NAVIO RECORDS WITH CANADIAN POP STAR

Uganda’s Hip Hop sensation, Navio of Talent 256 International and ROCKSTAR 4000 has teamed up with Island Def Jam’s Pop/Rock star, Fefe Dobson, on the remix to her hot new single Stuttering.
Stuttering was produced by heavy weight producer J.R. Rottem (Britney Spears, Sean Kingston, Jason Derulo, and Leona Lewis) and since its release the single has been climbing North American singles charts (US Top 40 and Canadian Top 10). It is the 2nd single from her highly anticipated album, Joy, released through 21 Music and Def Jam / Island Records on November 30, 2010 (North America only...rest of the world in 1st Quarter 2011).
The original music video for Stuttering has received over 3 million YouTube views and in January 2011, a remix version ft Navio will be released.



Navio’s unique flow blends seamlessly into the Pop/Rock song and showcases his creative ability. As an artist, he has proven his versatility...in addition to Fefe Dobson, Navio has showcased his ability on the AIRTEL ONE8 group’s hit single, Hands Across the World, that was written and produced by R Kelly and ROCKSTAR 4000 / SONY MUSIC featuring R Kelly, Navio, 2Face, Fally Ipupa, 4X4, Movaizhaleine, Amani, JK and Ali Kiba.



Navio’s music and brand continues to cross borders as he establishes himself as one of Africa’s great entertainers. With his role in the Airtel ONE8 project, his signing to Rockstar 4000 / Sony Music and his latest album called African Hustler Music ready for release; sky is the limit for Uganda's hottest export.
Fefe Dobson is a pop/rock singer signed to 21 Music and Def Jam / Island Records. She is managed by music mogul Chris Smith, whose efforts have launched the international careers of stars such as Nelly Furtado, Brick and Lace, and Tamia. Fefe was born in Toronto, Ontario...her mother is of English, Native Canadian, French ancestry and her father is of Jamaican. Before being signed, she admitted to being stereotyped as contemporary R&B or pop singer instead of a rock musician due to her race, often being compared to Brandy and Britney Spears.

DAREY SCORES ANOTHER FIRST

With the launch last week, of a set of bespoke Darey social media accounts, Africa's King of Soul/R&B Darey has further established his pre-eminence and standing as a true leader of the new school of African entertainers.
Ahead of plans to release his third solo album, and his first international CD, Darey has embarked on a redefinition exercise; unveiling a brand new logo, bespoke Youtube page, Facebook page and Twitter page.
The idea, Darey says, is to establish a global brand that resonates with fans across the world; while making sure that everyone that matters identifies and understands the core elements of the brand.
And it's freebies galore for fans and followers who have logged in to see the new pages.
"The idea is to engage my friends across all networks and bring everyone closer than ever before. Already, fans can peep exclusive stuff on Youtube and Facebook, download wallpapers and singles, while on Twitter, we're dishing out gifts to our fans and followers. It's just a way of staying in touch and saying thank you..." Says Darey.
The singer's Twin album Double Dare will be released nationwide next month; while his first UK album, fast nearing completion, will be released later on.
Only few weeks back, Darey was appointed honorary Ambassador by the Cross River State Government, after his performance at the annual Calabar festival. Himself and Asa were the sole 'inductees' during a breakfast meeting at the Government house.

EMMANUEL JAL DATING SUPERMODEL

Sudanese Rapper and human rights activist Emmanuel Jal who was in the country for a series of shows including the just concluded Sudanese Summit is said to be dating America-Sudanese model Atong Arjok.
Jal refused to talk about the “relationship” between him and Atong saying, “it’s personal” but my sources swear by their small toes that the two are "an item". True story.



Anyhow, born on October 5, 1985 in California, Arjok is considered to be one of the top Nubian models to enter the fashion world since popular model Alek Wek. Arjok has made appearances in Glamour, Teen Vogue, Italian Vogue and Russian Vogue and most recently this year in British Elle editorial, photographed by David Slijper. She has also appeared on the popular television show Project Runway as a model.
Jal may have passionately refused to divulge his relationship with the model but he expressed his passionate about the summit hosted at the Louis Leakey Auditorium, Nairobi National Museum. “It was a celebration of the diversity and talent of young Sudanese as well as empower young people to bring peaceful change to Sudan through individual and collective action.”
He also released his track We Want Peace which echos the sentiments of Sudan’s youth in the run up to the January 9, 2011 referendum in Southern Sudan. He shot the video for the single that features English singer, musician and songwriter music legend Peter Gabriel, on Friday in Kibera. Gabriel’s daughter Ann Marie stars in the video.

TWO MORE SINGLES, AS DAREY PREPARES TO RELEASE DOUBLE ALBUM

‘At a time when most artistes prefer to play it safe, lingering within the confines of convention, towing the line of the ordinary to remain relevant, Darey prefers to stand on the edge, daring to maintain his artistic distinctiveness. After nearly two years in the studio, Darey finally gets ready to birth a double disc album titled ‘DOUBLE DARE’ – a body of work broken up into two volumes that depict two sides of the R&B King’.



