Meet the multi-talented “Milele” singer Viola Karuri
Her style of music is quite unique, laced with a taste of chakacha, a genre that for a long time seemed to have disappeared. PHOTO| COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Her decision to launch hit after hit instead of a whole album at once is her way of marketing her singles long enough before the grand release.
- She modestly calls herself a learner in the Kenyan music industry, even though she has performed on the same stage with music greats like Jonathan Butler, Lalah Hathaway and Abraham Laborel.
- Her dream is to work with Kenyan rap queen STL, as well as Tanzanians Lady Jay Dee and Alikiba.
Her style of music is quite unique, laced with a taste of chakacha, a genre that for a long time seemed to have disappeared.
She hopes to reap the benefits of taking such a risk by rising to the peak of the music industry, as few artistes have travelled down this road.
“My songs have a Swahili influence as I spent the better part of my teenage years living on the Kenyan coast. Also, I seem to be pulled towards Swahili as a language, perhaps due to the fact that I have Tanzanian roots,” she explains.
In 2009, she debuted in the industry with her first album, “Everything”, which was self-produced.
FIRST SINGLE
A year ago, she released her first single off her second album, “Aibu (Out the Door)”, which went on to become very popular among her fans.
In February 2014, she dropped a new single, “Milele”, in which she features rapper Collo.
“It is generally a love-story song and it is already receiving a lot of attention,” she adds.
Her decision to launch hit after hit instead of a whole album at once is her way of marketing her singles long enough before the grand release.
She modestly calls herself a learner in the Kenyan music industry, even though she has performed on the same stage with music greats like Jonathan Butler, Lalah Hathaway and Abraham Laborel.
Her dream is to work with Kenyan rap queen STL, as well as Tanzanians Lady Jay Dee and Alikiba.
Apart from being a musician, Viola is also a producer, a skill she acquired at the Berklee College of Music in Boston USA where she studied music production and engineering.
