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SNAPPY 7: Fena – I’m Khaligraph Jones’ biggest fan


Fena Gitu, an urban soul singer and song-writer is not new to the Kenyan music industry and is best known for her singles Fenamenal Woman, Brikicho, Jabulani and African King off her debut album Fenamenon.

With an impressive musical CV, Fena’s soulful yet electrifying performances qualify her as one of Kenya’s finest and most unique acts in recent times.

She took out from preparing her new weekly show dubbed Fena Unplugged to speak to Nairobi News about her music career.

1. When did you release your first single? – My first single was in 2009 and it was called Donk it was more of soul and it did pretty well, surprisingly. From there I was sure what I wanted to do. I ended up meeting Jazz Odongo and we recorded the next song which was Fenamenal Woman, and the rest, as they say, is history.

2. How would you describe your genre of music? – I call my genre of music urban soul it’s a fusion of genre that I grew up listening to and also has a touch of soul. I go from rap to reggae to RnB to Afro-soul. So basically I put my signature ‘fenamenal’ style in my songs.

3. How was the experience shooting Sema Ng’we? – It was way too much fun. Sheila Kwamboka was the one who was daring me to things randomly around the city. The whole video was a one take and the director was just following me around and we just came up with a list of things to do. Somethings happened by chance, like the kids party; we saw a big party and we decided to go and crash it. We were really lucky to be allowed to shoot a video at the Galleria Mall. The song is just me having fun because I’m going through a phase that I’m just having fun making music.

4. What has been the highlight of your career? – I have had a number of good moments. The very first I remember was opening for Vivian Green and she was so impressed and she told me that she should have opened for me. Coke Studio was a good exposure around the continent and last year I performed at the YouTube awards in South Africa and I was the closing act and it was an impromptu gig.

5. Would you ever do a dis track? – I’m not about that. I will never try to kill someone’s vibe. I love doing my thing. If ever someone tries to start a beef, they will just be talking to themselves. I will never involve myself in a beef.

6. What is your take on Kenyan music industry? – It has become more competitive and in that sense now there is better music coming out and everyone is trying to up their game. Consumers are also now opening up to different sounds. We have come a long way.

7. What do you think about hip hop in Kenya? – It is not a secret I have always been Khaligraph’s biggest fan, for me he is my number one hip hop star in Kenya. I also like a few of the rest. I think that hip hop here is big but we still have a lot of catching up to do.