The Dogg

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

The Dogg
The Dogg performing in Zoo Park 2006
Background information
Birth name	Martin Morocky
Also known as	The Kwaito Master, Mr. Skeleton, TeeDee
Born	31 March 1983 (1983-03-31) Maheba, Zambia
Origin	Onayena, Oshikoto, Namibia
Genres	kwaito, hip hop, house
Occupations	musician, producer, executive producer, CEO, entrepreneur, actor
Instruments	Vocals, keyboards, drums, synthesizer
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Mshasho
Associated acts	KK, Kanibal, Fresh Family, OmPuff, DJ Kboz, Elvo, Qonja, Jericho
Website	mshashoonline, mshashoarmy, myspace

Martin Morocky (born 31 March 1983), known by his stage name as The Dogg is a Namibian multi-award winning musician, producer and actor. He's one of the most outstanding artists in Namibia and is considered one of the pioneers of Namibia's kwaito genre. His debut album Shimaliw' Osatana, released in 2004, was Namibia's first full length kwaito album. It was critically acclaimed and would go on to be widely hailed as a classic in the Namibian kwaito genre.

The Dogg was part of the group Omalaeti O'Swapo, which released one album in 2004. His music is enjoyed internationally, in countries like South Africa, Botswana, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Dogg has performed in France, England and Canada. He is a common household name on Africa's number one music channel, Channel O where he earned two awards and three nominations. He is the highest awarded artist in his country.

Morocky is the sole owner of the company Mshasho, which owns a record label named Mshasho Productions, one of the most popular and successful music labels in Namibia, a clothing fashion line known as Mshasho Clothing, and various other businesses including Mshasho Film Inc. and Mshasho Events. Morocky is one of the highest selling musicians in Namibia. Morocky is set to star in his debut movie titled The Inheritance which is expected in 2011.

Early life

Morocky 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 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

Rising to Fame

The Dogg used to perform at school concerts in his high school years. When he was in grade nine, he 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. Morocky also opened concerts for well known South African artists such as Mzekezeke, Malaika, Mafikizolo, Mandoza, Brown Dash, Brickz and Ishmael amongst others. He rose to fame following the release of his hit single "Jesus Otati", a kwaito-gospel song produced by Elvo in 2003.

"Jesus Otati" (translated; Jesus is sayng), opened doors for The Dogg's career. The song was very popular and earned him comparison to South African kwaito star Mandoza. This was due to the roughness in his voice which was paired to that of Mandoza. His voice was also compared to American rapper DMX, who is 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 (now Karlos Lokos), on the hit song "Se twaya". The two songs were some of Namibia's biggest hits of 2003. The success of "Jesus Otati" propelled The Dogg to win the award for Artist of the Year and Best Kwaito song at the 2003 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. He then founded Mshasho Productions in 2003 which gained popularity in 2004 after his second album.

2004: Shimaliw' Osatana - Take Out Yo Gun

While struggling to compile his album, The Dogg met and befriended upcoming artist Gazza who had just returned to Namibia from studies in South Africa. The two started recording together and with the help of Elvo they recorded "Ghetto Life", a song intended to increase Dogg's buzz and introduce Gazza. This song's credits would later bring tension between the two artists. The two artists would later sign solo deals with a new kwaito label RC-Ghetto Records. Upon signing to RC-Ghetto, The Dogg immediately started working on his debut album. He released the critical acclaimed hit "Perfecto Tromentos", the song which would later be hailed as Namibia's kwaito blueprint. The song was well received by fans and is today known as one of Namibia's most original kwaito songs of all time. It took the award for Best Kwaito song and Best Music video at the 2004 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. Around the same time, The Dogg was featured by Gazza on his hit "Shidolodolo" which went on to be very popular and won an award for Best Collaboration at the 2004 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards.

The Dogg's debut album Shimaliw' Osatana, was released in early 2004 by RC-Ghetto. It won the award for Best Selling album at the 2004 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. The album was Namibia's first full-length kwaito album. The album was primarily produced by Elvo, who by then became The Dogg and Gazza's mentor. The album was well received with hits such as "Oshike Shili Next", "Onayena No: 9" and "Mama". The album's success also helped The Dogg to win the award for Artist of the Year for the second time at the 2004 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 sponsored by the Swapo political party to promote the 2004 presidential elections. This was The Dogg's second major album project in 2004, released between his first and second album.

