One On One with Nilli

May 9, 2025 31

Written by Edwin Agesa on Monday, 11 May 2025.

RnB music and Swahili Pop has been a rapidly growing genre in the
country of late and it has become one of the most attractive areas new
artists are exploring. One such artist is Nilli and she speaks to our
writer about her latest song and her music journey.

Nilli explained that her song “JUST MYSELF” was motivated by her
accepting who she was and trying to be the best version she could
attain. The singer revealed that the song was close to her heart and it
explored how she was trying to stay true to herself.

“I was told by a few friends that I sounded like Sanaipei Tande in the
song and I took it positively,” she explained. Nilli revealed that she
was glad of hearing such comparisons but only wanted to be herself in
her art.

On local talent she looks up to, Nilli mentioned that she looked up to
Nikita Kering. “I like her music videos. Her visuals are so good,” Nilli
said.

The singer had gone through an intensive Music and Artist development
course at AFTTTI Training Institute and talked about how it had helped
her. “I have seen so much growth since I started the course in January.
I had my own opinions coming in but through the journey I have learnt to
open up more and my views have changed so much,” Nilli noted.

“My first track had a lot of English in it but I am trying to also use
Swahili in my next songs,” she mentioned when asked why she stuck with
the language in her maiden song. Nilli explained that using both Swahili
and English was not a bad idea for her music. The songstress also noted
that she was impressed by artists who were using their native languages
in their music. “In the future maybe I could use my native language
‘Kikuyu’ in my songs,” she revealed.

Nilli noted that she was already working on an EP called Purple. “I like
the color purple. My name ‘Nilli’ comes from the Swahili word for
Indigo. Indigo has shades of blue just like purple. That is how I
settled on the title for my EP,” she said.

On working with other artists, Nilli welcomed the idea but did not
disclose artists she would love to work with. “I want people to come for
me. Whoever they are,” she said.

The singer also had a few comments on how she saw the Kenyan music
industry as a whole. “We have a lot of talented artists in Kenya. The
problem is that we don’t publicize them as much. We don’t put a
spotlight on them,” Nilli claimed. “Kenya has very diversely talented
artists who are not boxed in music styles,” she added.

“What I would advise artists to do is own their music. Copyright your
music. Don’t give up at all even when the going gets tough,” she
commented on what she would tell any up and coming artists.

You can find her on her social media pages as @nilliii