Home Celebrity Biography Meet Umoja Sounds Musicians’ 1Der Jr And Kamanzii

Meet Umoja Sounds Musicians’ 1Der Jr And Kamanzii

Umoja Sounds are music production pacesetters with multiple decades of experience in the industry aiming to improve skills and professionalism, share knowledge, inspire and raise entertainment industry standards through uniquely collaborative and empowering audiovisual creation experiences.

We are founded by Ambrose “Dunga” Akwabi, a prolific Kenyan producer based in Tanzania with notable engagements with Santuri Safari, Tembea Tanzania,
Bongo Star Search, Tusker Project Fame, and notable artists; Chege, Joh Makini, Nakaaya, Bamboo and Abbas Doobiez and Loon; and Kevin Provoke, a multi-talented
producer, sound engineer, cinematographer, graphic designer, and all-around creative, mentored by none other than Ambrose.

Provoke has since garnered associations with Artists Project Earth, Ten Cities, Blaze by Safaricom, ESVC, and Coke Studio Africa among others. He’s produced artists such as Just a Band, Wangechi, King Kaka, Kaligraph Jones, Dela, King Kaka, Femi One, and Olamide.

In late 2020, Kevin met with the third founder, Robert Jakech, a Ugandan-born, Australian-based entertainment business visionary, technopreneur, innovation
strategist, serial digital business, and fintech guru.

This partnership vibes – it thrives on creativity and collaboration and is driven by excellence and reciprocation.
Balancing innovation, creativity, and fullness of sound with expert attention to detail is no easy feat. We aim to powerfully and demonstratively lead the way and raise the standards of the entertainment industry throughout East Africa and beyond.

Our recording retreats run from seven to 14 days and are hands-on collaborative exercises. During our two months recording tour of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda in late 2021 /early 2022, we stacked up more than 200 songs featuring around 25 collaborating guest artists.

The whole industry stands to benefit from the intense cross-border work where we set and share the example of HOW to work beyond expectations.
It’s more than music though, every stage of our creative process is immersive, it’s expressive, it’s iterative, it’s inclusive, it’s innovative and it’s finely honed

– The Umoja Sounds experience. At Umoja Sounds we strive to overcome all challenges and perfect the activity in our wheelhouse through adaptive technology and state-of-the-art recording, producing, mixing, and mastering techniques, a huge differentiator.

We are the pacesetters when it comes to sound engineering, especially on cutting edge like Dolby atmos mixing for spatial audio productions.

Last but not least, social responsibility is ingrained in Umoja Sounds. We team up with community leaders, most recently in Dandora, a slum in Kenya to produce
and create content giving local artists access to our top-notch technology, producers, and artist networks.

Umoja sounds works with Janny Media boss Dj Janny P as their main East African promoter.

ABOUT “DANCE LIKE DAVID” EP

Umoja Sounds syndicate unites once again with this massive EP Dance Like David, the results echoing the reminiscent of your favorite rhythms of the moment.
The principles and philosophies surrounding the simplicity of approach are clearly expressed in the execution of this danceable release.

Neither reinventing the wheel nor fixing the unbroken, Umoja Sounds 2nd EP Dance Like David is filled with so much heat for any dance floor with the ep opening firing things off to a brilliant start, and into a pace that never subsides till the end of the ep.

Its four cuts which have largely an Amapianoesque feel are a celebration of that art form’s continuing continental influence and presence, expanding outwardly to the broader world.

Acts such as Uganda’s wordsmith named 1der JR(UG), Fredrick Mulla(TZ), and Mbithi(KE) clearly thrive on this collaborative effort that incorporates three different schools or approaches of prose, which leads to Mulla melodizing, 1der rapping, and Mbithi with his full-mode urban incantations on the massive smash Weekend.

The EP has sounds that are so physical, smothering without being overbearing, and rhythmically on a four-to-the-floor an interesting blend of smoothness with vigor.
Ugandan songstress Kamanzi Rwego sizzles in Simanyi meaning, ‘I don’t Know’, while raspily delivering in her collaboration with fellow countryman 1der Usiwaze meaning ‘Take it Easy’.

Umoja Sounds second EP also sees Tanzania’s Pop phenomenon Marleen XPlastaz impressing us with her late after ambiance-filled track Mabawa. The music constructs its way through loopy percussive tracks, cool synths, and slightly thudding drums that draw the listener in, putting them in a dancing yet somber mood.

At its core, the music in Dance Like David EP taps into the aesthetics of the moment while delivering a certain type of freshness that can only be revealed when one volunteer to indulge in the depths and precepts of its presentation.

Fans and many a listener would be compelled to take heed of the emergence of an energetic yet positively filled upbeat of an EP, Fans and many a listener would be compelled to take heed of the emergence of an energetic yet positively filled upbeat of an EP, the ultimate continuation of the party, just like David’s in the days of yore. Party up!

 

Music, being a powerful medium, has made it easier for humanity to recall events when prompted by it. These memories can be brought to the foreground on a
canvas such as this one established by Umoja Sounds, practitioners of commitment to the craft of making music and composing songs, in this case, having an
Emotional Attachment to the art of music making.
Within this synergy of creatives and connectivity of mindsets emerged this set of songs that puts the listener in a sense of belonging, reliability, positivity, clarity,
and comfort by taking them to that authentic place of feelings redeemed and restored.
Comfortable with being vulnerable, open, curious, yet trusting? Emotional Attachment covers these and more. A keen listener gets to extract from it almost exact
memories brought back into awareness, aiming to make you feel happy, groovy, sultry, sensual. It gets real when you listen to the words as they relate to you,
how you’ve felt, someone you know or knew or aspire to know. Some of the music speaks to you on such a deep level, and in a sense that particular song becomes
your song.
With this set of 6 songs emerging from sound craftsmen Umoja Sounds featuring regional collaborators from Eastern Africa Fredrick Mulla (Tanzania),
Peace Jolis Rwanda), Jay Roxx (Zambia), Emma Cheruto (Kenya), Marleen Xplastaz (Tanzania), PROFET (Uganda), Elisha Elai (Kenya) and NAIBOI (Kenya),
Emotional Attachment puts you in a positive trance of self discovery within the confines of amazingly crafted yet simple to decipher soundscapes, yes!
Call them love songs.
To the willing individual who dares to indulge on a musical journey from the familiar into the unknown and back, the invitation is as clear as the journey itself.

The dance floors are put on alert with this one where Fredrick Mulla opts for an upbeat type of cautionary yet fun track ‘Utukutu’.
He starts by narrating to us about the girl he saw at the club the previous night. She was so good looking and he got smitten to
the point of him wanting to make out with her. They exchanged numbers and agreed to meet in Upanga (Dar es Salaam Tanzania) at midnight.
Little did he know that a Coaster had arrived with sixty girls and he was perturbed. He remembered that he had mentioned to her the
previous night to go with all her friends because he had wads of cash.
The cautionary hook is so catchy to the point that the listener forgets the underlying point; never to indulge in others’ businesses and
affairs because you never know, some of them are nasty people and you might get ‘eaten’. This leads to a cheeky repetitive hook to add
some comical relief to an otherwise serious and cautionary pre – hook.
‘’Wacha utukutu”.
“Stop being mischievous ”
Mulla further warns those who are prone to pretense that it will backfire on them. He gives examples of those who claim to be in ‘gangs’ and
the like, that they’re likely to be incarcerated and eventually ‘gang banged’, or be visited by goons who’ll be up to no good. So, “style up and
change or you will face the consequences of your short sighted choices especially when you are itching to party”, he says.
Party up!
U

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