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Meet Kenya’s Afro-Soul Hottest Female, Dela


Dela
Adeline Maranga, popularly known as ‘Dela’, is currently the youngest popular Afro-Soul female artiste in the country and is arguably Kenya's finest female vocalist by critics.
Her performance and vocal prowess have also been compared to those of Chrisette Michelle, and Alicia Keys. Dela’s love
for music started at the tender age of seven and led to her joining her church choir. In both primary and high school, she nurtured her talent as an active choir member which flowed into the beginnings of her musical career. 
To enhance her experience base, Dela diversified and has since provided background vocals for MAMA award winner Wahu, KORA award winner Achieng Abura, KISIMA award winner Didge, Stan, Chizi, Wendy Kimani and many others. She has performed at various events like Blankets and Wine, Tusker Project Fame, Idols, Sawa Sawa Festival, WAPI, Spoken Word and Love as both a solo artist and as a background vocalist. In addition to her diverse local presence, in August and September of 2009, Dela was a featured artiste on the New East African European tour organized by Penya Africa whose circuit included Netherlands, Sweden and UK. The inspiring lyrical content of her debut album ‘Paukwa’ caught the attention of the UN Habitat who approached her to work with UN Habitat Messengers of Truth. This saw Dela tour Istanbul where she played at the Youth Congress with young people from all over the world.
At only 19, her breakthrough collaboration with Kenya’s popular boy band Sauti Sol saw her song ‘Mama Papa’ retaining the number one spot on the chart for a record 18 weeks on Kenya’s most popular radio station Metro FM. The success of her single led her to be signed by record label Penya and in 2009 producer Wawero 'Wawesh' Kiboy. ‘Paukwa’ fuses diverse elements of Neo-Soul, Hip-Hop, Funk, Techno, and Reggae. An activist by nature, Dela chose to explore the politics of Africa, openly criticizing politicians and their greed; high youth unemployment, as well as the need for action against poverty.
 Her first single, ‘Ulivyo’, was Funk/Techno inspired and was the first fusion of its kind to go mainstream. With record popular hits on local radio and TV, this single earned the title ‘beat of the week’ on Kenyan TV and is still on rotation on Pan African TV - MTV Base and Channel O. This and other collaborations continue to earn this genre of experimental Afro -Soul its place on mainstream media in Kenya.

Credit: NEWS-ONE


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