SHOWBUZZ: Lady Gaga pulls down R Kelly duet

Singer Lady Gaga performs during the Hurricane Relief concert in College Station, Texas, on October 21, 2017. PHOTO| FILE

What you need to know:

  • The track in question includes lyrics “You can’t have my heart and you won’t use my mind but do what you want with my body”.
  • Lady Gaga stated that the song and video was recorded at a time in her life that she wanted to create something extremely defiant.

American singer and actress Lady Gaga has pulled down a collaboration she did with embattled R&B legend R Kelly following a documentary detailing sexual abuse on women and underage girls against him.

Lady Gaga apologised over the song “Do What U Want” in which she featured R Kelly in 2013, removing it from all streaming services she is subscribed to.

The 52-year-old Kelly has become the subject of discussion since “Surviving R Kelly” aired, with reports indicating that the singer is currently under criminal investigation.

Taking to Twitter Lady Gaga posted: “I Stand behind these women 1000%, believe them, know they are suffering and in pain and feel that their voices should be heard and taken seriously. What I am hearing about allegations against R Kelly is absolutely horrifying and indefensible”.

The track in question includes lyrics “You can’t have my heart and you won’t use my mind but do what you want with my body”.

As a victim of sexual abuse herself, Lady Gaga stated that the song and video was recorded at a time in her life that she wanted to create something extremely defiant and provocative as she was still angry and hadn’t processed the trauma.

Rajab Abdul Kahali alias Harmonize performs during the Koroga Festival held on Sunday, July 22, 2018 at Two Rivers Mall Nairobi. PHOTO| FILE

Harmonize: I meant not to disparage Kenyans says

Bongo flava star Harmonize has come clean on what he meant when he said Kenyans are poor during his performance at the Wasafi Festival.

The singer who recently split from his long-time manager Vincent Joel over ego issues that wouldn’t let them to continue working, insists he was misunderstood because Kenyans interpret Swahili language differently.

“How Kenyans and Tanzania interpret Kiswahili is different. What I said was never meant to insult anyone. I told the crowd, that people keep asking me why Kenyans support me so much. And I answered it’s because I am poor (similar) just like them. This elicited reactions from them and they started yelling at me that they had paid for the show.”

A remorseful Harmonize went on to insist his comments were not out of malice but genuine as he meant no harm to his Kenyan fans who have largely supported his music and he wouldn’t think of disrespecting them.

Vivian is a Kenyan musician. PHOTO| COURTESY

Vivian laments low business

With the bitter debate on playing local songs soaring on between radio, TV presenters and the Kenyan artistes, songbird Vivian has weighed in on the matter claiming they never made money over the festive season.

A teary Vivian expressed her frustrations that Kenyan musicians failed to make money moves during the Christmas and New Year eve as foreign acts landed in the country and minted loads of cash.

According to Vivian, this is because most radio, TV and media personalities don’t support Kenyan acts by playing local content as much as they should but instead support the foreigners especially from Bongo and Nigeria.

“The festive season is the peak for artistes. If you were to do your research and ask how many Kenyan artistes earned a million shillings through shows last year, how many would you get? Very few. Let’s support our own music, it’s very important” Vivian lamented.

Over the period a number of foreign acts landed into the country and walked away with millions of shillings.

Diamond Platinumz and his Wasafi crew are reported to have pocketed in excess of Sh7 million.

Refigah of Grandpa records. PHOTO| COURTESY

Grandpa is back!

Grandpa Record’s founder and CEO Refigah has re-launched the label after a hiatus of close to two years, as he also announced his retirement from music.

With the re-launch, Refigah who has been in the music industry for the last 18 years, stated that the label will prioritise on up-coming artistes but won’t lock its doors on established ones.

“We are back; we will be giving opportunity to new artistes. For a long time, the Kenyan industry has been recycling same old artistes. We intend to introduce new acts like (Thomas) Niweti who dropped his first single featuring Wyre, and UK-based Mistony (Jane Ikasi)” said Refigah.

On his retirement, Refigah added, “GrandPa is not all about me and so this will be my last year in music and then I will retire. I am grooming a new team to take over once I’m gone. I believe one year is enough to put everything in place.”

The once top recording label with hits such as “Dawa Ya Moto”, “Maswali ya Polisi” and “Tempo” had not produced a single song for a year and eight months, following a mass exodus of its top artistes including Visita, Kenrazy, Sosuun, Dufla, DNA, and Gin Ideal in two years.

Death comes to us all, Willy says of dancers

Controversial gospel musician Willy Paul has responded to claims that he sacrificed his two female dancers to grow his music career.

Sometime last month, the singer lost one of his dancers Valary Aura Murunga following a tragic accident while on her way to Nakuru for a gig.

A week later, just days after her burial, Willy Paul lost the second dancer Joan who, according to the singer, was Val’s friend and both of them were part of his dance crew.

The tragic deaths of the two in quick succession left most critics confused, with reports doing rounds on the social media claiming that the singer sacrificed the two dancers in some sort of occult ritual, that they also claim he is involved in, to help grow his music career.

However, in responding Willy Pozee termed the claims as propaganda, stating that death is inevitable to anyone.

“This is the most painful season in my musical life. I’ve been reading so many negative stories and propaganda concerning the death of my two female dancers. I’ve got nothing to say because death visits every family,” Willy responded.