After the Omalaeti O'Swapo project, Dogg devoted his time to finish his second album entitled, Take Out Yo Gun which earned him respect to be hailed as Namibia's top artist. The album was released on his label Mshasho Productions. It was the first album to be released on the label. The album's title was criticised for promoting violence among the youth. The Dogg defended the title claiming that Gun is a wordplay for Mic, referring to those who wish to step up to his level to take out their mics if they can really rap. Despite its criticism, the album received significance sales and topped the local charts while its songs maintained a blasting effect on the radio waves. Songs such as "The Dogg Is Back", "My Life" and "Ngenge Ndasi" were among the most popular hits. "The Dogg Is Back" won awards for Best Kwaito song and Best Video at the 2005 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. The album's success also pushed Dogg to win the Artist of the Year award for the third time in three years at the 2005 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. That award send him on a trip to France to give a of broadcast Namibian music to international audiences.

The Artist of the Year award raised eyebrows by other artist who started discriminating Sanlam-NBC's awarding system. This situation will later bring bad blood between The Dogg and music partner Gazza whom critics claimed was robbed the award.

2005: Mshasho vs GMP - Mshasho and Sunny Boy Taking Over

While studying at University of Namibia The Dogg became a friend of Sunny Boy. Through friendship and association, Sunny Boy created a bond with Gazza. After noticing his talent, Gazza featured Sunny Boy on his hit song "Koko" which appeared on his second album Zula II Survive. While Gazza was associating with the young rapper, The Dogg offered him a contract and signed him to his Mshasho Productions. At a concert in Luderitz The Dogg and Gazza got involved in a rooted argument which would later turn sour, prohibiting the two to work together in future. The argument was driven by Sunny Boy's decision to sign with Mshasho which Gazza claimed was a betrayal as he had plans of signing him to his Gazza Music Productions. After the news hit the media, fans started choosing sides. A lot of other issue started to surface including an argument surrounding the Sanlam-NBC Artist of Year award which was unfairly awarded to The Dogg.

The Dogg started promoting his clothing label, Mshasho Clothing which would later become very popular. He started working on his third album, originally titled Mshasho Mos! which was set to be released in December 2005 a week before Sunny Boy's debut album. The album was highly pirated and caused The Dogg to cancel it. Sunny Boy released "Balance" produced by DJ Kboz which became very popular inviting more fans to the Mshasho camp. Sunny Boy brought along his group Y.B.G. for support as war between GMP and Mshasho was escalating. Another successful single "Serious" with production from The Dogg was released prior to the release of his debut album. In December 2005, Sunny Boy released Young, Black en Gifted on Mshasho Productions. At this point The Dogg has started to produced music and he produced half of Young, Black en Gifted including the hit single "Serious". He also produced the hit song "Best of Both Worlds" for Faizel MC which features appearance by him and Sunny Boy.

2006: Introducing TeeDee

In 2006, The Dogg started recording new songs for a new entitled album Introducing TeeDee. He also started focusing more on producing his own music. 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". The Dogg has co-produced the entire album with Jay Malgas. On the album The Dogg also introduced his label's artist (OmPuff, Sunny Boy, Tre and Nasti) who all appeared on the album. The first single "Baby Don't Go" won two awards at the 2006 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards for Best Collaboration and Best Afro-pop. It also won two awards at the 2006 Namibian Music Awards for Best Collaboration and Best single. The Dogg also won the award for Best Hip Hop Song in 2006 at Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. In 2007 it was nominated and won the award for Best New Comer at the Channel-O Spirit of Africa Video Awards.

2007: You Can't Ignore

In 2007 The Dogg continue to enjoy success with his music career, he performed in Europe in the beginning of the year and had various tours around Namibia with his Mshasho crew. Despite the success of his last album Introducing TeeDee, he was highly criticized of selling out. He prove critics wrong with the released of You Can't Ignore which was considered a comeback classic and was compared to his first and second album for its hardcore beats and dark lyrics. The album was well received denying Gazza's 2007 double album 467/GMP Till I Die airplay at the time of its release. The entire album was self-produced under the mentor guidance of Elvo, with only two songs produced by DJ Kboz.

