Portal:Kenya/Selected culture biography
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Selected culture biography/1[edit]
E-Sir was born as Issah Mmari, on May 20, 1981 in California Estate, and raised in South c estate Nairobi, Kenya. He was a Kenyan hip hop artist signed to the Ogopa DJs label who was famous for his deft lyrical ability and command of the Swahili language. He is still widely regarded as one of the best rappers to emerge on the Kenyan hip hop scene. He first came to be known in 2001 by his song "Jo", a song done in the same style as Black Rob's "Whoa." The song proudly declared E-Sir's arrival on the Kenyan music scene and was featured on the Ogopa DJs debut album . He went on to release his debut album "Nimefika" in 2003 which was a big hit with virtually all the songs on the album becoming radio singles. He won 4 categories in the 2003 Kisima Music Awards.
E-Sir died in a road accident on March 16, 2003, while in the company of fellow label mate Nameless..
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Paul Julius Nunda, better known by his stage name Jua Cali (born 12 September 1979), is a Kenyan hip hop rapper. In 2000 together with producer Clemo they founded Calif Records where Jua Cali has stayed since. Jua Cali performs in Kiswahili and Sheng in a popular Kenyan style of rapping called genge..
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Just a Band is a Kenyan house/funk/disco band whose career was launched with their debut album, Scratch To Reveal, in 2008. Their music has explored various musical directions such as, but not limited to jazz, hip-hop, disco and electronica.
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Ezekiel Kemboi Cheboi (born May 25, 1982) is a Kenyan athlete, winner of the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2009 World Championships, the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Summer Olympics. His 3000 m steeplechase best of 7:55.76 places him as the sixth fastest of all time. He is one of only three men to have won both Olympic and World golds in the event, along with Reuben Kosgei and Brimin Kipruto.
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Catherine Nyambura Ndereba (born 21 July 1972) is a Kenyan marathon runner. She has twice won the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals in the Olympics in 2004 and 2008. She is also a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon. Ndereba broke the women's marathon world record in 2001, running 2:18:47 at the Chicago Marathon.
In 2008, Ndereba was described by a Chicago Tribune sportswriter as the greatest women's marathoner of all time.
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Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot (born September 11, 1983 in Elgeyo-Marakwet County) is an athlete from Kenya who specialises in long distance running. She represented Kenya at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics. Cheruiyot won a silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and became the world champion in the event at the 2009 edition.
After taking a silver at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, she won a number of outdoor titles that year, becoming African champion, Commonwealth Games champion and IAAF Continental Cup champion, as well as winning the 2010 IAAF Diamond League title.
She holds the Kenyan record and Commonwealth record for the 5000 m with her best time of 14:20.89, which was set at the DN Galan in 2011.
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Samuel Kamau Wanjiru (10 November 1986 – 15 May 2011) was a Kenyan athlete who specialised in long distance running. He became a professional at a young age and broke the world record in the half marathon when he was 18 years old. In 2007, he broke the 20 km road running record and improved the half marathon record by over twenty seconds.
He moved to the full marathon and won the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in an Olympic record time of 2:06:32; becoming the first Kenyan to win the Olympic gold in the marathon. The following year, he won both the London Marathon and Chicago Marathon, running the fastest marathons ever recorded in the United Kingdom and United States, respectively. He retained his Chicago title in 2010 in a season fraught with injury.
In 2011, he died after falling off a balcony at his home in Nyahururu following a domestic dispute. Police are still uncertain whether his death was a suicide, homicide or accidental.
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Edna Ngeringwony Kiplagat (born 15 September 1979) is a Kenyan long-distance runner. She is the 2011 and 2013 IAAF World Champion in the marathon. She established herself as an elite marathon runner with wins at the Los Angeles and New York City Marathons in 2010. Her personal best for the distance is 2:19:50 hours, set at the London Marathon in 2012.
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Mercy Cherono (born 7 May 1991 in Kericho) is a Kenyan long-distance runner. She is a two-time world junior champion in the 3000 metres (2008, 2010) and has also won gold medals at the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics and 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games. She has been a success junior athlete in cross country running, taking the silver medals in the junior team and individual competitions at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and improving to the gold medals at the 2010 edition.
