Henry Ohanga News Archives

Octopizzo makes history, becomes first Kenyan rapper to make it to the Grammy Awards Consideration List

Posted on November 6, 2020November 6, 2020 by Gloria Katunge

Award-winning Kenyan rapper, Octopizzo has proven that his past does not define his future and that his background was not going to be an obstacle for him to get to the top.

The 26-year old Kibera-born rapper has once again proven his worth after bagging International recognition, set to face-off with the crème de la crème of the entertainment industry globally.

Also read: Octopizzo’s heartfelt congratulatory message to Khaligraph Jones on his BET Award nominations

Octopizzo makes history

This is following his recent announcement, informing fans that he is up for the prestigious Grammy Awards consideration list of 2021.

Octopizzo makes it to the Grammy Consideration AwardsHis announcement comes ahead of the high-ranking 63rd Grammy Awards set to go down in January 2021.

On the nomination list are the rapper’s anthems; Che Che Wakiritho under the Best Rap performance category, Another Day under the Record of the Year category and Kamikaze Another Day under the Best Melodic Rap category.

Octopizzo told off those who had doubted his skill set and his worth in the rap industry, informing them that it is “about that time” they acknowledged his standing.

News that has left the Kenyan audience and beyond proud of the rap artist, who becomes the first Kenyan rapper to bag such a position.

He makes history a 2nd time

It is quite no surprise that the kid was going places. This is after making history by receiving an invite to the 60th edition of the prestigious Grammy Awards held on January 28, 2018 in New York.

Octopizzo Knaye singer born and raised in Kibera — Octopizzo bags his place at the 63rd Grammy Awards

And now, he makes it to the Grammy Awards Consideration List. I mean…

His nomination gets him a seat alongside Wasafi’s Diamond Platnumz, Zuchu and Rayvanny.

The Annual Grammy Awards recognize the best recordings, compositions and artists of the year. This time, running from September 1, 2019 to August 31, 202o. Thereafter go through a voting process to arrive at the final 2021 Nominee list.

The nominations will be announced on November 24, 2020.

Octopizzo seems to have run out of ideas

Posted on July 30, 2020December 1, 2020 by David Kingsley

I don’t know about you but from where I sit, it seems like Kenyan rapper Henry Ohanga, better known as Octopizzo has run out of ideas, or so it seems.

Also read: Octopizzo should pull up his socks before it’s too late

Gone are the days when the Kibera-bred rapper made music that resonated with the masses, these days he just gets by and it almost seems like he is out of touch with his fans.

Octopizzo

If you asked me to name one of his recent songs, you’ll discover that it was released 3 or so years ago and it’s not really my fault since I no longer listen to his music.

To be honest, I don’t even understand how he’s able to garner more than 1 million views on YouTube, the only explanation is that he could be buying views but that’s a story for another day.

His die-hard fans will probably be vexed by this article but how do you explain that he copy pasted Pop Smoke’s Welcome To The Party for his latest release dubbed Che Che?

Octopizzo

If you compare and contrast the two songs, you’ll realize that everything is pretty much the same. From the concept, the style and the execution is exactly the same. Even the beat and instrumentation.

That’s not something that you would expect a musician of Octopizzo’s stature to do but he did it anyway and that can only mean that he’s running out of ideas and pretty fast.

In early to mid 2010’s, his music was inspired by the things that were happening in Kibera and we loved him for that and then, he decided to adopt a different approach perhaps to woo fans outside Kenya.

I’m not against his growth. All I’m saying is that he needs to change tack before it’s late because time is running out.

Listen to his latest jam titled Another Day below.

Octopizzo should pull up his socks before it’s too late

Posted on May 6, 2020May 6, 2020 by David Kingsley

If you’ve been following discussions on social media over this past week, I’m sure you noticed that one of the subjects that people could not stop talking about is rapper Henry Ohanga, better known as Octopizzo.

Also read: Has Octopizzo lost relevance?

He released a song titled Che Che featuring Barak Jacuzzi and most people felt that it’s below par and to be honest, it is. To make matters worse, people discovered that he had copy pasted Pop Smoke’s Welcome To The Party.

