Paul Julius Nunda (born 12 September 1979), better known by his stage name Jua Cali, is a

Kenyan ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

hip hop artist. In 2000, together with record producer

Clemo Clement Rapudo Sijenyi (born June 2, 1980) better known as Clemos, is a music producer and co-founder of Calif Records based in Life Ministry House near Hurlingham Business Center along Jabavu Road in Nairobi, Kenya. He won an award for "Producer ...

, he founded

Calif Records Calif Records is a Kenyan record label based in Nairobi's California estate, known for the Genge genre of music. It was founded in 2000 by record executive & producer Clement "Clemo" Rapudo, together with Juacali and Nonini. It is among two l ...

where he has been ever since. Jua Cali performs in Swahili and Sheng in a popular Kenyan style of rapping called

genge Genge music, or genge, is a genre of hip hop music with additional influences from dancehall music that has its beginnings in Nairobi, Kenya. The name was coined by the producer Clemo and popularized by Kenyan rappers Jua Cali and Nonini, wh ...

Early life

Jua Cali was born in Eastlands,

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

. His parents, Doreen Onditi and Evans Onditi (deceased) were both schoolteachers. He grew up with a strict

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

upbringing in California Estate to the east of

city. He began rapping at age 10, encouraged by his elder brother Christopher Sati. He was known as an introverted teenager who was often quiet, hardly ever socialising. He attended Ainsworth Primary School (Standards 1 to 6); Shepherds Junior Buruburu (Standards 6 to 8); Jamuhuri High School and eventually Kenya Christian Industrial Training Institute (K.C.I.T.I)

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

where he received a diploma in

Information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

. There, he played basketball with ambitions to make it to the Kenyan National Basketball Team. He never made it to the team, blaming this on his height. His earlier foray into music included singing in a band called '

Sita Futi Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

'. Sita Futi disbanded almost as soon as it was started leaving behind Jua Cali and his close friend Jemmoh. The departing group members left to pursue careers outside music. Calif Records came into being after Jua Cali teamed up with childhood friend

to form the record label that quickly became a hit factory, gaining prominence in the East Africa music scene with chart topping artists and music.

also invented the

Genge Genge music, or genge, is a genre of hip hop music with additional influences from dancehall music that has its beginnings in Nairobi, Kenya. The name was coined by the producer Clemo and popularized by Kenyan rappers Jua Cali and Nonini, wh ...

genre of Kenyan hip hop. Jua Cali often cites his brother, Chris, and his parents as his greatest influences in life.He is also related to

dell xerxes Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

as his brother in law

Music career

His first recorded track was Ruka, released in 2001, and was followed by ''Nipe Asali'' in 2002. In 2004 he collaborated with

Pilipili Peter Gatonye (born November 1982), known better for his stage name Pilipili is a musician/singer from Kenya. At the beginning of his career, he collaborated with another musician, Gun B. Their best known song was "Nampenda".Daily Nation, October 28 ...

in track "Kamata Dame". Like most Kenyan artists, it took several years before his first full album was released. His album "Juacali Sekta" reached the stores in 2006, containing mostly previously released singles. His single ''Kwaheri'' (featuring Sainapei Tande-winner Coca-Cola pop star and radio presenter) was a major hit in Kenya in 2007. At the New Year's Eve 2008/2009 he released a new album, ''Ngeli ya Genge''. He has toured the US and other countries. In August 2007, he was among 100 most influential Kenyans as selected by The Standard newspaper. His stage name Jua Cali, is derived from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, an estate in Nairobi (as is the name of Calif Records). It also resembles '' Jua Kali'', a Swahili term meaning fierce sun, which has been taken to refer to Kenya's

informal sector An informal economy (informal sector or grey economy) is the part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored by any form of government. Although the informal sector makes up a significant portion of the economies in developing countrie ...

of the economy. He has released a series of new songs with a new producer Keggah based in the United States. His new songs include, Karibu Nairobi and Kuna Sheng which have both received massive airplay and good reviews.

Endorsements

Motorola

Besides being talented, he's a commercial success, thanks to his appeal to the young and the not-so-young alike. For instance, he became Kenya's first artiste to get an endorsement deal when in 2007 he signed a reported Sh1-million-a-year deal mobile phone giant Motorola for its

W model W, or w, is the twenty-third and fourth-to-last letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. It represents a consonant, but in some languages it r ...

.
And, according to the company, he was quite a catch. " ''Jua Cali is part of the Motorola family, and we are honoured to have worked with him in the recent past''," says Joanne Doyle, the marketing manager for East Africa. "''He has been a great ambassador and, like

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...