Selected culture biography/10[edit]
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Stella Nyambura Mwangi (also known for stage name STL) (born 1 September 1986 in Nairobi) is a Norwegian-Kenyan singer, songwriter and rapper. Mwangi writes a lot of her music about the situation in her home country Kenya, also about discrimination both Stella and her family had to go through after moving to Norway in 1991. Her work has been used in films such as Save the Last Dance 2 and TV-series such as CSI: NY and Scrubs.
She has won several awards including; the Kisima Awards, Clops Awards and Jeermaan Awards, she is one of the most popular singers in Norway after winning the Melodi Grand Prix 2011. She started to practice playing music when she was just eight years old.
Mwangi has had hits in Kenya, Senegal, and Gambia.
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Edi Mue Gathegi (born March 10, 1979) is a Kenyan-American film, stage and television actor. He is best known for his recurring character Dr. Jeffrey Cole (aka "Big Love") in the television series House, as Cheese in the 2007 film Gone Baby Gone and as Laurent in the films Twilight, its sequel The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Darwin in X-Men: First Class.
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Sauti Sol is a Kenyan Afro-pop band from Nairobi comprising members; Bien-Aimé Baraza (vocals, guitar), Polycarp Otieno (guitar), Willis Austin Chimano (vocals, saxophone, keytar) and Delvin Mudigi (vocals, percussion, drums) formed in 2005. Starting off as an a cappella group, Bien, Chimano and Delvin previously met in Upper Hill high school where they performed in Voices in the Light, a high school music group. After that stint, the trio met guitarist Polycarp at Alliance Française, where they would frequent and decided to form Sauti (Swahili for voice) and immediately wrote their first song, Mafunzo ya Dunia (Life Lessons) that would later feature in their first album, Mwanzo which is Swahili for "beginning”, which was released in August 2009.
Their sophomore album, Sol Filosofia, was released in February, 2011. The band has had successful tours in Europe as well as in Africa, topped Kenyan charts and gained international attention with shows in Europe and the US, as well as television appearances, various nominations, including their 2011 celebrated concert performance in Kenya with Ladysmith Black Mambazo (Internationally renowned South African a cappella group). In June 2012, Sauti Sol released ‘Sauti Sol’, a self-titled EP and collaborative effort with South African avant-garde innovative rapper/producer Spoek Mathambo.
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Naftali Temu (20 April 1945 – 10 March 2003) was Kenya's first olympic gold medalist. He was an athlete, who won the 10.000 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Born in then Nyamira District now Nyamira County, Naftali Temu started running at the age of 14. After completing schooling, he joined the Kenyan Army.
Temu competed at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, where he finished 49th in marathon
He won 5000 metres silver medal at the inaugural All-Africa Games in 1965, the race was won by Kipchoge Keino. He burst onto the international long distance running scene at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, where he won gold medal and beat the world record holder Ron Clarke in the six miles. Two days later, Temu finished fourth in the three miles.
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Lupita Nyong'o (born March 1, 1983) is a Kenyan actress, film and music video director. After graduating from Hampshire College with a bachelor's degree in film and theatre studies, Nyong'o worked as a production assistant on several Hollywood films. In 2008 she made her acting debut with the short film East River and subsequently starred in the Kenyan television series Shuga (2009). Also in 2009, she wrote, produced and directed the documentary film In My Genes.
Nyong'o later completed a master's degree in acting from the Yale School of Drama, followed by her first feature film role in Steve McQueen's historical drama 12 Years a Slave (2013). Her role in the film was widely acclaimed, earning her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, among numerous other awards and nominations. In 2014, she was named "The Most Beautiful Woman" by People.
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Caroline Mutoko (born March 1, 1983) is a radio presenter with Nairobi's Kiss 100 FM radio station, one of the radio stations under the Radio Africa brand. She presents the early morning program "The Big Breakfast". She used to host it alongside comedian Walter "Nyambane" Mong'are who has since moved to join the government funded Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC). Previously, Caroline worked for Capital FM in Nairobi as a presenter and Marketing Manager.
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