At a time when most of her counterparts are busy venturing into the world of Hip Hop, Cecelia Wairimu aka Amani has decided to go way beyond into the unknown - techno music.
And most observers agreed that the local techno queen has become very popular with most locals besides quickly moving up in the local music charts. At the age of 21, the artist, who was a student of International Business Administration at USIU, said she was proud of what she had been able to achieve.
Besides, she was credited with being the first female artist to venture both into Hip Hop and Techno music in Kenya. No wonder, her latest hits took Kenyans by storm. They included Move On and Tahidi. She also featured in Namelesse’s hit Ninanoki. Tahidi was among the top 15, and Move On held Number 1 for three weeks in the East African Charts. They are also played regularly on our local FM stations.
Indeed Amani has come a long way. Her interest in music began at a tender age of six. “I often spent many hours singing in church and even at birthday parties,” she says. At eight-years-old, Amani begun writing songs in English and Swahili. But this was short-lived as her school - Moi Academy, Thika - did not offer music as a subject. In 1995, Cecelia went to high school at Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls’, where she decided to switch back to music. “My classmates and I decided to form a music troupe by the name Sobriety.” The group specialised in gospel accapela music.
Although they never recorded the songs, I am Free and The Mighty were some of the memorable hits. They later decided to approach a number of producers who were not well-known at the time. Then, as luck would have it, they landed on Ted Josiah, who helped them do a single hit that was never released. Later the group broke up. “Some of us had to fly out while others had to go for further studies. So we could not keep the group going,” says Amani.
Nevertheless, Amani never ceased to follow the yearnings of her heart - away from life’s prescribed journey to pursue music as a career. She did this by joining a vainful Star Search Competition. As a result she decided to lie low for almost a year before teaming up with Ogopa Deejays. “Ogopa have what it takes to make an upcoming artist into a star. They took time to identify my kind of music and took time to refine my voice,” she says.
Her first release with Ogopa Deejays, at the end of 2002, was Tahidi, before she decided to go into techno music. “I wasn’t really sure if Kenyans would appreciate it, but to my surprise, the single Move On received the top position on Capital FM and equally became no.1 in the East African Chart.
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