So Ghanaians can have a piece of her, Nigeria’s hottest female singer, Kefee, whose recent album sold over 800,000 copies in Nigeria alone arrived in the country last week to promote her latest, “Branama2”.
The versatile singer, who broke away to go solo from the duo called Estee and Kefee, is well known for her agility in fusing Western and indigenous styles of singing.
Branama2 is a 15-track album with a powerful introduction which ushers the listener into a magical world of good cross-cultural music. There are tracks like “Branama” itself which is a Gospel, and gives thanks to the Almighty for giving her the opportunity to show off her talent. There are also powerful tracks like “Igbunu” and “Kukuruku” which every lover of music has to hear, especially “Igbunu-miracle”- which is a soul inspiring gospel song.
Born into a family of eight in Sapele, a suburb of Delta State, Kefee went through primary and secondary education in Sapele and furthered at the University of Benin in Edo State where she had her degree in Public Administration. Like most female divas, she started singing in the church choir at the tender age of 8, and when it was time for her to go professional some four years ago, her father was initially disapproving.
The 2005 KORA award winner says her daddy now approves every bit of her music and supports both financially and morally. The album features top Nigerian artistes like 2-Shots, Paul Play, Freestyle, Sunny Neji and Rymzo.
As to why she wants to maintain the African trend in her style of singing, Kefee said she thinks indigenous music is gradually fading and it is up to influential artistes like herself to pave the way by blending African rhythms with modern trends. She never wants to do away with her culture. Though her song is mostly in English, she does fuse it with her native tongue, Urhobo, the language of a minority ethnic group in Nigeria.
Lovers of African beats should get a copy of Kefees album. Popular creator Theo Akatugba is in charge of her promotion and distribution here in Ghana. She says she would launch her album soon, and that will be in Ghana as well.
