Nairobi — The pool of hip-hop artistes in Kenya barely grows. In fact, for a long time, it has always been Abbas, Mwafrika, Kantai and a few other names that have consistently featured.

And this is despite the fact that the genre has one of the largest followings in the world, and boasts of icons and super-rich global stars such as 50 Cent, Jay Z and Snoop Dogg.

The development of the type of music has not been helped by the fact that most talent searches, for instance, Tusker Project Fame tend to concentrate on singers rather than rappers.

Indeed, many hopefuls were left disappointed when the Tusker Project Fame organisers insisted on singers only.

However, this week, pan-Africa entertainment network Channel O has announced an initiative that will turn the tide and give hip-hop hopefuls in Africa the opportunity to shine and advance their careers.

Together with soft-drink makers Sprite, the pay-TV channel, which is available in Kenya through DStv, are introducing the Channel O Sprite Emcee Africa contest to give thousands of hopefuls in the country the rare chance to battle for the life-changing opportunity of making it as the continet's next stars.

Straightforward affair

According to the organisers, it will be a quick and straightforward affair, as opposed to the long and strenuous processes that characterise most talent searches.

The Channel O Sprite Emcee Africa contest will be held on Saturday January 26, 2008 at the bimonthly British Council-sponsored Wapi Festival.

The festival is already an established forum for budding rappers, poets and other artistes to exchange ideas, network and forge a front for developing their careers. The show will be hosted by Ugandan born South African radio personality and hip-Hop aficionado, Leslie "Lee" Kasumba.

Kasumba has managed to use her passion for hip-hop to help play a major role in the growth of the music type on the continent. But this is her first gig on the channel, and she says that she is more than ready to take up the challenge.

The participants will, however, be familiar with the judges who are some of the top names in the genre in the country.

The judges will include Nazizi who has been actively involved in hip-hop since 1996 and is best known for songs such as Chali wa Nairobi.

She will be assisted by none other than rapper Abbas Kubaff, who is also known as Doobeez and as the hardest working Kenyan hip-hop artiste, with his latest single, Chapaa being a hit. Abbas was part of the group K-South Flava who, alongside Kalamashaka, are considered pioneers of modern hip-hop in Kenya.

The third judge is Mwafrika, currently the programming manager at Ghetto radio. He is the first to host a totally hip-hop show in Kenya on YFM96.

The judges will be looking for originality, flow in lyrics and the message in the compositions, among other things, and language will be no barrier.

"The winner of next Saturday's Kenyan contest will join other winners from Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and South Africa for the grand finale in Johannesburg, South Africa," says Patricia Mbatia, the Channel O public relations officer.

This, she says, will not only be an opportunity to get continental exposure, but besidess, the winner will go home with $10,000 (about Sh630,000) in cash and a recording and video deal.

Channel 0 has made a name for itself by producing pan-African music and lifestyle shows that resonate with the 18-24 age group in the urban areas.

In fact, no channel has taken hip-hop this far and provided a real opportunity to turn dormant talent into continental fame. Nameless is one of the many Kenyan artistes who have benefited from the Channel O video awards.

"The show will provide a continental platform for people with passion, originality and talent," says Yolisa Phahle, the Channel O general manager.

"As always, at the heart and centre of everything we do, our desire is to showcase artistes who are originally African and world-class, and there are many of them."