Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Unknown
Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Habida has taken the road less traveled to
this point in her budding career. In her hometown, Habida was involved
in a small community-acting troupe for a number of years, which further
advanced her love for creativity and acting. She also found time to
model for the internationally renowned African agency, Kiko Romeo.
Thoughts of pursuing her dramatic studies grew, so much so, that in
1998 she made the choice to leave the comforts of her home and study
drama abroad, in London, at Lewisham College. Habida’s love for three
decades of soul (60-80s) tugged at her spirit.
Soon, she found herself trading much needed sleep for extra time
writing poetry (which later became the seeds to herself written songs)
and taking her singing talent to another level. As one could surmise,
she decided to dedicate her time to the written word as well as song
compositions, recording a 6-song demo in the spring of 2003. Not one to
be complacent, she searched for a way to couple and excel in her two
loves, theatre and music.
She then decided to move to Atlanta, the heart of soul and R&B,
where she then continued in her path towards musicianship. She studied
at Kennesaw State University where she attained a degree in musical
theatre. With this under her belt she recorded several tracks with a
number of production houses looking for the right deal, wrote and stared
in a soap opera as a lead role as well as worked in several TV shows as
an extra. She kept up her modeling career as a source of income as
well.
In 2007 Habida then saw it fit with all the experience she had gained
to move back home to where she was born and to where her parents
reside, Nairobi. She then met the renowned producer Robert Kamanzi AKA
Rkay and started recording and together produced and released the hit
singles ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Kesho’.
The relationship spawned and in the first year the song ‘Sunshine’
which is collaboration with the Kenyan artist Nameless, won the
Listeners Choice Awards in 2009 at the MTV Africa Music Awards.
Following on from the instant success Habida was then nominated for 3
other Awards in 2010 at the East African CHAT Awards, for Best Female
Artist, Best Video and Best New Artist, where she took home the Best
Video Award. In March 2011 Habida was also nominated as best new artist
of the month on MTV.
Habida is keen on diversifying her art which is also why she has and
hopes to continue working with producers from different genres an
example of this is her collaboration with the US techno producer
currently residing in Germany, Dan Curtin on several releases, some
already released and others in the pipeline. Efforts are also underway
to work with House, Drum & Bass and Neo Soul producers in the
future.
PHOTOS: Habida’s Facebook Page
Posted in: ENTERTAINMENT