Barak Jacuzzi

But this is not the first time Octopizzo has done this. A jam that he released with Sailors Gang titled Wakiritho some time last year was later discovered to be exactly the same as Tyga’s Loco Contigo. I’m sure there others as well.

You know, when he started off, the Kibera-bred rapper was really good but of late not so much. I’m sure that even if you are his die-hard fan you agree with this assertion to some extent.

Octopizzo

Of late, he is not only not unoriginal (I am trying to restrain myself from using the word fake) but his lyrics are also uninspired. When you listen to some of his recent songs, you are left wondering what the heck?

I get it that an artist won’t be the same as when you first hear his music – with time they will fade out but why can’t he try out a new style instead of copy pasting songs unashamedly?

Remaining relevant in the Kenyan music industry is not as easy as most people think but you would expect someone who has been around for more than a decade like Octopizzo to have known how to maneuver.

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around Octopizzo’s latest approach but I can’t. All I can say that he needs to shape up or ship out. Enough said.

Watch Che Che below and tell us what you think.

Octopizzo could be Kenya’s richest musician, here’s why

Posted on August 24, 2019 by David Kingsley

Have you ever wondered how rapper Henry Ohanga, alias Octopizzo, makes his money because the truth is that he’s not hot on the streets as was the case 5 (or so) years ago which means that he does not get many shows – which is the biggest source of income for most artists.

Also read: Has Octopizzo lost relevance?

Interestingly, the Kibera-bred rapper is still laughing all the way to the bank and in my opinion, he is making more money than any other Kenyan artist and it’s not necessarily from his music.

You see, at the peak of his career Octopizzo developed a relationship with humanitarian organisations such as the United Nations and they have continued to engage him to date.

As you would expect, such assignments come with hefty perks and a lot of travel which explains why he is always out of the country.

Secondly, Octopizzo has maintained a clean image save for an incident early this year where he got into a scuffle with a 19-year-old boy, an incident that left the latter dead.

The Oliel hitmaker sells the story of grass to grace since he came from the slums and became something.

To add to that, has has a good image and this is what many brands love this explains why he was picked as an ambassador for Smirnoff alongside other brands.

Lastly, unlike many Kenyan artists, Octopizzo monetizes his music. His songs are enlisted on platforms such as iTunes and Spotify, this way he’s able to make some coins through his music.

Listen to his latest single Kanye below.

Has Octopizzo lost relevance?

Posted on July 2, 2019 by David Kingsley

You might hate me for this but sometimes I get the feeling that Kenyan rapper Henry Ohanga, alias Octopizzo, has lost his relevance or he’s on the verge of losing it. Well, I could also be wrong.

Also read: Octopizzo Vs Khaligraph, whose music approach is better?

Admittedly, the Kibera-bred artist still makes good music but the truth is that is not what the mass market is consuming heavily. Put simply, it’s not the kind of music that most Kenyans are vibing to at the moment.

Octopizzo has released two songs since the year begun i.e. Babylon and Zikishika. While both songs were above par and well-executed, none of them was hit and we can debate this until the cows come home.

You could argue that the Oliel hit maker targets a particular niche with his music and he’s not interested in the mass market but the truth is that every artist wants his songs to go viral and garner millions of views on YouTube.

Octopizzo

As we speak, Zikishika – which was released in April, has 810,000 views. Babylon – which was released in February has garnered only 780,000 views so far.

Now let’s compare this to Ethic who make music for the mass market. They have also released two songs this year namely Pandana and Figa. Pandana, which dropped in March has 2.3 million views, Figa which was released a fortnight ago has slightly above 1 million views.

If it is indeed true that numbers don’t lie, what does this tell you? What does it imply? The way I see it is that Octopizzo is losing or has lost relevance in the local music industry. It’s just what it is.

The emergence of new age-artists like Boondocks Gang, Ethic, Ochunglo Family, Rico Gang, Zzero Sufuri really tilted the scales. The mass market is consuming their music heavily at the moment and the sooner Kenyan artists realize this, the better!

We’ve seen the likes of The Kansoul working with these new age artists so that they can remain afloat so why can’t Octopizzo follow suit?

Watch Octopizzo’s latest release dubbed Zikishika below.