The first single from the album "Can You Feel It" was produced by DJ Kboz. It features Mshasho artist Tre Van Die Kasie. The song became a popular hit across Namibia's borders winning an award at the 2008 Channeol O Music Video Awards for the category Best Kwatito Video. It also won Song of the Year and Best Single at the 2007 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. The album became very successful winning The Dogg his forth award for Artist of the Year at the same ceremony in 2007. The Dogg has won this award four times in five years. Another popular song was "Get Sum More" produced by DJ Kboz and featured most anticipated rapper at the time Qonja. The song was a very popular club hit. It won an award for Best Collaboration 2008 Namibian Music Awards. Another popular song "My Girl" also won Best Single at the same awards. The success of the album made it possible for The dogg to win the People's Choice Award at the same Awards. The video for "Hands Up" was nominated by Channeol O Music Video Awards in 2009 for the catogory Best Kwaito Video and lost to Gazza's "Passop". The Dogg also approached Gazza on "He He He" and Jericho on "Hands Up".

In December 2007, The Dogg served as executive producer for OmPuff's debut album Phone Call. He also apperaed on the album and has offered production for some songs.

2008: Mshasho vs GMP continue

The Dogg spent most of 2008 touring and promoting his 2007 album You Can't Ignore. He served as executive producer and has also produced on Tre Van Die Kasie's debut album Bible and My Music, God & Me under Mshasho Records. He continued working with Sunny Boy and produced his Song of the Year award winning song "Heat It Up" which appeared on Sunny Boy's The Sleeping Giant. He produced and was featured on a song from Qonja's Mdakadaka album. Later that year he produced and appeared on a popular club song for Tate Buti's album Oteendela. He appeared and produced on two more albums in 2008 including former Mshasho artist Karlos Lokos' Timeless and Kavax's U-Turn.

In August, 2008, Morocky surprised his fans by performing at Gazza's Still The King album launch in his home ground of Oshakati. The two performed their old duet hit "Shidolodolo". The surprised was well received as it was seen as the end of the feud between the two artists and their record labels. South African kwaito legend Zola, who made an appearance at the show, supported the idea of the two working together and labeled beef as an western thing. The two artists agreed that Gazza would return the favour by appearing at The Dogg's This Is My Time album launch on April 3, 2009. Gazza failed to fulfill his part of the deal. However it was later revealed that the performance was all business, it was an idea to get The Dogg's fans in Oshakati and the north to attend the event in numbers. It later followed that the two did not bury their differences, after a Gazza's critic statement towards The Dogg on a Channel O show. Morocky responded with insulting words on a radio show labeling Gazza a queen and a fake man. In March 2009, informante newspaper published information surrounding the business deal which revealed that The Dogg appeared at Gazza's show for business. Gazza would also return the favour at his show. According to the newspaper, Gazza and his manager claimed that he was booked to perform somewhere else, and will not be available for The Dogg's show. This situation forced the two in to a physical fight, Gazza would later agree to pay Morocky an amount equivalent to that he help generate at his show.

On 27 September 2008, The Dogg performed at the first eviction show of Big Brother Africa 3.

2009: This Is My Time

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. "Call My Bluff" won multiple awards including Best Kwaito, Best Single, Best Video at the 2009 Sanlam-NBC Music Awards. He also received a nomination for Artist of the Year which he lost to E.E.S.. The Dogg produced the entire album himself with guidance from Elvo.

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 and 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 was from. When asked about the issue, Dogg said it was funny to nominate a musician you do not know. The Dogg was chosen to be the first celebrity guest in the Big Brother Africa 4 house. He entered the house on Friday 16 (week 6 of the show) and left on Sunday 18. He also appeared the eviction show where he performed "Forget" with Namibian singer Ricardo.

