The Dogg

For other people named The Dogg, see The Dogg (disambiguation).

The Dogg

Martin Morrocky (born 31 March 1983) , a resident of Onayena Constituency , Oshikoto region, known by his stage name as The Dogg, sometimes The queen or Mr. Skeleton is an Namibian multi-award winning kwaito musician and producer. He's one of the most outstanding artists in Namibia and is considered one of the pioneers of Namibia's kwaito genre. In 2005, he signed a management contract with KOOL Productions to promote his music outside Namibia.[3] His music is well-known internationally, especially in South Africa, Botswana, Angola, and Zambia. He's also a common household on Africa's number one music channel, Channel O.

Morrocky owns a record label named Mshasho Productions, which is one of the most popular and successful music labels in Namibia, a clothing fashion line known as "Mshasho Gear", and various other businesses. He is one of the highest selling musicians in Namibia, along with Tate Buti and his rival Gazza.

Early life

Morrocky began his formal education at Onayena Primary School situated in Onayena village , a village in east Ondangwa. Morocky has been living there after returning from exile, Zambia, in 1989. Morocky is the youngest child of four siblings. His aspiration as a child was to become a mechanical engineer while music remained to be a dormant passion. In 1997, he moved to Windhoek City to attend his secondary education at Augustineum Secondary School in Khomasdal. After graduating from high school, Morocky chose to study for a Science degree at the University of Namibia. He left the University, after one academic year to pursue a career in music.

Musical career

The Dogg used to perform at school concerts in his high school years. When he was in grade nine, him and long time friend Joe Basson, now known as Auntie Sousa, created a kwaito dancing group called Amasilkies. Before pursuing a career in music, he was a backup artist, a dancer and he also opened shows for his famous cousin Killa B and well known friend Jossy Joss. The Dogg rose to fame following the release of his hit single "Jesus Otati" in 2003.

"Jesus Otati" (translated; Jesus is sayng), talks abot his relationship with Jesus. The song also combats on the issues of using drugs and crime among the youth. At the time Dogg made the song, he was hailed as the Namibian version of Mandoza, a South African kwaito superstar. This was due to his rough voice similarities. His vocised was also compared to American rapper DMX, who's also known as The Dog. Many believe that he got his stage name from him. After creating a buzz with "Jesus Otati", The Dogg collaborated with fellow upcoming R&B singer Carl on the hit song "Se'waya". The two songs were one of Namibia's biggest hits of 2003. In early 2004, The Dogg sogned a record deal with RC-Ghetto Records, were he and Gazza, an old time friend, became label mates. Before the release of his debut album, The Dogg released to the radio his most respected critical acclaimed hit, "Perfecto Tromentos". The song was well received by fans and is today known as one of Namibia's most original kwaito songs of all time.

In early 2004 RC-Ghetto released Dogg's debut album Shimaliw' Osatana which became one of Namibia's best selling albums and most requested on local radio stations. The album was a success earning him awards for artist of the year and best selling artist in 2004 at the Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. The album created a fabulous fan base for The Dogg and caught Swapo politicians attention to put him on the Omalaeti O'Swapo album were he worked with Elvo, Gazza and Pablo. This album was sponsured by the Swapo political party to promote the 2004 presidential elections. After the Omalaeti O'Swapo album, Dogg devote his time to finish his second album entitled, Take Out Yo Gun which earned him respect to be hailed as Namibia’s top kwaito artist. The album’s title was criticised for promoting violence among the youth. Despite its criticism, the album did well in sales, topped music charts and maintained a blasting effect on the radio waves with hits such as "The Dogg Is Back", "My Life" and "Ngenge Ndasi". The album’s success also pushed Dogg to win the artist of the year award that send him on a trip to France to give broadcast Namibian music to international audiences.

In early 2005 Morocky strengthened his grip on his career by acquiring the services of the music management company, KOOL Productions. After finalising the deal with KOOL Productions and getting Sunny Boy on his label, Morocky eventually began working on his and Sunny Boy's album. His album, originally titled Mshasho Mos! was set to be released in December 2005 a week before Sunny Boy's. The album was highly pirated and cause The Dogg to cancel it. After releasing Sunny Boy's Young, Black en Gifted in December 2005, The Dogg started recording new songs for a new entitled album Introducing TeeDee. Introducing TeeDee serve as a remix version of Mshasho Mos! and consisted of revised songs which were originally recorded for Mshasho Mos!. The long awaited album was released in May 2006 and was rated as the number one top selling album for seven consecutive months in 2006 by Universal Sound Store. The album topped the Namibian music charts with songs such as "Baby Don’t Go", "Like This", "The Dogg Is Here to Stay", "Small Town Girl" and "Inakusha". On the album The Dogg also introduced his label's artist (OmPuff, Sunny, Tre and Nasti) who all appeared on the album.