, he is all about creativity, style and substance, so we could not be happier that his hard work has been recognised at the prestigious Kisima awards.''"

Orange Mobile

Juacali is arguably today's most successful artist in the Kenyan music scene as far as endorsements and pay per show income is concerned. Early 2009,

Telkom Kenya Telkom Kenya is an integrated telecommunications provider in Kenya. It was previously a part of the Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (KPTC) which was the sole provider of both postal and telecommunication services. The company was ...

appointed him as the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

Ambassador for their youth market and began his one-year sh10-million shilling contract by fronting the ' hello tunes' advertising campaign. Following the successes by the Kenyan Rugby Sevens team, Orange went on to shoot a series of

infomercials An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...

on Rugby featuring top Kenya rugby players and the genge artist. Also featured in the informercials were label mates Mejja, Jimwat and their producer

Pamoja Mtaani

''Pamoja Mtaani'', Swahili for "together in the hood" is a new video game in Kenya developed by

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE; also known as Warner Bros. Games or WB Games) is an American video game publisher based in Burbank, California, and part of the newly-formed Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment unit of ...

. Its basically about a youth band together making their way through a maze of challenges throughout the East African city. The game has a subtle but deliberate agenda: HIV prevention. Players do not directly confront the threat of HIV; instead, they encounter challenges throughout the adventure that lead to lessons about risk and

self-confidence Confidence is a state of being clear-headed either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Confidence comes from a Latin word 'fidere' which means "to trust"; therefore, having ...

. Jua Cali recorded the video games anthem " City in the Sun".

Others

The artiste has also been involved in other major advertisements such as

Protex Protex are a Belfast Punk rock, punk band which formed in 1978. Their first records were issued on Good Vibrations (record label), Good Vibrations records. They formed part of the first wave of Belfast punk bands along with label-mates The Und ...

bath soap and

Pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (german: Pilsen), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewe ...

beer, and the deals have raked in big cash. He's also the Bloodlink Foundation Kenya ambassador. Bloodlink Foundation Kenya is a non-profit charitable trust established in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

seeking to assist Kenyan people achieve better health and improved quality of life through partnership with communities, corporate organisations and public sectors.

Discography

Albums: * ''JuacaliSekta'' (October 2006:) * ''Ngeli ya Genge'' (December 2008) * ''TuGenge Yajayo''(December 2013) * ''Mali Ya Umma'' (September 2019)

Awards

Won *

2006 Kisima Music Awards The 2006 Kisima Music Awards were held in Nairobi, Kenya. They were the first of the awards to be broadcast across Africa on television, after the organisers partnered with South African satellite station Channel O, and was also the first to featur ...

–

Boomba The bladder fiddle was a folk instrument used throughout Europe and in the Americas. The instrument was originally a simple large stringed fiddle (a musical bow) made with a long stick, one or more thick gut strings, and a pig's-bladder resonato ...

Male * 2007 Chaguo La Teeniez Awards (CHAT Awards) – Best Male & Celebrity of the Year *

2007 Kisima Music Awards The 2007 Kisima Music Awards took place at ''Marula Manor'', Nairobi, Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = ...

– Best Male Artist & Boomba Male. * 2007

Pearl of Africa Music Awards The Pearl of Africa Music Awards (also known as the PAM Awards) was an annual national music award event held in Uganda. The inaugural event was held in 2003. In 2006, categories for musicians from other East Africa East Africa, Eastern Afr ...

(PAM Awards) – Best Male Artist (Kenya) * 2008 Chaguo La Teeniez Awards – Favourite Male Artiste & Best Live Stage Performance & Best Collabo Song ("Kwaheri" with Sainapei). Nominated * 2006 Chaguo La Teeniez Awards – nominated in three categories, but won none of them * 2007 MTV Europe Music Awards – Best Africa Act * 2007

MOBO Awards The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and Af ...

* 2008

Tanzania Music Awards Tanzania Music Awards are national music awards held annually in Tanzania. They are also known as the Kilimanjaro Music Awards or the Kili Music Awards after their sponsor (Kilimanjaro Premium Lager). The awards were established in 1999 by the ...

– Best East African Song ("Kwaheri") * 2008 MTV Africa Music Awards – Best MaleMtaani.com 5th International Song Contest http://mtaani.com/news/newsdetails/item_2945/juacali-to-rep-the-254-in-the-5th-international-song-contest/

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jua Cali 1979 births Living people Kenyan rappers Kisima Music Award winners