Kenyan singer Njerae named Spotify EQUAL Africa Ambassador for June

Spotify has named rising Kenyan artist Njerae as its EQUAL Africa ambassador for June — a move that casts a deserving spotlight on a woman whose music is as tender as it is bold, a delicate balance of strength, soul, and unwavering self-belief.

Njerae isn’t your typical breakout star. She didn’t come charging into the spotlight with noise and bravado. Her journey into music was a quiet one — an introvert’s act of rebellion, born not in the studio but in silence, following national tragedy.

She began by writing poetry to process the chaos around her — “around the time there was some bomb that blew in a matatu,” she recalls. “That was the first time I just wrote. It was more like poetry, no melody or anything.”

From those raw, unfiltered expressions, Njerae found her melody. The guitar followed. The music wasn’t initially meant for an audience — it was therapy.

“Music just became a form of expression rather than putting it out for people to listen to,” she explains. “I had specific things I didn’t know how to tell people and it was only through music I could do so, and that is my reason.”

Now, Spotify is giving Njerae her flowers through its EQUAL Africa program — a platform created to promote gender equity in the music industry by amplifying the voices of female artists across the continent.

For Njerae, it’s more than an accolade. “This is such a huge opportunity for me and I’m super excited to have my face on such a platform,” she says. “It’s such an amazing program especially that focuses on putting women on top, empowering them, and I love that. It’s something that pushes us, and it’s a huge honor.”

Njerae’s music — which she describes as “really soulful and refreshing… like a breath of fresh air” — is heavily influenced by African artists who paved the way before her.

She grew up listening to Sauti Sol and Phy. “Sauti I just feel like they started doing it and made it work, but Phy was the first African woman that I saw play guitar on stage, singing sad love songs that people would jam to,” she reflects. “When she did ‘Taboo’ – that inspired me a lot to go to Sauti Academy, and I’m here today.”

And here she is — a decade into a music journey that only recently hit the public radar. “By next year, it’ll be ten years,” she says, “but if you ask anyone, they’ll say I just started releasing music two years ago.”

That long grind behind the curtain has shaped her philosophy about dreams and doubts. “If you’re dreading it, is it really your dream?” she quips. “Nothing good ever comes easy.”

She speaks candidly about the hurdles she’s faced, particularly the criticism. “Many people told me stuff like ‘My music is too wordy or too white’ and I’m glad that I didn’t really pay attention to them,” she shares. “At the end of the day, the dream is mine and I’m the only one who knows why I’m doing it.”

Navigating the male-dominated music scene hasn’t dulled her ambition, either. “Me being a woman should not stop anyone from listening to my music and it shouldn’t stop me from living the same dream another male artist is currently living,” she says.

“I never let being a woman interfere with my journey. I’m going to keep pushing and going after what I want regardless of my gender, and I will not dim my light for anything because I’m a woman.”

And she knows what she needs — from a mirror and makeup space backstage to the freedom to demand dignity in how she shows up as an artist. “I never shy away from expressing that I need access to certain things that would make life more bearable,” she explains. “But I definitely don’t let my gender affect me or my qualification as an artist. I keep doing what I’m doing with my chest and my head held high.”

For those walking a similar path, her advice is both simple and sobering: push. “Special people are the ones who will be put down,” she says. “So keep pushing, and it will come at the end of the day.”

Njerae lives by one quote: “Dress for the job you want, and not the one you have.” And right now, she’s dressed for greatness — guitar in hand, soul in her lyrics, and fire in her spirit.