Have you had of Coke Studio Raw? It’s a competition by Coke Studio Africa looking for the best singing talents. The competiton requires participants to upload YouTube videos of their renditions of the following songs:
• Malaika by Harry Kimani & Jimmy Jatt
• African Queen by Diamond & MI
• I Wish by Waje ft. Blinky Bill
• Life by Miss Karun & Boddhi Satva
• Danger by Lilian Mbabazi
• Rail on by Qwela & Waje
• Yahaya by Lady JayDee
The show is in 3 phases. They are currently in the 2nd phase which runs till April 26th.
I’ve watched a few of the videos and I’ve been impressed by the talent. But one video sort of stood out for me. It’s currently my favorite rendition of African Queen by Diamond & MI.
The girl behind it is 21 year old Mary Mugure aka Shelyzah. She is a familiar name within Nairobi’s Karaoke circle.
As she strives to reach for her dream of pursuing music in the big leagues, she stands by three roles that Music has played in her life:
1. Passion: Before her musical pursuit, her life was just a day after day affair but once she discovered her passion she managed to uncovered the richness of life and feels more complete and content with herself through the grace of music.
2. Healing: When facing issues in life, music is her main source of peace. It helps her cool down and light up again regardless of the intensity of situation.
3. Hope: Every young person is working to archive something more in life. Music creates a platform for her to dream and live the life she wants in future before it actually becomes a reality.
Here’s a video of her rendition. Do you think it’s the best version or is there a better version?