DJ Mellow using music to change stereotypes

For the last two months, Nyeri County has received a lot of negative publicity after a spate of domestic violence.

The result is that a stereotype has been created of Nyeri women as being particularly violent, with some men saying they would never risk marrying  a woman from the region.

Others have been making fun of the unfortunate incidents, saying the government should consider recruiting Nyeri women into the disciplined forces.

However, for 19-year-old Melody Wanjiru, the incidents are not something to be treated lightly.

So the young deejay has embarked on an initiative to  use her skills at the Zebra Sports Bar and Club Icons Lodge, both in Nyeri, to change this negative  perception of Nyeri women.

Better known as DJ Mellow, she says those responsible for giving Nyeri women a bad name are just a minority, pointing out that some even come from other counties.

DJ Mellow says that Nyeri, like other parts of the country, has good women who deserve good husbands.

“I am a young lady but through offering good entertainment, I plan to change many people’s minds,” she says.

The hip-hop lover says she intends to change not only the minds of men towards Nyeri women, but also the minds of women from Nyeri who might be having evil intentions towards their lovers.

She says that, through good music with meaningful messages, one can change people’s negative perception of just about anything.

MUSIC KNOWN TO CALM NERVES

“Music with a good message is known to calm the nerves and change perceptions, so this is the weapon I will use,” she says.

Already, her efforts have started bearing fruit, with many of her DJ colleagues having joined her initiative. Among the leading DJs from Nyeri who are support her  are DJ Abbas and DJ Pav.

In addition, she has already started recruiting young ladies who are passionate about the issue, who are in turn recruiting others. 

DJ Mellow recalls that she fell in love with music when she was in class five and by the time she she joined high school, she had started musing with the idea of being a deejay.

DJ Mellow, who started honing her skills while still in school, says many people consider deejaying the preserve of men, such that if a woman becomes a DJ, they consider her lost. 

 “In school, I was a drummer but what kept ringing in my mind was becoming a DJ.”

Although she wants to study catering, she hopes she will also be able to perfect her deejaying skills.

 “I want to stand out as a Nyeri woman and tell the world that we, too, can make it through hard work, and that not all of us are bad,” she stresses.

She avers that through music, she will brand rebrand Nyeri and make people see it in a more positive light.

Her greatest achievement would be to deejay at the Skyluxx Club in Westlands in Nairobi.