Fans across the country cannot get enough of ‘The way you are’ and ‘Don’t let me know’ – the first two singles off Darey’s upcoming third album. Since the cuts were released on October 21, 2010, the comments have not stopped pouring; with millions of emotional fans thanking the R&B pathfinder for blessing us with amazing music, at a time when many were already losing sleep about the quality of music coming from the contemporary music scene.
And only last week, he followed with the video for ‘The Way you are’. Shot in London and directed by Mark Hofmeyr, the new video is already becoming a fan-favourite, steadily mounting the charts and topping playlists on all music TV platforms.
But Darey is not one to relent or let all the adulations consume him and slow him down. Working from AM to PM, at the Soul Muzik Studios, with producers from Nigeria, Europe and America, the singer-songwriter has spent the past weeks putting final touches to album materials. And he announced today, that his third album is now ready.
‘We’re finally ready!’ he says excitedly. ‘I can’t wait to share what we’ve put together with my friends from all over the world’.
To be titled ‘DOUBLE DARE’ the new two-part album will come in two CDs (each CD is titled ‘HEART’ and ‘BEAT’ respectively - together read as HEARTBEAT). And it’s not the first time Darey is playing with the four-letter word that makes up his first name. His most popular pay-off line when he worked as an OAP at Cool FM was ‘How dare you dare Dare?’ And his last album, released in March 2009, was titled ‘UnDareyTed’.
Just like UnDareyTed, DOUBLE DARE is not just a play on Darey’s given name. ‘There’s always a concept behind my album titles, he says. ‘On this album, my friends will see the two different sides of me’.
What are these two sides? He refuses to say for now; preferring instead, that the upcoming album reveals that which he insists ‘many need to know...’
Meanwhile two new singles (‘Ba Ni Kidi’ and ‘Sisi Eko’) from the highly anticipated album was premiered this week.
‘Ba Ni Kidi’ is a fun song with a lot of comical inserts delivered in Pidgin English and Hausa Language. Hilarious from A to Z, with a groove and hook that’ll guarantee generous spots on radio and in the clubs, Ba Ni Kidi is distant, in style, from the album’s earlier singles – and insiders are already saying this should explain the concept of ‘DOUBLE DARE’.
‘There’s going to be a lot of love and romance on the album, as you’d expect of Darey. But there’s also going to be a lot of fun; even naughty and mischievous stuff’ a privileged source tells us. ‘There’s another song called ‘Belly’; you might want to watch out for that’, he says, beaming with smiles of mischief.
‘I recorded Ba Ni Kidi with the kind help of my friends’ Cobhams, eLDee and Bayo who speak very good Hausa’ says Darey. ‘We were just messing around really’.
‘‘Sisi Eko", a Yoru-ballad, is dedicated to everyone who has ever made a sacrifice for love! Produced by Cobhams and Darey himself, Sisi Eko is a sure favourite for the matured mind.

The new singles are available for sampling and downloads on Darey’s website www.dareyonline.com, and on radio stations across the country.

TEDDY MUTHUSI’S STRATEGY TO KEEP SHEILA IN THE HOUSE

Former Big Brother Africa housemate Teddy Muthusi has stepped up to the plate to ensure this year’s Kenyan representative brings home the $200,000.
Teddy told Hot Secrets, “As our Kenyan girl Sheila Kwnboka continues to fly the Kenyan flag high, I think Kenyans could back her up with some clever voting strategies.”
His theory is simple. “Keep the weak ones in, get the strong ones out.”
This week Sheila is head of house.
On Tuesday, Biggie challenged the housemates to audition for a science fiction movie called “Supermodels from Mars”. The housemates will be required to stretch their imagination, exercise their creativity and have some ‘out of this world’ fun.
Each housemate is expected to design and make an ‘Outrageous Outfit from Outer Space’ and create a character for themselves and a way of acting and speaking, for the audition. The Barnmates will also be competing in this task.


After Head of House Sheila read out the task to the housemates twice, they decided to wager 100 percent on their success. A few dissenting voices were heard, asking to wager 75% instead, but Tatiana reminded them that they had done very well in last week’s Eggstravaganza task, so this week’s would be easy. When Sheila claimed that the majority of housemates had agreed on the 100% wager, Big Brother questioned her about the dissenters. Sheila explained that 7 of the housemates had wanted to wager 100%, while 4 wished to reduce the wager to 75%.


Big Brother told her to go back and read the task to the housemates again to make sure that everyone understood what was expected of them. After carefully checking everything again, all of the housemates concluded that a 100% wager was the way to go.
23 days down and 68 to go.
Keep voting. This week, Munya and Tatiana are up for eviction – and it’s up to you to keep your favourite housemate in the game.

BBA’S KRISTAL LOSES JOB OVER CIGS

Former Zimbabwe’s Big Brother Africa representative Kristal Culverwel was reported to have once been fired from a job because she refused to quit smoking.
Her mother Bev revealed, “She had a job in England as a wine taster,” adding, “She would taste wines from place to place and also do some public relations campaigns for her employer in the wine industry. But her employer, who came to know about her smoking habits, told her to quit smoking, but she strongly refused. She is not the kind of person that sways easily from what she truly is.” With her days as a wine taster long behind her, Kristal is fully committed to her career in medicine.