Teen Star Might Just Be the Next Big Thing

Dora (Obwaka) might just be the next big thing. Her single, Oyela, shows so much promise out of a 17-year-old, not only because of her age, but also the fact that she produced the song herself.

The song was written, produced and performed by the teenager. The title translates to “rise” and the song speaks about tribalism. According to her, “This song is a message to all Kenyans, we are one, we stand as one and we shall rise. Let’s Rise.” Considering the song’s title, it might be apt for the upcoming Batman film. You can check out Rise here.

She says her genesis into a musician begun with her using words to translate her environment, turning it to poetry and later music. She then started learning how to play instruments: violin, clarinet, piano, guitar. Dora was then discovered by Sanjei, also a multi-talented artiste, and started working together in 2011. You can check out Sanjei here.

She started off as a singer but, with time, has transformed into a rapper, or as she calls it, flow-etry (flow and poetry). But she is not a quintessential rapper. Her style injects African vibes into contemporary genres. She and Sanjei style of music is called the U.F.Flow or The Aliens.

“I am not a dream chaser, I’m a dream catcher. And I say dream catchers because because chasers never seem to get it. Remember my name because you’ll be hearing it often,” says Dora. It’s only a matter of time before she breaks into the music scene in a big way.

Listen to Rise below.