Njerae talks about her love life and music
By Sinda MatikoIndie- Soul, Afro-Fusion & RnB with rich vocal tones and soulful, that’s Njerae’s style of music. The Kenyan singer, songwriter, and producer based in Nairobi was recently signed to Universal Music Group, one of the world’s leading record labels. Aki Sioni, OTD are just a few of her works of art that have elevated her name in the game.
Here are a few things you might not know about the fast-rising Njerae.
I am a graduate of Sauti Academy, where I learned that I had something to offer and how to package this music.
What influenced my style of music is that when I started, I realized that many Kenyan musicians were trying not to be so Kenyan in their music and I couldn’t understand that. Because I believe you can have your own thing without copying outsiders and still be cool. So I made it a personal goal to do that. That whatever music I put out, I make sure it screams Kenyan because that’s who I am.
That is why I loved Sauti Sol’s and Muthoni The Drummer Queen’s music so much when I was growing up, because I felt that they were just different from the other Kenyan musicians in their music.
My childhood was fun. I was a tomboy, if I wasn’t eating in the house, I was outside playing soccer.
I come from a family with so much musical influence, from my grandparents to my parents. On weekends, my parents would blust music, and it’s not the rhumba that most of our parents are used to; for my parents, it was R&B.
Growing up, I never really enjoyed music, but then I found myself writing because I am very introverted, and writing music was my way of letting off steam and expressing my feelings.
Because I am shy and hate to embarrass myself, it has made me a perfectionist in how I do my things, especially music.
One of my most rewarding moments was when I was performing and there was this guy who was overcome with emotion and I could see he was crying. That moved me. It was very satisfying to see my music appreciated in that way.
I am not single or married, but I am in a relationship.
My love relationship is good. I am in a good place (smiles). Music is fast-paced and I think balancing that with a relationship is a matter of understanding from the beginning.
Most of my songs were unintentionally about one person and that is because there was a time when I had writer’s block. Up to that point, I only knew how to write songs about myself, so I shared that with Bensoul and he advised me to try writing about other people.