In 2007 The Dogg won "Best New Comer" at the Channel-O Spirit of Africa Video Awards. He released his forth album You Can't Ignore on 5 October 2007. In August 2008, Morocky surprised his fans by performing at Gazza album launch. The agreement was based on the idea of boosting fans, which allowed the two rivals to share a stage. The two performed their old duet hit "Shidolodolo". The idea was supported by Zola, a pioneer of kwaito music, who took the opportunity to preach about the importance of a united front between diehard fans of GMP and Mshasho. Fans expected a new song by the duo, and a peaceful situation between the two camps. It later followed that the two didn't burry their differences, after a Gazza critic statement towards The Dogg on channel-O. Morrocky responded with insulting words labelling Gazza a queen. In March 2009, fans of the two learnt about a hidden deal they had. According to the informante newspaper, the two agreed to perform at each others launches. An agreement that Gazza couldn't keep and forced the two in to a physical fight. Gazza and his manager claimed that he was booked to perform somewhere else, and won't be available, and promised to pay N$ 15 000 instead.

On 27 September The Dogg performed at the first eviction show of Big Brother Africa 3. The Dogg won the award for "best kwaito video" with his hit song "Can U Feel It" on 9 October 2008 at the 2008 Channel-O Spirit of Africa Video Awards.

In mid-2008 The Dogg suffered again another album bootleg. He completed a house album, which he produced and recorded between December 2007 and April 2008. According to The Dogg, someone broke into the Mshasho studio and stole the computer on which the album was stored ready for mastering. In a latest interview with Unam Campus Radio, he comments on the album saying that "it was done, and by now it would have been out".

(2009 - 2010)

The Dogg's fifth studio album, This Is My Time, was released on 3 April 2009 and proved to be another hit for him reaching number one on the charts and selling well in its first week. The first single "Call My Bluff" was released on radio in November 2008. In March 2009, The Dogg was nominated for "African Artist of the Year" by Nigeria's Hip-Hop World Awards. The award ceremony which was secretly held never revealed who the winner was and denied nominating the rapper. The organizers made a controversial comment about who he was and from which country he's from. When asked about the issue, Dogg said it was funny to nominate a musician you don’t know. The video for the song "Hands Up" off the album You Can't Ignore has been nominated by the Channel MVA for "best kwaito video".

In September 2009 he was attacked with a bottle in a night club in Windhoek. The Dogg was chosen to be the first celebrity guest in the Big Brother Africa 4 house. Due to the attack on his face, his visit was postponed. He entered the house on Friday 16 (week 6 of the show). He left the house on Sunday 18, he also performed at the eviction show with Ricardo.

Producer role

Besides being a musician The Dogg is also an active music producer. He has produced hits for several famous Namibian artist. He has produced and served as executive producer on all albums released on Mshasho Records. He produced half of Sunny Boy's debut album, Young, Black en Gifted and half of Tre Van Die Kasie debut album Bible and My Music, God & Me splitting the production with Elvo and Kboz. He also produced several songs on OmPuff's debut album Phone Call.

Outside Mshasho, The Dogg produced and appeared on the song "Best of Both Worlds" by Faizel MC, he has also produced the super hit "10 Push Up" for Kamasutra in 2006. He continued working with Sunny Boy and produced on Elai Lineendunge and The Sleeping Giant. He has contributed on all of Kavax's three albums. He also produced the song "Kashiiwa" on Qonja's album, Mdakadaka

He co-produced all songs from his second album Take Out Yo Gun with Elvo. He has also produced and co-produced songs on his album Introducing TeeDee. He has entirely self-produced his last two albums You Can't Ignore and This Is My Time.

I've tried a few different things, like mixing some house and rave beats with traditional kwaito beats. I'm working on establishing my own unique blend of music says The Dogg in an interview with MTC.Com, October 2007. Through his production career The Dogg has collaborated with Elvo and DJ Kboz, the only two producers who have shared production credit with The Dogg.

Mshasho Productions and business ventures

see Mshasho Productions
Apart from being a musician The Dogg has establish himself as a minor entrepreneur. The Dogg is the rightful owner to the Mshasho trademark. Mshasho is a company which was founded in 2003 by The Dogg. The company is well diversified with business entities like a record label, clothing line, car wash, and various other businesses. Mshasho lays claim to the most successful clothing label designed and manufactured locally. The company is also looking into various business ventures outside music and fashion. Mshasho: TeeDee Car Wash is operating in Katutura, and will soon expand to Oshakati and Ondangwa. His businesses also include a brand of mineral water. The idea was made public by Dogg in 2007 and promised to launch it in 2008. But it failed due to the push back of his album, since he wanted to launch it together with the album. The brand, which is known as "Mshasho Still Water", is bottled in Windhoek, Namibia and available countrywide. He also show interest in starting his own water bottling company.