2010: The Power of Seven - Lets Celebrate

The Dogg released his sixth studio album The Power of 7 – Elevating Elevators on April 30, 2010. It was the most fast selling album of 2010 and it produced. The album was well received by critics and received mixed media reviews. It was criticized for its poor track listing and the ever repeating solo production of The Dogg which makes the album sound similar to its predecessors. But it was praised by its radio-fair hits such as "Mshasho Army", "Wuzup", "Dream 810", "Mover" and "Jabule" which received two nominations at 2011 Namibian Annual Music Awards for Best Song of the Year and Best Music Video. The first single "Take You Home Tonight" which features singer Betholdt is the most popular song on the album. The Dogg has collaborated with South African kwaito musician Biblos, and Qonja, KK, Tre Van Die Kasie, OmPuff and Nasti of Namibia.

In October 2010 The Dogg signed rapper/producer Kanibal to Mshasho Records. In November of that year he announced that he was busy working on an album with rapper Qonja. The two rappers collaborated on a short album titled Lets Celebrate which was released on 16 December 2010 under Mshasho Records. The album was produced by The Dogg and his mentor Elvo. It features the hits "Let's Celebrate" with TeQuila, "Be My Shepherd" with KK and Lil' D, and "Merry Christmas".

2011: The Deception and The Deception 2

Mshasho released The Dogg's 7th studio album The Deception on July 2. The album was entirely produced by The Dogg and features big name artists. It features South African kwaito star Brickz on the song "Tromentos" and Zambian singer JK on the song "End of Time", both songs feature Sunny Boy. Mshasho artist OmPuff also appeared on "End of Time". Other guests on the album includes Qonja who has previously collaborated with The Dogg on a full album, Tate Buti, PDK, Exit, KK, rap star Catty Catt and Mshasho signed kwaito group Fresh Family.

The Dogg announced via his Facebook fan page that The Deception will shortly be followed by part two album. He also announced the title of the upcoming album although not stated when it will be released. "MY NEW SINGLE FROM DDECEPTION PART 2 WILL MUTE AFRICA ....PAKAMISH"

Producer role

also see The Dogg production discography

Besides being a musician The Dogg is also an active music producer. He has produced hits for several famous Namibian artist. The Dogg started producing music in 2005 under the guidance of his mentor Elvo. He has so far share production credit with, Elvo, DJ Kboz and Christian Poloni. He has produced and served as executive producer on all albums released under Mshasho Records. Apart from that he has produced hits for non-Mshasho artist including Sunny Boy, Qonja, Kamasutra, Faizel MC and Kavax. The Dogg served as the main producer on all of his solo albums since the 2006 release Introducing TeeDee.

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.

Business ventures

also see Mshasho Productions and Mshasho Clothing

Apart from being a musician Morrocky has establish himself as a minor entrepreneur. Morrocky is the sole owner of Mshasho closed cooperation which intern owns Mshasho Productions, Mshasho Clothing, Mshasho Events, Mshasho Film Inc., Mshasho Still Water and various other minor business entities.

Official Mshasho logo

Mshasho cc was founded in 2003 by The Dogg. The company has been enjoying success with its record label and clothing line since inception. The company is also looking into various business ventures outside music and fashion. The mineral water brand was launched in 2008 although introduced in 2007. But it failed due to the push back of his album, since he wanted to launch it together with the album. Mshasho Still Water, is bottled in Windhoek, Namibia. The company had interest in starting his own water bottling company. In 2011, the company will enter the film industry through its new venture Mshasho Film Inc.

Acting career

The Dogg is set to star in a movie titled, The Inheritance. The movie is expected somewhere in 2011 and it will co-star famous local actors. The Dogg also claimed that he will be directing the movie. The movie will be released under Mshasho Film Inc..

Discography

Main article: The Dogg discography

Solo albums

• Shimaliw' Osatana - (2004), RC Ghetto
• Take Out Yo Gun - (2004), Mshasho
• Introducing TeeDee - (2006), Mshasho/KOOL Production
• You Can't Ignore - (2007), Mshasho/KOOL Production
• This Is My Time - (2009), Mshasho
• The Power of 7 - Elevating Elevators - (2010), Mshasho
• The Deception - (2011), Mshasho

Other albums

• Omalaeti O'Swapo, (with Gazza, Elvo and Pablo) - (2004), Omalaeti Music
• Lets Celebrate, (with Qonja) - (2010), Mshasho

Filmography

• The Inheritance - (2011), Mshasho Film Inc.

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