Kenyan talented vocalist Adelline Maranga known for her stage name Dela is in Uganda for the third time. This time round, she came with Nigerian Singer D’banj who she might do a collabo with in the two weeks that she has plan to come to Uganda.
Dela came into the country with her team which also includes her manager and the C.E.O of Taurus Musik Mr Ikechukwu Anoke who prefers to call him Ike.
During an interview with Xrated.co.ug, Dela opens up on her music, love life and her private life. She is a 26 year old student of Architecture in the University of Nairobi and a graduate of Fashion at the College of Nairobi. She started doing music in church at the age of 7 but professionally, Dela started doing music in in her early ages, she left the Villagers band, a group she used to sing with to go solo in 2009 because she thought it was her right time to shine.
“My solo career started with an album which I called Pawukwa meaning the beginning of my story” Dela says, she adds that she would want to settle and do music in Uganda because she likes the music industry in Uganda and how the Ugandans fans appreciate it, on second thought, she thinks it’s not the right time to settle because the industry needs to be studied fully.
Musically, Dela has worked with the famous Kenyan singing group Sauti Sol on the song called Mama Papa. The song got maximum airplay in East Africa and it also moved Dela a step ahead.
According to Ike, Dela’s manager, Dela is one of the most talented vocalists in East Africa, they met during one of the events organized by Taurus Musik. “Dela performed at one of the events I had organized, her voice was perfect and that was the type of talent I wanted to manage, and from there, we went into an agreement and here she is, signed to Taurus Musik” Ike said.
Dela says that working under Taurus Musik for the few months has changed her life in one way or the other. “If it wasn’t for Ike or Taurus music, I wouldn’t have been here in Uganda meeting and interacting with people like you, I believe that working under Taurus will push me musically” she said.
DELA’S PROFILE
Adeline Maranga born in 1989 in Nairobi Kenya, better known for her stage Name Dela is a reknown Afro Soul artist whose perfomances and vocal prowess has been compared to the likes of Chrisette Michele and Alicia keys
She began singing at the age of 7 in choirs and eventually backing vocals for many award winning artists such as Achieng Abura,Villagers Band,Wahu,Stan among others. It was only until 2008 that she began singing professionally. At only 19, her debut on the big stage was her collaboration with Kenya’s most famous Afro-Pop boy band Sauti Sol, that saw her song MAMA PAPA make an impressive record number one hit for 18 weeks on Kenya’s most popular reggae radio station Metro FM. This won her a new legion of fans who have been tethered to her incomparable voice ever since.
The success of her single led her to be signed by record label Penya and in under a year, Label Producer Wawero ‘Wawesh’ Kiboy had produced another hit Record titled PAUKWA. Paukwa is the beginning of her stories, her experiences and expectations. It’s the beginning of her expression. Her hits such as ‘’Weche Tek “War in my heart and Ulivyo in her album Paukwa Pakawa have gone main stream and have resonated with a huge segment of the nation and have continued to receive airplay locally and internationally.
Her strong lyrics and freedom songs drew attention from the UN habitat that approached her to work with UN habitat Messengers of Truth. These recently saw her tour and play in Istanbul at the Youth Congress with Young people from all over the world represented.
She has also toured Europe extensively under her Label with sold out concerts in London, Amsterdam, Stockholm and other cities in 2009.
In 2010 she was nominated for the famous Kisima Awards. She has performed at various events like Blankets and Wine, Tusker Project Fame, Idols, Sawa Sawa Festival, WAPI, Spoken Word and Love as a solo artist and as a background vocalist.
In 2013 Dela was one of the artists from Kenya that was chosen to participate in Season One of the Coke Studio Africa Show.
Dela is currently signed by the Africa’s Music Power house, Taurus Musik and has rebranded to an Afro- Pop artist. She is currently working on various music projects with some of the renowned producers which she will be releasing later in the year followed by collaborations with major artists across Africa.