Rivalry with Gazza

The rival between the tow former "brother from another mother" began in mid 2005, when Sunny Boy left Gazza's GMP stable to sign with The Dogg's Mshasho. However, the relationship between the two stars remained peaceful, even giving each other shoutouts (Dogg on the song "Like This" and Gazza on "Kick It"). The tension escalated to full-blown rivalry when the duo travelled to Luderitz for a show. According to Sunny Boy , who was also part of the journey, the two started arguing about the "Ghetto Life" song and the credits to the song..] Sunny Boy revealed that they were all drinking and having fun, until a moment when Gazza overindulged in alcohol and embarked on a verbal offensive directed at both Dogg and him hinting that he had made them who they were. Gazza's remarks also referred to Sunny's move to Mshasho which he thought was unfair. The two also released songs in which they diss each other indirectly. The feud resulted in Sunny Boy leaving Mshasho, due to the media portrayed him as a bone between two hungry dogs. Sunny Boy himself, and his crew GreenHouse, are also part of the feud, siding with The Dogg and Mshasho. Sunny took shots at Gazza on several of his songs, most notably the intro to his album The Sleeping Giant.

In March 2008 The Dogg and Gazza were brought together by their managers to reconcile their differences. This was arranged by the managers to stop the violence that was behind the two crews in the streets all over the country. This arrangement failed when the two artist disagreed to share a stage during the MAD show organised to raise funds for the North flood victims. The two eventually ended their feud on 30 September 2008 at Gazza's Still The King album launch. Zola took the opportunity to preach about the importance of a united front between die hard fans of G.M.P. and Mshasho, who in the past have become violent towards one another in support of their favourite artist. In his speech Zola said: Really guys this is not America where it's all about East and West coast, 2Pac and Biggie beef, 50 and Game beef, 50 and Ja beef. No guys this is Africa, this is Namibia and we all have to keep it real. The two still are not on good terms.

Discography

Main article: The Dogg discography

Solo albums

• Shimaliw' Osatana - (2004), RC Ghetto
• Take Out Yo Gun - (2004), Mshasho
• Introducing TeeDee - (2006), Mshasho
• You Can't Ignore - (2007), Mshasho
• This Is My Time - (2009), Mshasho
• The Power of 7 - Elevating Elevators - (2010), Mshasho

Other albums

• Omalaeti O'Swapo, (with Gazza, Elvo and Pablo) - (2004), Omalaeti Music

Alias

• The Kwaito Master: The name was taken from his song "Perfecto Tromentos" were he repeatedly raps; Im gonna be the kwaito master, the kwaito master. The Kwaito Master became a title which Dogg adopted to describe his superiority in the Namibian kwaito genre between 2003 and 2005. He was not of the opinion to call himself The Kwaito King because he felt it will be a disrespect to the originators and pioneers of kwaito.
• Mr. Skeleton: Because of his slim and skinny body.
• TeeDee: The initials to his stage name derived from The Dogg.
• Doglum: He was given the name by Gazza as a twofold to his Gazlum alias.

Trivia

• With the release of Shimaliw' Osatana in 2004, The Dogg became the first Namibian artist to release an all kwaito material album .
• The Dogg has won the award for artist of the year for three consecutive years (2003, 2004 and 2005) at the Sanlam-NBC Music Awards and claim it back in 2007.
• In 2004, The Dogg participated in the recording of the Swapo party campaign album Omalaeti O'Swapo together with Gazza, Elvo and Pablo.
• He has opened concerts for well known South African artists such as Mzekezeke, Malaika, Mafikizolo, Mandoza, Brown Dash, Brickz and Ishmael.
• The Dogg has mention in many of his interviews that he was inspired by American slain rapper Tupac Shakur, South African kwaito artist Mandoza, Zola, M'du, Arthur, Brown Dash, Kebelo and super group TKZee. He also mention some of their names on the song "Ondahala Okushiva" from his album You Can't Ignore. In the song he raps: I remember TKZee, Mandoza, no-M’du/ Tupac Shakur/ this guys was just very cool/ after that ondafiyapo oskola/....
• The Dogg's role models are Tupac Shakur, former South African president Nelson Mandela, and former Namibian president Sam Nujoma.
• The Dogg is appointed as youth representative to spread the message about the thread of HIV/AIDS in Namibia
• In May 2007, The Dogg scored the first issue of the Shambuka magazine cover page..
• In September 2008, The Dogg became the first Namibian musician to perform live at the Big Brother Africa show.
• In 2009, The Dogg became the first Namibian celebrity guest to enter the Big Brother Africa house.

External links

• Mshasho Official website
• The Dogg interview with nammusic.com
• Namibian hip hop Official website
• The Dogg interview with shambuka magazine, May 2007 shambukamag.com
• Home of Namibian stars
• SA stars to storm Gazza’s album launch, Local artists Verdicts, Qonja and The Dogg will also perform alongside the SA artists. retrieved on 29 August 2008.