
Barr (I)	1%	5,141
Nader (I)	0%	2,859